Tesla coupled with a SolarCity charging station?!

[TEG]

http://www.tigoenergy.com/data_sheets/MM_ES_datasheet.pdf


Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but my guess is that they allow some of the current to bypass any lagging panels.
So, I think without such a device, the overall current flow could be restricted by the "lowest common denominator" such as a panel in the shade. Basically it acts like a carpool lane to let the more excited electrons jump around a panel that is otherwise restricting flow (due to being worn out, dirty, in the shade, etc.)

 

[NigelM]

After a little more reading, it is clear that the Tigo system offers the benefits of microinverters with the installation of OBI's. Great for retrofitting, but would not make a difference in my case. If you're installing one or more large inverters then I would say the Tigo system is a must and are especially good because you can retro fit them to most OBI's; microinverters remain a good/better alternative but everything depends on local conditions and costs.

 

[TEG]

I think the Tigo system is like insurance in case something isn't optimal.
In my case, my panels are all the same brand, same type, same alignment/orientation, and don't suffer from partial shading, so the Tigo boxes might be a waste of money.
If you were designing a system where you know that some of the panels are in the shade some of the time then it would be more of a "must have" (or go with microinverters.)
Also, an irregular installation with panels spread across different roof surfaces would probably benefit from that sort of system too.

 

[vfx]

.., so the Tigo boxes might be a waste of money..

So what if one of you panels died slowly. You would never know.

 

[NigelM]

So what if one of you panels died slowly. You would never know.

Exactly. I think microinverters OR the Tigo system is a must on anything above a small number of panels. BTW microinverters I used have a NEMA 6 rating.

 

[TEG]

So what if one of you panels died slowly. You would never know.

Well the big inverter provides output statistics including a wireless monitoring terminal I can use to see output bar graphs of weekly/daily/hourly output while inside the house. So I could know that something was wrong with the whole system. But figuring out what was at fault (including possibly a specific panel) could be a huge chore. So, yes, without some sort of automatic bypass or isolation system, you could end up in a "needle in a haystack" scenario if one of your panels in an array started to fail. Thankfully I think the panels tend to be extremely reliable, so that scenario is rare.

 

[NigelM]

...you could end up in a "needle in a haystack" scenario if one of your panels in an array started to fail. Thankfully I think the panels tend to be extremely reliable, so that scenario is rare.

True and true. My "haystack" is 100 panels; if I had 10 panels I may well have taken a different approach.

 

[roblab]

I *only* have 60 panels, but they are grouped into 12 arrays of 5 each. By turning off the breakers except one at a time, those 5 panels can be monitored. (Yeah, I know you get it, but if one group puts out 60 volts and another puts out 48, you are at least in the right array) Kyocera had trouble with burning a few years ago, and I got my entire set replaced, including the cost of labor to do it. They even upgraded me to the next wattage. I'm ready for my Model S!

 

[DrComputer]

You can read the testimonial they just posted about my system on their website. You can see how the Tigo system not only helps optimize output but does also help easily identify the "needle in the haystack" problem that I had.

http://www.tigoenergy.com/testimonial_fudenberg.php

 

[SByer]

And, if you really needed to narrow it down to the panel, you could put a flat piece of cardboard on the end of an extending pole and go over the panels one by one to see the drops and compare for likely suspects.

 

[NigelM]

This is what a reporting system looks like....

Here is one of my arrays. You can see that one panel towards the top left is slightly lower than the others, I went outside to look and a big Heron was sitting up there enjoying the morning sun. On the bottom right there are 2 panels that are showing low output, that is the shade from my neighbors coconut trees but that occurs every day till about 10.00am when the sun is high enough.

Here is a graph which shows yesterday was a cloudy day:

For comparison, here's a rainy day from this week:

And a sunny day:

 

[dsm363]

This is what a reporting system looks like....

Here is one of my arrays. You can see that one panel towards the top left is slightly lower than the others, I went outside to look and a big Heron was sitting up there enjoying the morning sun. On the bottom right there are 2 panels that are showing low output, that is the shade from my neighbors coconut trees but that occurs every day till about 10.00am when the sun is high enough.

Wow. That's an impressive system. My parents had a much smaller system installed with the same monitoring software (screen capture looks the same) with 10 panels.
Does anyone here have the skills (and time) to design a Mac widget to check in on this system? I contacted the company to see if they had some kind of screen you could put in your house to glance at your power production without having to log in. They said the have an API they can hand out if someone knows how to design the software which I don't.

Anyway, nice system.

 

[NigelM]

I contacted the company to see if they had some kind of screen you could put in your house to glance at your power production without having to log in. They said the have an API they can hand out if someone knows how to design the software which I don't.

Anyway, nice system.

Thanks. The Enlighten system has alert settings which you can customize; it sends me an e-mail under certain conditions and in case of any individual panel or inverter problems (never had one yet!). I get the mails on my Blackberry as well as on my desktop and that's seems fine for rapid notification of any problems. I log on through a standard browser, so I can leave it one my desktop/laptop the whole day if I wish; I have a multi-screen set-up so theoretically I can leave it on screen all the time, but unless clouds are moving across rapidly it's pretty boring to watch. :wink:

Further to my earlier post. Here's the updated array with shadows and bird gone:

Here's my second array:

And on my third and final array you can see that I also have tall palm trees; this array gets a shadow on 3 panels everyday between 12.00pm and 2.00pm. I'm debating whether to move the panels or the tree!