gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 So its cloudy and drizzly today. My new installed 6K system is only generating 80W at 2pm. Is this normal? I've only had it running since Friday, but I'm yet to see it go over 1KW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Give us some more info... How many panels, what direction and angle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Its about 15 degrees off south (towards east) at an incline of 19 degrees. 18 panels at 325W. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Doesn't sound right to me, though depends how thick the cloud is I guess. Would have expected more than 1kW peak since install, I had that earlier and its not the brightest day up here, mines only 4kWp. Can you contact the installer? Inverter settings all as they should be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) 4 minutes ago, MikeGrahamT21 said: Doesn't sound right to me, though depends how thick the cloud is I guess. Would have expected more than 1kW peak since install, I had that earlier and its not the brightest day up here, mines only 4kWp. Can you contact the installer? Inverter settings all as they should be? OK thanks. Not contacted the electrician yet - it was producing about the same when he was here installing it (cloudy) as I mentioned it, and he said its normal - they need direct sunlight. I've just been out to the inverter and have seen that at some point since install its peaked at 3.2 KW but no idea when. I've since last night setup the app to view historical data and realtime so will have to keep an eye on it. Though I thought it would be generating something more like 600W on a cloudy day to pretty disappointed at the moment. Forecast is cloudy all week though! Edited August 17, 2021 by gc100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Have you got any shading at all on any of the panels? Whats your daily production values for the last few days? Friday I generated 17.28kWh Yes, i would expect a good amount of W even on a cloudy day, you have 2kWp more than me. I couldn't tell you what mines producing at the moment, I need to connect it back to the internet after moving the switch the other day, thats a mission for tomorrow i think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) The panels loose the sun around 6pm at the moment. I've generated a total of 27.7KW it seems since Sat. Its currently generating 320W now the drizzle has stopped. Edited August 17, 2021 by gc100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 OK that doesn't sound too bad with poor sun amounts and losing Sun at 6pm (remember shading on even a single panel if they are all connected to a Single MPPT will kill the output on all, double MPPT will help keep this to a minimum, or solaredge to maximise each individual panel, but obviously i don't know your setup), keep an eye on it and see how it goes. You are quite a shallow angle too which might have a bearing on it, 30 degrees plus is much more favourable, and it can make quite a difference (as we experience in winter). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Is this 6kW on a single inverter with no optimisation ..? If so, really poor design as that will not give you a decent peak figure especially at 19° What was its output calculated at..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) does sound low to me, i have 3.885 of PV and its been grey all week, still made 6.4kwh today though. Could be a string of them is not working giving the poor results ? Can you login to the inverter and see each panel ? Edited August 17, 2021 by Dave Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 4 hours ago, PeterW said: Is this 6kW on a single inverter with no optimisation ..? If so, really poor design as that will not give you a decent peak figure especially at 19° What was its output calculated at..? Yes it’s a single inverter - fronius primo 5.0 I don’t think there was any ‘design’ - materials was just supplied as a system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Dave Jones said: does sound low to me, i have 3.885 of PV and its been grey all week, still made 6.4kwh today though. Could be a string of them is not working giving the poor results ? Can you login to the inverter and see each panel ? I only made 1.1kw today . norfolk. Edited August 17, 2021 by gc100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 sounds wrong, I got 5.7kWh today up here, and conditions were "less than optimal" lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyt Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Cheshire today and mostly miserable. 2.75kWp system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 10 hours ago, gc100 said: I only made 1.1kw today . norfolk. you need to see each panel output, depending on how its setup you could have a string or strings of panels not working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) Has the inverter been set up for a different country? https://www.fronius.com/~/downloads/Solar Energy/Operating Instructions/42%2C0410%2C2148.pdf Edited August 18, 2021 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 (edited) So been looking into this more. I have 2 strings of 9x325W panels connected to the inverter. However each string is mostly only generating 70V unless it's really sunny . Looking at the VI curves for the panels they should be generating around 300V per string even with very little light: So I should be having around 300V per string which I'm a long way off. Here is what I'm getting for example: You can see the voltage sits around 70V most of the day. My inverter has a min feed-in voltage of 80V so won't even be generating anything. Note there is also the weird voltage spike at the end of the day - I can only put that down to the voltage potential across the string as the amps drops down/up from zero. Does anyone have any idea? Something I notice is when the voltage is low the realtime Amps seems to oscillate between 3A and zero between the 2 strings backwards and forwards, like a sin wave. So one will be 3A and the other 0A, then both 1.5A and then 0A and 3A over the course of say 6 seconds. Some other days: Edited August 24, 2021 by gc100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 (edited) Think it’s time to get the installer back to check the wiring, hopefully it will be an easy fix, then Check all the parameters are correct Edited August 24, 2021 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 Try taking thermal photos of the panels and the various gubbins, and see if anything is seriously overheating. It has to be going somewhere if the energy is coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 5 hours ago, Ferdinand said: Try taking thermal photos of the panels and the various gubbins, and see if anything is seriously overheating. It has to be going somewhere if the energy is coming in. i don’ t have a thermal camera unfortunately. It’s a weird one for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 5 minutes ago, gc100 said: i don’ t have a thermal camera unfortunately. It’s a weird one for sure. What an excellent excuse to buy a thermal camera ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly100 Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 6kw system about 10 deg east of south. 35 degree roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly100 Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 I should add my inverter packed in about 3 days after installation. Its Solar Edge equipment which according to my research is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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