Thursday 28 July 2011
July 26th 2011
8.17 kWh generated in 14.8 hours
Another wet cloudy July day - seems we have had a number of them this year. :(
Another wet cloudy July day - seems we have had a number of them this year. :(
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Saturday 23 July 2011
July 22nd 2011
21.01 kWh generated in 14.3 hours
Finally back to the more normal looking graph shape (yes normal for us with the middle of the best generation period carved up) - the evening was quite cloudy with generation ceasing a full hour earlier than the day before (which had a pathetic total of 11.23 kWh generated) but still a respectable days work from the solar panels. :)
Finally back to the more normal looking graph shape (yes normal for us with the middle of the best generation period carved up) - the evening was quite cloudy with generation ceasing a full hour earlier than the day before (which had a pathetic total of 11.23 kWh generated) but still a respectable days work from the solar panels. :)
Tuesday 19 July 2011
July 18th 2011
7.95 kWh generated in 15.0 hours
OK this rain is getting just a bit tedious. At least the solar panels have had a very good clean. :)
OK this rain is getting just a bit tedious. At least the solar panels have had a very good clean. :)
July 17th 2011
9.73 kWh generated in 15.5 hours
Another poor showing (although still not as bad as the all time low of the 16th). Again due to rain.
Another poor showing (although still not as bad as the all time low of the 16th). Again due to rain.
July 16th 2011
5.08 kWh generated in 14.7 hours
This was one of those stay in bed days - look at the morning! We didn't start getting over a kW of generation until after lunch. :( Of course if it hadn't been for what was generated after lunch the total for the day would have been even worse.
Oh and the reason for the poor showing? Rain, lots and lots of rain.
This was one of those stay in bed days - look at the morning! We didn't start getting over a kW of generation until after lunch. :( Of course if it hadn't been for what was generated after lunch the total for the day would have been even worse.
Oh and the reason for the poor showing? Rain, lots and lots of rain.
Saturday 16 July 2011
July 15th 2011
20.03 kWh generated in 15.8 hours
First decent day of generation this week - unfortunately the forecast for the weekend is mostly rain.
First decent day of generation this week - unfortunately the forecast for the weekend is mostly rain.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
July 12th 2011
11.15 kWh generated in 15.7 hours
Look at that - that really doesn't look anything like a normal graph for our place (even taking into account the small scale). Too much flat and not enough curve.
Basically a cloudy day most of the day.
Look at that - that really doesn't look anything like a normal graph for our place (even taking into account the small scale). Too much flat and not enough curve.
Basically a cloudy day most of the day.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
July 11th 2011
21.96 kWh generated in 15.8 hours
Look - you can see Batman's head in the middle there! Hmm, think I've been looking at too many of these? :)
Look - you can see Batman's head in the middle there! Hmm, think I've been looking at too many of these? :)
Friday 8 July 2011
Tuesday 5 July 2011
Home electricity usage monitors
So our electric company recently offered us a new tariff that gives both cheaper electricity and a monitor that tracks our usage of electricity. In this case the monitor is an Onzo. We have had this in place now for just over a week.
First impressions? Sounds like a great idea. I had visions of being able to download the data to the computer and analysing it compared to what we are generating and when. No such luck for two reasons.
Firstly it seems that all of these home monitors only measure the flow of electricity not the direction of the flow. This is important for those involved in micro-generation (i.e. generating their own electricity) because all of the electricity which we don't use gets exported to the power grid - through the same cables that feed us power. So the monitor adds up all the power coming in and going out and presents it as a single value. Which isn't really helpful at all. :(
Secondly, and this is specific to the Onzo, the 'download to computer' bit they promise is actually uploading to a website (in our case a website specific to our electric company). So I don't get the raw data and I have to rely on the analysis tools that they provide. This also means that I can't try and derive, from the combination of the data from the Onzo and from the inverter, what our electricity usage is.
Overall I like the idea of having detailed information about how much electricity we are using and when. I think it would be highly useful in managing, preferably downward, our usage. That said I am not at all in favour of devices that only allow analysis by uploading the information to a website. While I'm not against such things I do prefer to have the option of doing the analysis myself - I want the raw data.
It also seems strange, to me at least, that a whole category of people (those into micro-generation) who are likely to be interested in managing their energy usage are unable to use these devices.
So my recommendation? If you want to know what you use and when, and you don't do micro-generation, then get one of these monitors (your power company may well supply them for free if you ask). But either way don't buy an ONZO. Even free I feel it is a waste. I can't even give the thing away because they tie it to your persona account at power company thus anyone else using it would find the data uploaded to my account. :(
First impressions? Sounds like a great idea. I had visions of being able to download the data to the computer and analysing it compared to what we are generating and when. No such luck for two reasons.
Firstly it seems that all of these home monitors only measure the flow of electricity not the direction of the flow. This is important for those involved in micro-generation (i.e. generating their own electricity) because all of the electricity which we don't use gets exported to the power grid - through the same cables that feed us power. So the monitor adds up all the power coming in and going out and presents it as a single value. Which isn't really helpful at all. :(
Secondly, and this is specific to the Onzo, the 'download to computer' bit they promise is actually uploading to a website (in our case a website specific to our electric company). So I don't get the raw data and I have to rely on the analysis tools that they provide. This also means that I can't try and derive, from the combination of the data from the Onzo and from the inverter, what our electricity usage is.
Overall I like the idea of having detailed information about how much electricity we are using and when. I think it would be highly useful in managing, preferably downward, our usage. That said I am not at all in favour of devices that only allow analysis by uploading the information to a website. While I'm not against such things I do prefer to have the option of doing the analysis myself - I want the raw data.
It also seems strange, to me at least, that a whole category of people (those into micro-generation) who are likely to be interested in managing their energy usage are unable to use these devices.
So my recommendation? If you want to know what you use and when, and you don't do micro-generation, then get one of these monitors (your power company may well supply them for free if you ask). But either way don't buy an ONZO. Even free I feel it is a waste. I can't even give the thing away because they tie it to your persona account at power company thus anyone else using it would find the data uploaded to my account. :(
Sunday 3 July 2011
July 02nd 2011
21.78 kWh generated in 16.2 hours
Similar to the 01st of July but with a bit more cloud in the late morning/early afternoon time frame.
Similar to the 01st of July but with a bit more cloud in the late morning/early afternoon time frame.
July 01st 2011
Happy Canada day to everyone (well to all the Canadians anyway) :)
22.98 kWh generated in 16.3 hours
Started off very nice and then, when we should be having peak power generation, it all starts to look a bit like Bart Simpson's hair. :(
Oh well still a good day.
22.98 kWh generated in 16.3 hours
Started off very nice and then, when we should be having peak power generation, it all starts to look a bit like Bart Simpson's hair. :(
Oh well still a good day.
Friday 1 July 2011
June Summary
So for June we generated an average of 17.84 kWh per day and ended up with a total of 535.22 kWh generated this month. Both above the average suggested by the various websites (see May Summary) for our location and size of system. So again I have been complaining about an above average month. :)
The first graph is the amount of electricity in kWh generated for each day in June vs the total amount of time for each day that we were generating electricity. Again there is some correlation between the two but not an overly strong one.
Anyway here is hoping the July is another above average month! :)
The first graph is the amount of electricity in kWh generated for each day in June vs the total amount of time for each day that we were generating electricity. Again there is some correlation between the two but not an overly strong one.
Anyway here is hoping the July is another above average month! :)
June 30th 2011
19.54 kWh generated in 16.3 hours
Another bright and sunny morning interrupted by a cloudy afternoon. :(
Another bright and sunny morning interrupted by a cloudy afternoon. :(
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