Solar Update

When we put in our solar panels, some people told us it wouldn’t work in the winter.

House using 11.6 kW, 7 from solar and 4.6 from grid.

House using 11.6 kW, 7 from solar and 4.6 from grid.

Well, it’s winter, and the majority of our house’s power is still coming via solar. Right now the house is pulling a hefty 11.6 kW, because it’s climbed so far today to -5 degrees F (-20 C) and we’re working the heat pretty hard (we’re 100% electric), and 7 of those are coming directly from solar. Oh, and I should point out that we have 4 sets of solar panels, and 3 of them are completely covered in snow.

So theoretically, if we had all panels working, we’d still be on near-total solar even below zero. (I say near-total because we’re always tied to the utility grid.)

House using 6.2 kW, 5.6 from solar and .6 from grid (which seems to be default low/off).

House using 6.2 kW, 5.6 from solar and .6 from grid (which seems to be default low/off).

New Year’s Eve, when it was a warmer 10-15 degrees, we were getting nearly all our energy from that one array.

Yes, we should probably clear the snow from the other arrays to get maximum power. And yes, our solar system hasn’t been without problems, like the time that it killed all the vegetation in the area by causing autumn. But overall I’m very happy with them.

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6 Comments

  1. When we buy a house, I’d love to chat about solar!

  2. That is awesome to see. Really wanting to at least supplement with solar. When we get out to our own place that is the first investment.

    Curious what neighborhood it costs to get decent solar.

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