My original PV array is down. Back in 2002 (pre federal rebate) it consisted of four 160 watt panels. At the time PV panels were not cheap so 1000 watt systems were considered good sized. I got a "great deal" on these Sharp band polycrystaline panels at $6.60 per watt. This array is an adjustable wall mount over a bay window so I could only fit in 4 panels. Inverters were also pricey at the time and I got one of the second generation of grid tied inverters. It was an impressive piece of hardware made in New Hampshire and built heavy duty. Compared to today's units its pretty primitive. The sum total data available comes from one blinking LED. I put on an external analog amp meter and a Hobbs type KWh meter to record its output. As of today the KWh meter reads a total of 8800 KWH produced since it went on line. This inverter survived a utility voltage spike several years ago that fried one of newer inverters.
The economics of the project pre federal rebate were never intended to have great payback and it has proven true. Far more important at the time was grid tied PV was new in the US. I was working in the paper industry and realized that at early to mid career that the paper industry in the US was tanking. I caught the last big peak and from then on the writing was on the wall that I needed a new career. The design of this first PV system exposed me to an new industry and got me in relatively early in the curve. When I finally did make a career swap, I ended up in power and renewables and working for a firm that specialized in distributed energy systems with a lot of renewables and unconventional power generation. I have no doubt that my PV grid tied experience helped in getting hired as it eastablished my "green cred". That job didnt last real long as wall street got their fingers in the company but it allowed me to switch to my next company which was more power related and allowed me to work from home. I am now at the point where I dont really need to work so I work three days a week with my sixtieth birthday coming up rapidly and if that job goes away, I really dont need to find a new one.
The old inverter is now at friends house for some initial diagnosis. Its definitely not working now and I traced power down to the board level. The company is long since bankrupt so I am on my own for repair. My friend is going to see if he sees any obviously bad components on the board but unless we get lucky I expect I end up with very well made case. So now I need to so figure out the least cost way to get the panels lit up again. Its already winter in NH and I am not that enthusiastic about setting up staging with water dripping off the roof and freezing so I would really like to do any fixes inside. One big plus is I knew that PV systems and their configuration was changing so when I wired the panels instead of daisy chaining the leads and homerunning two conductors to my string inverter I had a bunch of #8 THHN someone gave me so I ran the output of each panel down to a terminal box in the basement and did the string configuration in the terminal box. Small grid tied string inverters just are not made these days so the current plan is pick up some used microinverters and hook up each panel to its own inverter down in the basement. This is pushing the "replacement in kind" provision in the code so in the spring I will remount the microinverters on the back of the panels so the installation complies with the new rapid shutdown provisions required in the current code. I am not planning to put in any sort of monitoring, the outputs will be paralleled and run through my original ammeter and then tied in with my other PV arrays.
My goal is to keep this array running as long as I live in the house. If I elect to sell I will take the array down to get the clutter off the front of the house and then it will go dark permanently unless I can come up with new place to install it.
The economics of the project pre federal rebate were never intended to have great payback and it has proven true. Far more important at the time was grid tied PV was new in the US. I was working in the paper industry and realized that at early to mid career that the paper industry in the US was tanking. I caught the last big peak and from then on the writing was on the wall that I needed a new career. The design of this first PV system exposed me to an new industry and got me in relatively early in the curve. When I finally did make a career swap, I ended up in power and renewables and working for a firm that specialized in distributed energy systems with a lot of renewables and unconventional power generation. I have no doubt that my PV grid tied experience helped in getting hired as it eastablished my "green cred". That job didnt last real long as wall street got their fingers in the company but it allowed me to switch to my next company which was more power related and allowed me to work from home. I am now at the point where I dont really need to work so I work three days a week with my sixtieth birthday coming up rapidly and if that job goes away, I really dont need to find a new one.
The old inverter is now at friends house for some initial diagnosis. Its definitely not working now and I traced power down to the board level. The company is long since bankrupt so I am on my own for repair. My friend is going to see if he sees any obviously bad components on the board but unless we get lucky I expect I end up with very well made case. So now I need to so figure out the least cost way to get the panels lit up again. Its already winter in NH and I am not that enthusiastic about setting up staging with water dripping off the roof and freezing so I would really like to do any fixes inside. One big plus is I knew that PV systems and their configuration was changing so when I wired the panels instead of daisy chaining the leads and homerunning two conductors to my string inverter I had a bunch of #8 THHN someone gave me so I ran the output of each panel down to a terminal box in the basement and did the string configuration in the terminal box. Small grid tied string inverters just are not made these days so the current plan is pick up some used microinverters and hook up each panel to its own inverter down in the basement. This is pushing the "replacement in kind" provision in the code so in the spring I will remount the microinverters on the back of the panels so the installation complies with the new rapid shutdown provisions required in the current code. I am not planning to put in any sort of monitoring, the outputs will be paralleled and run through my original ammeter and then tied in with my other PV arrays.
My goal is to keep this array running as long as I live in the house. If I elect to sell I will take the array down to get the clutter off the front of the house and then it will go dark permanently unless I can come up with new place to install it.
