[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by skumare

In the past eight days, my 3KW system @ Hyd is showing a peak generation of 2500..3000W (83% to 99.8% of installed capacity), a sudden departure

Hi SK, just a quick question. What is the generation capacity % during cloudy weather or when the panel is not under direct sunlight (e. g. shadow on panels)?

[skumare]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

What is the generation capacity % during cloudy weather or when the panel is not under direct sunlight (e. g. shadow on panels)?

Currently, it is dark, raining in my location, generation is 250 to 500w. In general, I see that the generation from 16:30 to 18:00 varies between 600w to 200W (in a 3KW system with 9*330W poly panels), this is when the light starts to fade and a shadow is cast from an apartment complex in the vicinity.

In general, the system will be viable if you can have no (man-made) shadow from 9..10am to 3..4pm. Attached is a snapshot of generation on a typical summer day (Jun/07). It reaches 1000W by 9am and crosses it backwards at 4pm.

[ajayc123]

And how much does a 3 kw setup cost? How much area is needed?

[skumare]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

And how much does a 3 kw setup cost? How much area is needed?

2L for a subsidized 3KW system incl elevated structure, each 330W panel is (2*1=) 2sqmt. For more details, pls refer the last 3..4 pages on this thread.

[Durango Dude]

Pardon my saying but I've vivid memories of a storm that hit Chennai in 2016 and it uprooted trees and must've damaged the solar panels too as the Sheet roofing on the terrace of some houses were just blown away. The structure anchoring the solar panels look rather flimsy will they be able to withstand gale force winds and storm. Just imagine after taking all the troubles of setting up the solar panel if storm blows it away: all that trouble, effort and money spent would really be "Gone with the wind"...

[Captain Slow]

Sorry if this post is not relevant -

I have started noticing some black marks/stains on our solar panels - Is this normal? The panels are close to a year old.


Are these panels getting damaged due to water/moisture buildup? Can this Cause the panels to degrade faster? I was told these panels have a 15-year warranty!

[aim120]

Who is the manufacturer of that panel. Is it on all the panels or just one panel. Is it on the positive side or the negative side, look under the panel. Also check the area where its become dark on the back side, to see if there is dark or black marks.

Causes for this could be many reasons moisture inside, PID( potential induced degradation), dust present on the corner caused it over heat.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by aim120

Who is the manufacturer of that panel. Is it on all the panels or just one panel. Is it on the positive side or the negative side, look under the panel. Also check the area where its become dark on the back side, to see if there is dark or black marks.

Causes for this could be many reasons moisture inside, PID( potential induced degradation), dust present on the corner caused it over heat.

These are waaree panels , I see these marks on all the panels towards the corners.
Its only on the top side of the panels. Will this cause any problems ? Can this spread ?

[aim120]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

These are waaree panels , I see these marks on all the panels towards the corners.
Its only on the top side of the panels. Will this cause any problems ? Can this spread ?

It can spread to more regions of the effected solar cells. But I doubt it will spread to another cell. But if this is due to PID, then it can effect more cells.

Its will certainly have a effect on panel output, these things are best diagnosed with a thermal imaging camera, which will show which cells is causing issues.

[Durango Dude]

With so many problems with setting up and getting the solar panels, no wonder there hasn't been wide spread acceptance of this tech at least in India. It's maintenance intensive (more so than a car or bike that moves) God knows what substandard material we may be saddled with by the seller/contractor, whether the warranty will be honored or not or whether the seller/contractor will be around or just vanish. I'd rather have the regular electricity supply and have an inverter or a genset rather than this fickle thing from an unorganized sector with 0 credibility. Even inverter batteries need distilled water: the hybrid battery pack will also need this and battery will degrade with time and will need to be replaced say every 2-3 years and on top of it maintenance. And who is to clean the pigeon poo that most of our houses have?? In less than a month the whole panel will be splattered with pigeon poo.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by skumare

In the past eight days, my 3KW system @ Hyd is showing a peak generation of 2500..3000W (83% to 99.8% of installed capacity), a sudden departure from the previous average high of 1800w? I guess the panels are washed in the rains and are more efficient in the cool climate, but want to confirm if others are also seeing the same kind of numbers.

On the same note, the total generation on Jun/15 was 25.3 units, while for the rest of the month so far the max is 15 units. I am wondering if this is a malfunction of the system or can a 3KW system generate 25 units on a day with clean panels, good light and cool climate?

My 3kw unit generates about 15 units with good sunlight. I live in Bangalore - so obviously we cannot compare apples to oranges here.
However, I do think there is some issue if your own system was earlier generating 15units and now generating 25. Do you have a meter that measures the output of the panels?
Also, it may be genuine too as the rains may have washed the panels. However, I always thought that the 3kw was like the ARAI mileage - and realistically I have only seen peaks of 2.7kw once in a while. 3kw on a 3kw system is possible, but not likely is my opinion. If your meter also verifies your numbers then I think it's good news for you

[jkrishnakj]

Its been a year and many months since my installation and I have never bothered about the upkeep of the panels. Seems fine to me thus far. Is there some kind of preventive maintenance required?

[skumare]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

However, I do think there is some issue if your own system was earlier generating 15units and now generating 25. Do you have a meter that measures the output of the panels?

It happened only one day and now that I think about it, to generate 25units, it needs to be at 100% (3KW) capacity for 8hr, and the image for that day doesn't reflect that. Maybe a system malfunction. Rest of this month is fine and showing normal figures.

[Swarup5]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

With so many problems with setting up and getting the solar panels, no wonder there hasn't been wide spread acceptance of this tech at least in India. It's maintenance intensive (more so than a car or bike that moves) God knows what substandard material we may be saddled with by the seller/contractor, whether the warranty will be honored or not or whether the seller/contractor will be around or just vanish. I'd rather have the regular electricity supply and have an inverter or a genset rather than this fickle thing from an unorganized sector with 0 credibility. Even inverter batteries need distilled water: the hybrid battery pack will also need this and battery will degrade with time and will need to be replaced say every 2-3 years and on top of it maintenance. And who is to clean the pigeon poo that most of our houses have?? In less than a month the whole panel will be splattered with pigeon poo.

Our installation of 5KW( grid-connected i.e without battery) is running fine for the last 8 years. There is a fear of the unknown and the hefty initial investment which keeps masses away from such installations. Over time, I have seen multiple installations coming up that are cleverly offsetting their ever-increasing electricity bills. A simple and small 3KW power unit on the rooftop can take care of all the power bills and even give back some money if there is a surplus( all this for around 2L at this juncture).
On the cleaning part, as the saying goes "No pain, No Gain", there are automatic cleaning sprinklers and cleaning equipment which make cleaning more or less easy.

I'm no affiliate with anyone. But this is one such investment which has given better returns than all LIC policies I ever had in my past

Now we have reached the breakeven point and getting positive returns for the next many years to come.

[skumare]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

With so many problems with setting up and getting the solar panels, no wonder there hasn't been wide spread acceptance of this tech at least in India.
The volume is improving, albeit slowly.
It's maintenance intensive (more so than a car or bike that moves) God knows what substandard material we may be saddled with by the seller/contractor, whether the warranty will be honored or not or whether the seller/contractor will be around or just vanish.
For an on-grid system, it's zero maintenance except the occassional cleaning of panels, that too if you can't wait for the rains.
I'd rather have the regular electricity supply and have an inverter or a genset rather than this fickle thing from an unorganized sector with 0 credibility.
Tata, Adani, Luminous etc are the corporates who are offering end-to-end solutions, both on-grid and off-grid. The service credibility need to be ascertained,but so far, so good.
Even inverter batteries need distilled water: the hybrid battery pack will also need this and battery will degrade with time and will need to be replaced say every 2-3 years and on top of it maintenance.
Exactly, if you have an off-grid system, you will need to top up the batteries like what we do for inverter batteries, nothing less, nothing more.

Overall, the technology is now mature and ready for mass deployment, the eco-system will improve as more of us adopt the same.