Changed to solar and...... Wow!

[grsher]

You mentioned using 65 KWH daily for 30 days is 1, 950 KWH per month at 10.86 $RD/KWH which is $RD 21,177 monthly which agrees with your past bills.

I used an online solar panel calculator at
Solar Panel Calculator - Solar Panels Calculator

I had to use 240 watt panels since the calculator did not have a selection fo 210 watt panels, which I compensated for in the final analysis. I used 8 hours of average sunlight per day, which I think is probably optimistic.

8 panels of 240 watts each with 8 hours of sunlight per day on average these panels would supply 380 KWH per month using the solar panel calculator. Correcting this to your 210 watt panels the amount generated by the 210 watt panels is 210/240 X 380 = 333 KHW per month.


333/1950 = 17% of your energy is from solar power based upon your original usage of 1,950 KWH per month. Now your Edenorte bill would be $RD 1,950-333 KWH => 1,617 KWH X 10.86 $RD/KWH = 17,560 $RD for a savings of $RD 3,616 monthly from your solar panels.


Keep in mind that the 333 KWH monthly at $RD 10.86 /KWH produced by this estimate from the solar panels is worth $RD 3,616 per month. That is the amount of savings monthly based upon the solar panels once you go over 700 KWH of usage in a month.

Figure the total cost of your installation and divide it by $RD 3,616 and that will give you the number of months it will take at current rates to pay back your system.

If 8 panels were $500 each that is $4,000 US or $RD 15,600 divided by $RD 3,616 is months or 4.3 years just to pay back for the cost of the solar panels and not including the cost of the charge controllers, battery inverter system, iinstallation, and any maintenance, etc.

To complete the analysis it would be interesting to know that the total system cost was.
Please check my work allowing for rounding errors to see if I plugged in the correct numbers in my calculation.

What does not make any sense at all is going from 65 KWH per day to 11.5 KWH per day.
The solar panels are providing about 11.1 KWH per day so there is a “missing” 42.4 KWH daily that has thankfully but mysteriously disappeared from your meter readings. Something that was drawing almost 2,000 watts all day long is no longer connected so it is like turning off a pool pump that was running 24/7. How did you ever get charged for that indeed!!

Check out this site PVWATTS v. 1 It is used by a lot of installers for rough calculations.

[windeguy]

[IMG][/IMG]

I have only seen this type of connection recommendation where the inverter is connected to the diagonally opposite "corners" of the battery banks. Of course the more banks of batteries you have, the more likely it is that the various banks will not share the load equally and that will get worse over time as the batteries age. The above image is from the TRACE DR Series Users Guide where DR is actually for the Dominican Republic referred to by TRACE/XANTREX as the "Viet Nam" of Inverter/Charger/Battery usage. If it works here, it will work anywhere.

[william webster]

Yikes, I haven't been this confused since high school chemistry class

Waaayyy over my head

[Ringo]

[IMG][/IMG]

I have only seen this type of connection recommendation where the inverter is connected to the diagonally opposite "corners" of the battery banks. Of course the more banks of batteries you have, the more likely it is that the various banks will not share the load equally and that will get worse over time as the batteries age. The above image is from the TRACE DR Series Users Guide where DR is actually for the Dominican Republic referred to by TRACE/XANTREX as the "Viet Nam" of Inverter/Charger/Battery usage. If it works here, it will work anywhere.

Good photo windeguy. My setup is the same, just more banks. Easy to figure with this diagram and simple instructions.

I also note that they show the DC Disconnect (breaker) and shunt. Most installations that I have seen here in the D.R. don't have that either. I have the Disconnect but not the shunt. No one here has any idea of what a shunt is or does.

Due to one of my inverters failing that cut all power, I installed a knife switch in the inverter input line to bypass the whole unit to get our power back on. Simple a cheap to due.

[Ringo]

Yikes, I haven't been this confused since high school chemistry class

Waaayyy over my head

Hey ww. rofl

Some of this stuff takes a little time to grasp. Some new information, for me, has been presented. Also not everyone is going to aggree with everyone but seeing things from a different angle with respect is a good thing.

I'm enjoying looking like an idiot while I'm learning. Some of our "teachers" here must wonder how I made it out of high school.

Perhaps after we have played this a while longer, WE can put together the best ideas, photos, diagrams, math equations and advice as a new thread and stickey.

[william webster]

My jardinero is the go-to guy for me..... he does it all whether I'm there or not (thank god)

He's fussier than I am.

[Olly]

I think if you want to get some "definitve" answers to all this you need to go back to Naval Diesel/Electric maintenance for Submarines and Electromechanical Telephone exchanges and the maintenace of Battery banks. Not sure many of us go back that far but that would be where some insight might be. Pre -internet too!!

Olly and the Team

[yapask1]

Best to reduce energy consumption. 4 batteries of 225 a/h should be adequate for average home.

I use an icemaker during the day and store food in kilner food jars at night packed with ice. Saves running refrigerators at night,

Hopefully with an extra $500 investment no power is necessay from belching polluting power stations. The average solar panel requires considrable energy to produce so it is good to cut down consumption of these; batteries too.

Import costs of fossil fuel are significant for DR ; why waste it. Solar panels need energy in production; why use more than is needed.

yapask1

[windeguy]

I use an icemaker during the day and store food in kilner food jars at night packed with ice. Saves running refrigerators at night,
yapask1

That certainly is the funniest thing in this thread. But wait, this isn't the clown bin.

[Ringo]

I think if you want to get some "definitve" answers to all this you need to go back to Naval Diesel/Electric maintenance for Submarines and Electromechanical Telephone exchanges and the maintenace of Battery banks. Not sure many of us go back that far but that would be where some insight might be. Pre -internet too!!

Olly and the Team

I'm impressed Olly! But I was without knowing all that.

(When I was in school/collage, we did not have hand held calculators and no puters. Slide rule and even taught how to use an abicus. LOTS of pencils, paper and erasers. Typed papers were done on a real mechanical typewriter... with a ribon and lots of "white out".)

So with all that I can Google and have done for me I have NO need to think.