Sunday, April 6, 2014

Energy Data

     In my previous post on ceilings I mentioned I would put on some information about my power usage, and consumption etc. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get this info up here. What I have isn't a whole lot but it may help. I do have written info about generator usage and hours etc, but it is getting to be  a lot of work getting stuff from paper to blog. The following info I did have down on a spreadsheet and even that was educational to get it on here. This is what I will use to get an idea of GENERATOR USAGE. It is not a perfect system, but it should help give some perspective. I kept track of how much fuel I used and calculated it all at $1.40 per liter, which is a bit of an over calculation so actual costs will be a bit less. Also, I didn't keep track of every time I started the generator but instead every time I emptied a gas jug into it.
 INCOMING KILOWATT HRS from the PANELS.  (1 KWH=1000 Watt/hrs).
The following chart is the daily readings off my Out Back solar charge controller. This would then be the incoming Kilowatt Hours from my 6 Sharp 240 watt solar panels.  From Jan 1 2012 to Oct 14 2012 there was No Data, because I didn't
have my solar panels in operation yet. Any other No Data areas was
from neglect of keeping track. My Outback charge controller keeps a
record for 128 days then it erases it as new data is being recorded. The
following is my daily incoming Kilowatt Hours From Jan 1 2012 to
April 5 2014.  It was tricky trying to get this on here from the Excel spreadsheet also, but it was a good learning experience. This last winter we had a lot of snow, and not once did I get up on the roof and clean it off. The previous winter we had a lot of snow also, but I did clean it off quite often when it quit snowing and the sun came out. February 14-28 2014 I was away, so once things charged up it seemed to just hold at .70 area each day as the batteries were full. Just thought I would point that one out. There was snow on the panels when I left, but I can see from the incoming wattage that it melted off shortly after. I turned the deep freeze off for this holiday.

    I do have a record of my State of charge every morning for quite some time, but then I kind of got lazy in the later days. It's all in books. I didn't get that info on here yet. Maybe some day I will get a little more organized and find a simple way to push a button and have it all here, but just to give some perspective on the situation, I will say that usually in the winter time with the deep freeze running and in the house(which is going to change next winter), my SOC is usually in about the 90% area. Sometimes 92% and sometimes 87%. So it drops usually around 10% from the previous days full charge. My honda 2000 runs about 3.5 hours each day to charge it back up again. Sometimes I'll go a couple days before charging, but not very often. Very seldom do I let my battery bank drop below 80% SOC. My forced air furnace usually comes on in the mornings but does not run much during the day in the colder weather. I'm usually burning wood when it is colder than -10 celcius outside. The previous winter(2012-2013) I can remember waking up in the mornings to find the SOC at about 95%. I used to go 2 or 3 days before starting the generator then. That was before the deep freeze.

        In other news, I did finally get my ceilings all up except the bathroom and one coat of varnish so far. I'll update on that with pictures soon.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info, even though I do math on my fingers I try to make sense of the numbers...Generator info is straight forward and As your the most northern person I know of off the grid in Alberta, I will say i am a little surprised at the run times of the gen. It looks like your running your gen maybe 3 weeks earlier, and roughly 3, 4 weeks longer than those with comparable systems further south that I know...having lived up by Debolt/GP in 81-83 I know winter comes earlier and hangs around longer so maybe that shouldnt have surprised me.

    I am a little uncertain with your production numbers, correct me if I am wrong but those cant just be production numbers, Yes production, but you must have consumed the power in order for the array to have produced it and put it into your batts or have been used for load of opertunity when the batts were charged?
    Your data makes it hard for me to guesstimate your average daily kwhrs. For my system I dont have a charge controler that records anything. I plugged a killowatt meter into my inverter and every couple months check my consumption, divide by the days to arrive at a average daily load. I am down to 2.2kwhrs a day in winter, 2.8-2.9 kwhrs in summer.
    I cant discern your usage, or the production numbers make it appear to fluctuate wildly. Maybe I am missunderstanding something simple? For example look at the 4th chart down, if I look at your production numbers it would lead me to conclude your array is averaging 6kwhs a day and you must be consuming nearly that. I suspect I am wrong somehow? or are you consuming 5 + killowatt hrs a day?

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  2. Hey John. I know my charts and stuff are a little unprofessional but I tried. lol. If I remember right, I think we had a pretty yucky fall, lots of cloudy days and maybe even some snow, and also that deepfreeze going all the time adds up. When I have to freeze a new block of ice everyday for the cooler and all. I used to use the camper freezer and fridge. It probably does make a bit of a difference being up here too. I lived in the Debolt area for awhile also, you know. I went to school at Ridgevalley for grade 11, and Im guessing, that may have been in the early 80's. I lose track of time. On the kw/hrs charts, when it shows 0 incoming, the panels were covered in snow. We had a lot of snow this last winter and the winter before. I'm going to have to invent a system to clean those off, because it does help a little even though there is not many hours of sun in the winter. But even if I did clean those panels off, I would still have to run the genny anyway, although next winter the deepfreeze is going to be outside, so that should help a lot. In the spring and summer I do have power to burn, and I use it. I cook on an electric two burner hotplate, my water is heated with electricity for dishes, coffee, etc. I use the microwave lots, I very seldom light a fire this time of year, so the furnace is running, and that little deep freeze. About the only gas being used is when I take a shower, fire the BBQ and when the furnace runs. I am thinking about putting a small electric water heater in front of the gas heater, so I can utilize a little more sunshine there also for having showers. I just went and had a look at the incoming power for the last couple of days. Yesterday 2.5 (must have been cloudy), today 7.2 had lots of catching up to do.

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    1. Also, I guess I should start keeping track of my power usage off the inverter display. Only thing is I would have to write it down every day and a man kind of has a way of forgetting to do these things at times.

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  3. ok, I understand your using more as its available. That snow can really kill the output, I have my panels ground mounted (mostly) so I dont have to climb, but I know of many close calls from people going up to sweep...I say avoid it...canadian tire sold a snow rake, I used one this winter to pull snow off the roof. It must be 25 feet long made of aluminium tube that snaps together, if you need more length buy 2, add a curling broom in place of the rake and that might work for you.
    Driving past Debolt towards GP maybe the 3rd, 4th? RR turn left down a dead end gravel road for a mile then the road went west 1/4 mile was where I was. I might not be able to find the place now. Built a house (helped) there and no other homes to be found for miles at that time...I hear its filled in a bit...

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  4. I worked for a guy right in that area for a summer or two. Well a mile or 2 away I guess. He was on the other side of the Forestry Trunk Road. (west).
    I have one of those snow rakes. It worked pretty good when I was still living in the shack, but ya. A bit of a reach for the house. I do use it when I used to crawl to the peak of the house and clean the panels. But ya, I climb up there once last winter.

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  5. Wow! That's impressive. We didn't have to use our generator hardly at all this winter. Using the battery packs with DC lights at night made a huge difference on our consumption. The packs are easy to recharge during the day (especially if it is sunny). Then we don't have to tap our cabin battery banks at night when there isn't any replenishment. On a down note, propane went up in cost for the first time since 2001. I guess we can complain even thought it was a 12% hike. - Margy

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    1. Hey Margy, sounds like you guys got it all figured out with the power and all. I did start my generator for the first time last night (Apr 26 2014) as it has been snowy, cloudy and rainy around here for a few days now. Just thought I would help the batteries get caught up a bit. That propane thing is terrible, I may have to burn more wood in the spring maybe. I didn't know propane took such a jump.

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  6. Mark, you've got it made. :) Really have enjoyed watching you get this far with your home. You're inspiring!

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    1. Thanks Jeanie. I have slowed down there for awhile, but now I'm getting kind of eager to get more done. Keeping in mind however, that one needs to enjoy their life in the process. So that's what I'm going to do.

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