New install power questions.

[Laketime]

We just had a 16.32KW + 3PW system installed by Tesla. I’m trying to see if we are producing what we are supposed to be. Every time I see graphs posted by others they are these nice even bell curves and I look like the bell curve that went boxing.

The system: 33 340W panels facing south with an approx 15-20 degree east tilt (not sure what the proper phrasing is). That array is on a SE10000H inverter. Then we have 15 340W panels facing almost due west on a SE3800H. 5/12 roof pitch.

In NY we are quite constrained with the sun right now. As such I do have some barren trees approx 150’ away from the house that probably have some top branches getting in the way. But it’s hard to tell on the ground and I don’t see obvious shading up on the second story roof.

I posted a pic of our layout and the last 2 days of production with zero clouds. My concern is the top of the graph- It’s like I hit a rev limiter/brick wall around 8kw. I am wondering if I’m somehow clipping or is this just normal for this oh so spectacular time of the year? Is my total production in line?

 

[Laketime]

 

[Zinc_Saucier]

That doesn’t look like clipping to me. Have you put your system info into the PVWatts calculator to see what the expected generation is?

 

[Laketime]

That doesn’t look like clipping to me. Have you put your system info into the PVWatts calculator to see what the expected generation is?

Thanks for the response. I did. I’m trying to decipher what it means lol.

 

[Zinc_Saucier]

Thanks for the response. I did. I’m trying to decipher what it means lol. View attachment 621657

You’ll have to enter your two arrays separately since they face different directions and are on different inverters. But the number you want is the second column. Divide the December AC number by 31 to give a rough number of what you should expect on a daily basis. Make sure your roof pitch and DC/AC ratio are correct in the calculator

 

[Laketime]

You’ll have to enter your two arrays separately since they face different directions and are on different inverters. But the number you want is the second column. Divide the December AC number by 31 to give a rough number of what you should expect on a daily basis. Make sure your roof pitch and DC/AC ratio are correct in the calculator

Thanks, I will work on that.

 

[Laketime]

So I entered them separately and while the numbers came down they weren’t substantial. Either way it looks like I’m producing roughly 60% of what I should be.

 

[SMAlset]

If you ask Tesla to get you a Solar Edge account you can use it to see the kW output of the various panels. There are a few threads with images of the panel results posted you can check out. Our panel are all performing within similar range of each other with the exception of one that's a bit lower. Not sure what the expected range should be however.

 

[Laketime]

If you ask Tesla to get you a Solar Edge account you can use it to see the kW output of the various panels. There are a few threads with images of the panel results posted you can check out. Our panel are all performing within similar range of each other with the exception of one that's a bit lower. Not sure what the expected range should be however.

Thanks for the reply. I am quite green at this- Do I contact my advisor that handled the install or is there a Tesla service line I should call to do that? Thanks again.

 

[tstolze]

With panels facing 2 different directions, SSE and almost due West you are not going to get graphs like others that have panels facing all one direction, and if I were to guess there is probably some shading going on at different times, especially the panels facing SSE.

 

[Laketime]

With panels facing 2 different directions, SSE and almost due West you are not going to get graphs like others that have panels facing all one direction, and if I were to guess there is probably some shading going on at different times, especially the panels facing SSE.

Thanks- that's why I was wondering- if my 2 arrays were making my graphs look funky. But I was expecting a little more on a full sun day. If there is shading it's just the top twigs from the trees.

 

[DrSmile]

I can tell you that my 40 330 watt panel system tops out at 9kW this time of year (Northern NJ) with all South facing panels. My peaks look similarly clipped to yours. Your daily production of 18 kWh can't be right though, you should be making way more than that on a sunny day. My guess is only one inverter is hooked up to the app, likely the 3.8kW one, and maybe the graph is showing the other 10kW inverter. You should be making about 50-55kWh on a sunny day in December. There is no way 18kWh can be correct with your peak at 8kW. I made 44 kWh on each of these last 2 sunny days on a single 11.4kW inverter.

 

[Zinc_Saucier]

I can tell you that my 40 330 watt panel system tops out at 9kW this time of year (Northern NJ) with all South facing panels. My peaks look similarly clipped to yours. Your daily production of 18 KWh can't be right though, you should be making way more than that on a sunny day. My guess is only one inverter is hooked up to the app, likely the 3.8kW one. You should be making about 50-55kWh on a sunny day in December. There is no way 18kWh can be correct with your peak at 8kW.

If OP put the PV Watts info in correctly, the expected output would be about 30kWh for a December day (729+211)/31. I agree that 18 too low, but don’t think that the large array is missing from the data. Maybe it’s a combo of the small array missing and some shading?

 

[Laketime]

I can tell you that my 40 330 watt panel system tops out at 9kW this time of year (Northern NJ) with all South facing panels. My peaks look similarly clipped to yours. Your daily production of 18 kWh can't be right though, you should be making way more than that on a sunny day. My guess is only one inverter is hooked up to the app, likely the 3.8kW one, and maybe the graph is showing the other 10kW inverter. You should be making about 50-55kWh on a sunny day in December. There is no way 18kWh can be correct with your peak at 8kW. I made 44 kWh on each of these last 2 sunny days on a single 11.4kW inverter.

I have noticed a large discrepancy with the hourly output vs cumulative. On one particular day I clocked 3 straight hours of production from 5 to 8KW and I only logged 12KW including a few lower producing morning hours.

 

[Akikiki]

Thanks for the reply. I am quite green at this- Do I contact my advisor that handled the install or is there a Tesla service line I should call to do that? Thanks again.

Yes, contact your service rep that handled your installation. One of the things that you should watch for in your email, is an email from Solaredge. It will link you to your new account and you change your password. Its not automatic, but setup for your new system. You should check your spam folder. It might have arrived and you didn't see it. If you didn't get it, yes, again, contact your rep and ask him to have it sent again.

 

[Laketime]

My software was updated to 20.40.3 last night and it looks like that fixed my kWh issue. My record on a full day of sun was 18.4kWh. Today we were overcast almost all day and as of 3pm I am at 24.8kWh. I am waiting to hear back from my advisor regarding the SE account. Thanks for the help everyone.