Bad Year for RE

[ChrisOlson]

Well, another year gone by.  And we're down 500 kWh in energy production from what we generated in 2011.  Mostly due to day after day after day of 100+ degree heat in July and August with virtually no wind.  And the poorest wind conditions in December on record here.

We increased our solar installed capacity from 2.0 kW in 2011 to 3.0 kW in 2012.  But more installed solar capacity didn't help at all for winter time power production.  So we get 75 watts from the solar panels on an average day now instead of 50 watts.  Wow.  A wind turbine just toying with a light breeze can do that.  Should've put up another tower and wind turbine instead.

The generator has made up the difference - 143 hours more on the generator this year than we put on it in 2011.  We did swap out our Generac for a Honda generator.  That was a huge improvement.  The Honda is actually reliable.  It even starts without any drama in cold weather.

I spent many hours swearing at that Generac for the last two years.  And spent many cell phone minutes with Generac, complaining about it.  They never did fix all of its problems.  In fact, they didn't fix any of it's problems.  I fixed it when I carried it out in back of the shop with the skid steer loader and dumped it on its side in a heap.  It's still there.  Covered with snow.  Junk.  And it's got three years of warranty left on it.  A warranty that means absolutely nothing because the people who built it don't care.  Maybe someday I'll be able to sell it to somebody who wants a lawn ornament that says "Generac" on it.  Did sell the 500 gallon LP tank for it though - that went in the first week I ran the Craigslist ad for it.

We switched our system from 24V to 48V this year and replaced our 4024's with a 5548 and a Outback PSX-240.  That was a good move.  Running a single larger inverter is much more efficient than dual stacked inverters.  And our Classic controllers like it too.  They run cooler on 48V.

And we got rid of the old outdoor wood boiler and put in a Cummins 45 kVA three-phase cogen for heat and power in my big equipment shop.  That was a good move.  Actually saves on diesel fuel compared to what it used to require to harvest and process wood to heat the shop.  In 2013 I'm going to experiment with making biodiesel to run that Cummins with.  And we're hooking it up to the house so we got central AC in the house for this next summer.

I'm not complaining.  2012 was a good year.  But I think 2013 will be better.
--
Chris

[smidy]

when you start thinking future wont be beter than it is now its bad  your doing a great work with your energysystem. pleased to follow the evolotion of your system. happy new year!

[DamonHD]

Well, my grid-tie PV generation at home was down to almost bang on the PVGIS prediction at 3778kWh (from 3988kWh last year; a bigger fall than I expected).

However, natural gas use (DHW/SH/cooking) was down a bit too (to 3707kWh from 3936kWh the year before), and electricity consumption down a whisker (to 1542kWh) so we stayed carbon-negative for electricity and gas, so we stayed carbon negative.  The same as last year or a little less negative, all within noise levels.  Which is good since this year is significantly less mild than last (~25% more heating degree days) even if nothing like as harsh as the one before.

Raw yearly summary data in ASCII art with cryptic names:

Code: [Select]

Year EkWh GkWh PVkWh EkgCO2 GkgCO1 kgCO2
2005 9700 9100     0   4171   1729  5900  Estimate/average
2006 9700 9100     0   4171   1729  5900  Estimate/average
2007 6968 9100     0   2996   1729  4695  Estimate/average
2008 2036 8883  -901    488   1688  2176
2009 1942 6201 -2958   -437   1178   741
2010 1554 5784 -3547   -857   1099   242
2011 1578 3936 -3988  -1037    748  -289  e@0.43kgCO2/kWh,g@0.19kgCO2/kWh
2012 1542 3707 -3778   -961    704  -257  e@0.43kgCO2/kWh,g@0.19kgCO2/kWh

HDD data:

Code: [Select]

Year HDD12
2005 1160 Estimate
2006 1160 Estimate
2007 1160 Estimate
2008 1063
2009 1080
2010 1403
2011  820
2012 1044 PARTIAL

Slightly less obtuse text here:
http://www.earth.org.uk/saving-electricity.html#meter2012

Rgds

Damon

PS. May have to eat my words when I double check all the calcs, etc.  %^P

PPS. Really looking forward to trying zoned heating: if I'd had it in place over (say) the last week when I've been in bed ill then I would have been able to heat just the bedroom, not the living room as well where the house stat is.  Knowing that was almost as bad as the stomach cramps...  Grrrr...

[Bruce S]

ChrisO;
Add up the man-hours you saved by switching to the Honda, then deduct that from your total add I'm thinking you'll be ahead. Don't forget the deduct the Wife's frustration levels too!
You get around to Bio-D, lets us know. There's a few on here who can hep you with that  .
IF the Co-generation unit is still under warranty, I'd check with them on there thoughts, so's you don't void the warranty.
Cheers!
Bruce S

[ChrisOlson]

IF the Co-generation unit is still under warranty, I'd check with them on there thoughts, so's you don't void the warranty.

It's a Cummins 4BT and it's EPA Tier III certified for B20 fuel.
--
Chris

[Mary B]

My small addition in July of 1.1kw of solar has produced 1 months worth of my yearly usage of electricity. Plus as my emergency backup it saved my butt 3 weeks ago when I lost power for 13 hours and it was -5. I will add more in the coming year, even if it is a panel at a time. Some for of vertical yard art in the future too. County shot down my request for an experimental zoning permit. Everything has to be UL approved.