General
This is the second complete year of having solar panels on the house here. For those looking at adding solar panels to their homes or cottages, there are some things to be aware of if you’re along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. They include:
- Solar power can be unpredictable. Clouds and fog can significantly reduce your generating capability. In comparing my generating capability to the solar returns on my weather station, the winter months showed the most days with reduced potential for generating but also the highest demand.
- 2024 was a good year in that power interruptions during daylight (meaning generating) hours were significantly lower than in 2023. As noted elsewhere, when the power grid is disrupted, your system stops sending power to the grid. This helps reduce the risk to those working to fix the issues.
Overall Results
All told, 2024 was the best generating year so far but it’s not a significantly large number of years (see the Excel table for numbers). For those with mathematical talents, please forgive my rather crude rating system for performance. It works for me but can certainly be improved upon.
My cross-over date was 28 September 2024. This is the date at which the R1 reading on my meter passed the D1 reading (I had contributed more to the grid than used from it). That was a relatively short lived condition because weather started getting colder and days started getting shorter.
Data for those Interested
The PDF file below contains my tracking data for the year. From now on, I will not track the cross-over date as closely and will only look at it monthly. The results were drawn from the AP Application, which provides me with details on how the system is performing. The math is casual and should not be used for engineering or anything more than my thoughts as to how my system did.
The table splits on the PDF side but if you’re moving out this way and want the excel version, reach out to me through the contact form.