Three days and a swarm of people and the solar array is UP.
But not up and running, yet. We still need the town to inspect the electricity and the building, NSTAR to approve the interconnection, to install the monitoring system, someone to commission the system, and us to be trained in its operation and maintenance. Another week or so…
But in the meantime, here is the info for our system:
Equipment
24 SANYO HIT Power Modules 100% of maximum power (Pmax) = 215.0 Watts / DC rate per panel 210 Watts / Total = 5040 Watts system
12 Enphase D380 module-direct inverters
Modules are placed in portrait orientation and racked as two rows of twelve modules each. Each row of modules is as a single string with six inverters, resulting in a total of two strings.
Production estimates
Estimated first year production in kWh: 4,735
This estimation takes into account historical weather data, the orientation of the south-facing roof and the tilt of the south-facing roof.
At this production rate, our solar fraction would be around 87% of our 2010 electrical consumption which translates to avoided utility costs of approximately $899 per year (this value is based on your current utility rate of $0.18 per kWh).
Value of solar energy harvested over project life: $ 50,922.89
Carbon Savings
Pounds of carbon saved in the first year: 7,103
Pounds saved over the project lifetime: 187,469
Cost (estimates, but close)
- savings on our electricity bill per year: $900/year at our current utility rate of $0.18 per kWh >Â assuming prices don’t change, the system pays for itself in approx. 20 years
- and we can sell 5 SRECS a year. At the moment SRECS are worth $520 each, but assuming the worst-case scenario with the lowest value per SREC at $285 each (so $1425/year), then the system is paid for in approx. 8 years.
This is *very* exciting! Love the new header. :)
Congratulations, looks great.