Here is the latest table by Jan 2012.



The winter drop is very visible, maybe January could be better than December. Days get already longer and this can close the gap. Weather is cold but we do have some sunny days. Approaching the 1 MWhr milestone.

Here the latest stats for February. Thevery sunny weather we had (very cold too) has contributed to an excellent production rate compared to January. At that rate the 1.5 MWhr milestone should be passed in March.

bump

Very Very nice!!!
I didn't have an email notification for this thread, so I'm only seeing it now, but still very much enjoyed! So translating that to feet (because even in canada they are using feet for somethings and I lived in the US for 30 years)it is roughly 22 by 22 of panels. So about 500 sq feet. I just calculated the sq footage of my panels (not trying to compete just curious). My 41' X 11' is 451 sq ft. Assuming i did the math right. So your panels will do roughly 6 to 7 KW somewhere in there, since mine will do 6 (theoretical max i believe). 6KW for $22,500 (canadian, roughly the same as the US). In Dec, I was quoted (same guy) 5.76 KW for closer to 24,000. Since then they have upped the panels from 240 watt to 250 watt, thereby getting me the full 6KW theoretical max. This includes it ALL. Permits, electrical and building, racking install, the whole 9 yards. I also got the black racking instead of silver. Painted is all the dif it makes I think slightly more exp. Also I got micro inverters, because for 4 months of the year, I am shaded by my 2 story neighbor. Sometimes fully, sometimes partially. And Dec 21 is only about 7.5 hours in Edmonton, Alberta. (June 21 is 16 hours I think or 16.5?) So the micro inverters mean that even if half my panels are in sun, half in shade (as about the end of January they are) I will get power production from the half that are in sun. I want every watt I can squeeze out of them. Of course from Oct to April the problem is bigger than my neighbors house, it's that funny white stuff that is RIGHT NOW FALLING IN EDMONTON... I already changed my tires over to summer... Seriously I'm cleaning out my garage this summer, and getting a snowblower. That's less than 5 months without snow! AND it can snow in may (has the last 2 out of 3 years on the long weekend at the end of the month)and in september(though that is rare) so those 5 months are spotty. Really if we get another housing bubble, I'm selling it all and going to live in a solar covered air conditioned trailer in Arizona.

Oh another cool solar thing is that I can get live metering at home, or even on my phone (I have a boring job this will help). The website will give me charts and graphs so I can watch production. Sadly I'm starting in June, potentially the best month so it will only get worse, but I'm curious to see how each month compares. I will post pictures and eventually some charts.

On how much it will save me, that's tough to get exact. The solar guy estimates I will get 7200KW in a year. Since I flatline somewhere in around Dec and dont come back til Feb. Well that's not quite true, but even what isn't shaded will likely be covered with snow, and without enuf sun exposure likely wont melt. At 20 to 40 below zero (celcius though at 40 below it's the same as F) I'm not going to clear it. Saw a video of snow melting off panels even though it was below zero out. Apparently the sun penetrates the panels and the black panels warm up melting the snow. Unless it snows a LOT overnight and it's too thick to penetrate. I shall see.

So I pay 8.45 or 8.54 cents a KW, I can't remember so I'm calling it 8.5 They will pay me 15 cents a KW for everything that I produce that flows back into the grid This means that during the day while both my wife and I are working less power used most going back to the grid. Lets take 21 June at 17 hours 3 mins sun. I'm going to assume that I get 12 full hours (angle of the sun and all) for easy figuring. At 15 cents for 12 hours, that's $9.90 Lets say with my computers running (about 300 watts) all the energy 'vampires' like clock radios, all the little clocks and menus lit up on coffee pots and microwaves, the stupid cable box (I hear they use 30 watts on, and like 27 in standby how lame is that, and even some while 'off') Even the TV is using some in standby. Not to mention our huge Samsung 36" wide fridge is always cooling something (freezer or top). So I'm going to guess 400 to 500 watts/hour. I'll use 400 cuz i'm hoping. And I'll pretend we are gone for those 12 hours. It's pretty close maybe 11. 12 hours at 400 watts is 4.8 KW So If i make 66 KW, that's pretty insignificant amount. (I'm using 5.5 because I'm assuming 6KW is theoretical)

I'm wondering, how many months will the money made at 15 cents overrun the bill at 8.5 cents plus admin fee plus distribution fee plus tax etc etc etc. Sure June July and Aug I'm sure are guaranteed. Can I break even or better in sep? This will be fun to see. What I'm tempted to do is turn em off for day (computers) to make the 15 cents an hour and run em at night when it's cheaper and cooler. (why heat up the house) I used to overclock in winter and tone it down for summer for the computers sake, but now with liquid cooling it isn't so necessary. Almost certainly I will run the computers per normal, as I believe in the science, and I'm trying to double my points from 80 million last year to 160 million this year. GPU crunching has helped.

As I said somewhere else, I hate coal. Half the electricity we get is from coal in alberta. We get 300+ days of sun a year (supposedly) Solar is going to take off like crazy soon. The payback time for my system (estimating $800 a year in savings) is 28 years. The new panels will be closer to 30% efficient rather than 20, in just a couple years. Should that happen, they will be almost everywhere. And when power companies start making less money they will jack the rates which will make more panels sprout up. And when battery/capacitor/unk energy storage dev technology becomes affordable/reliable more and more people will go off grid.

That's enough rambling for this morning, Im going for my 2nd cup of and then going to reread this thread (except my post) I'm done.

Edit: So i did the math at 24/7 crunching for my 3 comps is 219 KW a month. Just over 18 dollars. (not including taxes fees etc). So at least I know I'm going to produce FAR FAR more power than they use). Might have to fire another one up

@Hypernova: Have you ever considered a mini-split A/C unit for the room where your crunchers are located? Would be a fairly economical way to keep the room cool all year round IMHO.