Dolavim.us » solar

82kWh’s January 2012

tpepper — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:20:39 +0000

Many days last month were dry/clear, but there was enough haze or scattered clouds to get in the way of the energy that could’ve been hitting our solar panels. The next two weeks are likely to be sunny given the current forecast. It’ll be interesting to see how it compares to last year which also had a lot of sun in February. The plants I’ve put in the cold frame this year are doing well and are in there a month ahead of last year. This sun is definitely going to benefit them…might be eating salad greens (this year’s starts), plus kale and broccoli (overwintered) from the back yard by the end of the month!

Fall/winter solar output

tpepper — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:53:15 +0000

Oct. 2011: 132 kWh Nov. 2011: 93 kWh Dec. 2011: 90 kWh Despite it being a fairly dry fall and a very dry start of winter, it’s also been foggy and hazy a lot so we’ve not been generating as … Continue reading →

Sept. 2011 solar output == 284 kWh

tpepper — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:45:41 +0000

Not horrible I guess especially considering what I recall as a fairly dreary month. It was more than last year’s September, slightly less than 2009. This year and last year it feels like summer hardly happened. It makes me curious: assuming there is climate change, are there newer models that maybe show the pacific northwest being colder and wetter in the future or are earlier ones which tended to show this region becoming warmer and drier still what is being predicted by the expert future predictors? The summer we moved here there was at least a week’s worth of individual days in the 100′s, probably two or three weeks worth of days in the 90s and then 70/80F in between. That’s a pretty ideal summer in my book. Maybe next year?

342kWh’s for August 2011

tpepper — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 23:17:13 +0000

I was chatting about solar briefly at work today and realized I’d forgotten to note down our August production this year. At 342kWh’s for the month we might have had a near zero dollar billing cycle. The meter probably gets … Continue reading →

Ugh..where’s summer? 244kWh June solar panel output

tpepper — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:20:06 +0000

Last summer I’d have said it couldn’t have been a cooler, wetter summer in the Portland area. Until this summer. Last year’s June output from our solar panels was 251kWh. This year it was 244kWh…a few percent less. July’s on … Continue reading →

259kWh’s in May

tpepper — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:41:19 +0000

We’re right on track with last year’s murky spring weather, which had 267kWh’s produced by our solar panels in May.

Our household’s electricity consumption is actually way up this year. It appears to primarily be from the fact that Jenn’s gone on a bread baking bender. We basically don’t buy bread any more thanks to the delicious homemade breads she’s churning out. But I really notice the expense of baking in an electric oven. On the bright side that just means the panels pay for themselves faster since it trims more consumption out of the higher priced tiers.

It would be nice if the weather improved and I could get my tomato plants in the ground. I’m looking forward to bruschetta with some home made sourdough bread and fresh garden tomatoes. Maybe in July.

241kWh April 2011

tpepper — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:39:08 +0000

April’s weather wasn’t horrible…for April in the Pacific Northwest anyway. Our solar output for the month was comparable to March and June of 2010. Here’s hoping some sunny warm weather finds its way here by summer this year.

130kWh in March

tpepper — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:23:53 +0000

It rained almost every day in March 2011. We produced even less electricity than in February. But the sun and a day off of work today is almost making up for it.

Sunnier February

tpepper — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:28:38 +0000

We had almost double the sun I think in February vs. January, especially if averaged by the number of days in the month since this was a short month. We got 139kWh’s of electricity from the sun anyway. The two week forecast doesn’t appear to have anything but rain, wind and cold. So much for it having felt like spring was just around the corner.

But planning for its eventual arrival I did get seed potato this weekend: Yellow Finn, Dark Red Norland, and Purple Majesty. It’s cut and being encouraged to sprout in the mud room. After winter must come spring…

80kWh January 2011

tpepper — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:02:58 +0000

It’s winter and cloudy. 80kWh’s produced though is probably around 10% of what we consume this time of year. So it’s something. With some sunny weather forecast and the days getting longer February might be better.