007 RED

@PR3 Glad to hear that you're on the mend. Covid can knock you for 6, but then to get type A flue on top as well is shear bad luck.  Take things easy.

Sorry to hear that the CT is not doing what it should despite having tried all the combination that have been suggested.  It is a possibility, albeit remote, that the CT is faulty.  Hopefully  Sofar can give you some additional pointers.

Having a panel shatter is not something that happens every day.  It is possible, as you said, that the downpour caused a thermal shock, but personally l think the odds on that happening are very slim. You didn't mention, but if the cracking/crazing is horizontal across the panel, it might have been caused by thermal expansion of the glass withe the retaining clamps being to tight.  Lets hope the manufacturer arranges with your supplier to provide a replacement asap.

As l said earlier, take thing easy, relax and have another beer.  There's always tomorrow.

Good luck.

22 hours ago, Crossy said:

Floating panels also reduce evaporation loss from reservoir surfaces, so there's no need for those awful (and potentially polluting) floating plastic balls.

 

 

Just for clarity for the uninitiated.  Tthe solar panels are not actually floating on (touching) the water.  They are normally mounted on some form of pontoon which holds them above the water surface which allows air to circulate under them and helps reduce the heat that is generated by the photovoltaic process.

My old faithful PC had been running Windows 8.1 Pro for a good few years.  Main use has been processing my digital wildlife photos using Photoshop.  Because Microsoft announced that they were ceasing security support for Windows 8.1 with effect from January 2023, I considered opting for their free upgrade to Windows 10.  However, on running their upgrade tool I discovered that my hardware was not compatible for the upgrade.

I, therefore, decided late last year that it was time to build a new PC with a high end spec and install Windows 11 Pro.  All went well with the build, and the installation of Windows 11 Pro was a sinch.

The only problem that I initially encountered was getting to grips with the layout of the operating system, namely, where everything was located and then modifying file locations to suite my needs.  It was quite a learning curve for a 76 year old.  That said, I’ve been using it now for about 5 months and so far I’ve found it a very reliable operating system.

The only gripe that I have is that it seems to take somewhat longer to boot up than my old PC with Windows 8.1, but that is possibly just me being a little impatient.

@CLW my system is considerably smaller that those run by @Crossy, @Bandersnatch and @KhunLA.

My small scale system comprises:  4 x 415W mono half cut panels connected in series to a 2200W Sofar grid tied inverter.  No ESS involved.  Old type meter spins backwards (naughty).  The build was DIY, so no labour costs other than my time and effort.  Total cost of hardware was 28,000 THB.  I originally estimated a ROI of 2.5 years.

As at the date of commissioning, the local PEA was charging us 4.2 THB per unit, and I've continued to use this figure to calculate my ROI, even though the cost per unit has recently increase.  The system has now been running for just over 17 months and has generated approximately 4030 units, which at 4.2 per unit equates to a saving of 16,926 THB.  Obviously if I took the recent price increase into account the ROI period would be reduced.

So, yes even a small scale solar system can be a worthwhile investment.

Not wishing to sound paranoid, but not only will dust, dirt and bird <deleted> affect the output of your solar panels, atmospheric pollution will play havoc with your output.

This morning started off with a good sunrise and blue sky.  My system ‘kicked into life’ around 06:30 am as normal (as shown in the graph below). As the sun climbed above the horizon there was steady build-up of output power which is what I would normally expect.  Then at about 10:30 am there was a dramatic fall-off in output from 0.97kW down to 0.25kW over the next hour.

On going outside, it was evident that there was a high altitude haze which was obviously effecting the sunlight’s ability to get through to the panels.  A quick check on my simple light meter gave a reading of 34,000 LUX.  The previous day, at about the same time, with a clear sky, it was reading 60,000 LUX.  Quite a dramatic drop.

A further check on my PM2.5 meter showed a reading of 92 ug/m3 (as shown below), which indicates extremely poor air quality.

As will be seen from the above graph there seems to be an initial improvement in sunlight getting onto the panels, followed by further sudden decreases.  I assume this is because the density of high altitude pollution is moving about and decent sunshine is occasionally able to get through.

I can’t say that I’m complaining.  Since the meter reader came 20 days ago, my small scale system has produced 176 units and we’ve only needed to purchase the grand total of 19 units for our local PEA.  At this rate our next bill is likely to be even smaller than the previous one (70.82 THB).

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

Here we go with the February numbers.

 

Definitely a month of two halves. Lowest production was 8.9kWh on the 15th, best was a dead heat at 40.9kWh on the 25th and 26th. 

 

Although my system is minuscule compared to yours, our production graphs for February is almost identical to yours, apart from the numbers that is.

The 15th was a real strange day. It was as though someone upstairs forgot to 'light the candle' in the morning and turned the 'shower' full on instead.   There was ZERO production between 08:30 and 11.30, as seen from the graph below, resulting in my small scale system only producing 1.75kW that day.

As you will have seen from my original post over a year ago, it would appear that I live in a fairly polluted area which results in my 4 x 450W half cut mono solar panels mounted on my carport roof continually suffering from dust/dirt problems.

Several members have suggested that this is not really a problem as the efficiency loss caused by dust accumulating on the panels is minimal, and that one should not become paranoid about cleaning them.

However, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accumulation of dust and dirt on solar panels is a significant issue and can reduce the output of the photovoltaic panels by as much as 30% in just one month, so regular cleaning is essential.

https://news.mit.edu/2022/solar-panels-dust-magnets-0311#:~:text=But the accumulation of dust,is essential for such installations

OK, so about every other month I’ve climbed up onto the carport roof just after dawn, hosed the panels down to loosen the dirt/dust and this is followed with a gentle soft ‘scrub’.  I then give the panels a squeegee and final dry-off with a microfiber cloth to minimize any water residue.

I have to say it has been difficult (well impossible) to quantify what the output improvements might have been achieved after cleaning the panels, mainly because sun conditions change throughout the day and from day to day.

The one serious concern that I have is walking on the cement panel roof of the carport.  If one panel was to crack it would mean a fall of about 4 meters onto the concrete drive below, and at 76 YoA that could be a very expensive trip to the hospital, or possibly a cheaper trip to the local temple.

In an attempt to make the cleaning process possibly safer I am considering constructing a walkway next to the lower edge of the carport roof which would facilitate easier cleaning from a safer position.  To complement this, I decided late last year to investigate the possibility of obtaining a ‘professional’ solar panel cleaning brush and after some investigation/searching on the internet, I decided on a single head electric power brush with a telescopic handle that will reach the panels from the potential walkway.  Several companies offer such equipment and I opted to use Neexgent Energy Co. on Alibaba.

The normal price of the kit is in the region of 14K THB, plus shipping and customs costs.  However, after some negotiations with the company rep, I managed to secure a great deal for a kit for just 10K THB, including shipping and customs cost.  I placed an order, and the kit was delivered to my door in about 10 days. No customs charge.

The kit comprises: -  a 35cm nylon brush assembly; a 24V DC motor; a control/connection box (incorporating a small DC water pump); an AC/DC converter plus adapters; a 2.1 to 7.5 meter telescopic handle; water hoses and connectors.

Assembly was self-intuitive and extremely simple.  On turning on the control box switches the motor spins the brush assembly (about 300RPM) and water is fed to the brush at a flow of about 18 L/M.

My first attempt at cleaning the panels was from a tall ‘A’ type ladder placed by the lower edge of the carport roof.  Using the telescopic handle fully extended (7.5 meters) I was able to access all surfaces of the 4 panels.  However, control of the brush head was quite difficult because of the centrifugal force generated by the brush rotating at 300 RPM and I have to say that I felt a little uncomfortable not being fully in control.

My second attempt was made using my original method, namely getting onto the carport roof.  This meant that I only needed to extent the telescopic handle for 2.5 meters, and this gave me complete control over the brush head.  The panels certainly looked very clean when I finished.

Although the new ‘toy’ certainly makes cleaning the panels much easier, they still need to be dried off afterwards.  I just wonder if something like a wet/dry vacuum cleaner (Mr Henry) would work?

It may just be circumstantial but comparing the output of the system the day before against the day after cleaning, there appears to be a slight increase in power produced by the system, but as I said this may just be circumstantial.

So next priority is to get a walkway constructed.

I had both eyes done early last year (each eye done a month apart) at Ramathibodi hospital in BKK (Government Hospital).  Have to say the doc and staff were wonderful and I'm 100% pleased with the results.

Prior to having the ops done, the doc discussed the various options regarding lenses.  He suggested that in my case long sighted lenses would be best for me.  This would mean that I would have very good sight when looking at anything further than an arms length away, but I would find that reading print in a book or computer may be blurred.  However, this near sighted problem would be easily overcome by reading glasses.  His logic was that I spend 80 plus % of my day time life looking at things further than arms length away and less than 20% looking at things closer, hence, I would only need to wear glasses for a short time.  He was 100% spot on.

I would confirm that the procedure is done as a 'day case', in an out in an afternoon.  The op actually only takes about 30 minutes.  The eye is anesthetized so you don't feel any discomfort.  The eye was covered for 24 hours after the op, and I had a follow up examination next day.  I was advised to avoid rubbing my eye or getting water into it when showering for a week after the op.

Prior to the first op I was quoted 40K THB for each eye.  No problem, my sight is precious to me.   After the op, and prior to discharge, the staff nurse presented me with the bill.   SHOCK !!!!  it was only 10K THB.  Obviously I questioned why the bill had been reduced from 40K to 10K THB.  It transpired that because my Thai wife was a civil servant (now retired) I am apparently partially covered by her ex-employer's health system.  So both eyes done for 20K THB.

As anticipated, the meter reader came this afternoon and posted the lowest bill into our post box since I installed our small scale solar system onto the car port roof some 16 months ago.

Thanks to some decent sunshine during the past 28 days, our little system has managed to generate 184 units, which has meant that we only needed to purchase 26 units from our local PEA in order to meet our household needs during the current billing month.

It will be seen from the above graph, the system didn't generate anything on the 27 and 28 January.  This was because of the good sunshine, the system was producing far more than we were using and as a result our meter reading was in 'substantial negative territory'.  So just to be safe I turned the system off for a couple of days.

As will be seen from the above PEA bill, we only need to purchase the grand total of 26, which has cost us 70.82 THB.  As mentioned earlier, this is the lowest bill we've had since I installed the system 16 months ago.

Also, I note that for some unknown reason, we seem to have two FT discounts of -23.93 THB and -46.28 THB.  I thought that the FT discount had been discontinued.... Not that I'm complaining.

@gamb00ler  Have to say that looks a really great job and I hope that you get your monies worth out of it.  Definitely something well above the 'pay grade' of the average DIYer like me.  WELL DONE.

5 hours ago, MJCM said:

Update and a heads up:

 

Re the Visit, no news. We still have our old METER but will wait and see what tmrw brings.

 

Heads up: Because this month is February, which is shorter then "normal" months our Meter reader already comes tmrw so for the guys that EXPORT, turn it off today.

 

Our Meter reader normal schedule is:

- Months with 31 days he comes on the 16th

- Months with 30 days he comes on the 15th

- February No Leap Year he comes on the 13th

- February Leap year (2024) he comes on the 14th.

Like you, my meter reading is due tomorrow according to my past records.  So this morning I switched my small scale system into NO EXPORT mode just in case the meter reader makes an early appearance.

As of this morning, my little system has generated 176 Units and we've only need to purchase 23 Units from the local PEA during the current billing period.  This will result in the smallest bill that we've ever had. 

Because of the good sunshine that we've been having during the past month, I even turned the system off for a couple of days because the meter was in serious negative reading at one time.  I just hope that the local PEA don't suspect something suspicious with the low reading and decide to investigate or replace the meter ????????. 

@p414 Please don't kill them.

Golden tree snakes, and all of the whip snake family, are great climbers and basically harmless to humans. 

Yes, as @Liverpool Lou has indicated, they are venomous.  But unlike cobras, pit vipers etc who have fangs at the front of their mouth and can easily puncture a hand/arm/leg when striking, the golden trees snake only has very small fangs at the very back of their mouth which makes very difficult for them to envenomate a human, given their relatively small size.

The venom of the golden tree snake is very effective at quickly paralyzing its prey e.g. small frogs/toads/lizards/insects.  However, if a human is envenomated by a golden tree snake (often on the finger), its affect is very mild e.g. stinging sensation and mild swelling.  People who normally suffer from allergic reactions to stings/bites etc would be advised to seek medical advice as a precaution.

Ops.... Official meter reading on the 16th was 8172.... Self-meter reading this morning 26th = 8160. ????

According to the monitoring facility, our small scale GTI system has generated 74 units during the past 10 days.

Obviously with the spate of reasonable sunshine recently, the system has been producing more than we have been using, so now we have a negative meter reading which is definitely something that I would not want our local PEA to become aware of. 

As a result my system is taking a 'forced holiday' for a few days to allow the meter to return into positive numbers.  Our next official meter reading next month is on, or about the 13th, so time to rectify the situation.  Good job that I check the PEA meter every so often.

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Mars is starting to look attractive, sign me up Elon..

Are you really sure about that?  Below is a picture of Elon's economy class launch system which he has purchased from the Bun Bang Fai (rocket festival). 

Photo = Getty Image