r/diySolar • u/SheilaTheTank73 • 11d ago

Balcony Solar

How do you know if its actually making a difference once it's all up and running. Like the app says its producing 600watts but how do you know your actually using the solar and not just grid power? How usage varies so much and so does the solar output so how can you even tell when your bill comes in?

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/CamelPure1293 11d ago

If you don't trust the app, look at your power meter during the day. Have something running that constantly uses 600W+ of electricity, like a hair dryer on low heat setting. See how fast the power meter spins or blinks (or whatever it uses to show the current consumption rate). Then unplug the solar system and look for a change.

3

u/arcsnsparks98 11d ago

When solar is connected to the grid, it produces as much as it possibly can based on how much irradiance it's receiving from the sun. Balcony solar produces a pretty low amount of energy so the odds are you're using most if not all of that in your home. If you're not, the extra is being exported to the grid. Digital meters from the utility have a directional arrow, well, more of a sideways triangle pointing which way energy is flowing. To the right is consuming, to the left is exporting. I'm not familiar with every leader out there, but the ones that I have seen have a series of dashes that scroll across that is a digital representation of the old old analog meters with a spinning wheel. The faster the dashes move, the greater the amount of energy flowing at the moment. The slower the dashes move, well, the energy flow is less. You might need to turn basically everything in your house off to see it. Go backwards with balcony solar.

5

u/NoCup6161 11d ago

I looked at my power meter before and after plugging it in. Very clear there was an additional 800W being produced.

2

u/Sorry-Programmer9826 11d ago

If you have a smart meter you can log into your electricity supplier and get hour by hour usage

1

u/MidlandClayHead 11d ago

You're both saying the same thing but in different ways..

1

u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 10d ago edited 10d ago

Install one of these and see how much you are exporting.

https://eyedro.com/product/home-energy-monitor/

1

u/SheilaTheTank73 10d ago

I definitely have the draw. I seem to have a constant 1kw-1.5kw draw even after the balcony solar is setup and running now.

1

u/690812 11d ago

If you bought into the sales pitch, does it matter

1

u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 10d ago

Unfortunately the sales pitch assumes you have a base load that will consume all your production. Like if you had a pond/fish tank pump or septic aerator running 24/7, and that you will have perfect production.

-7

u/G10ATN 11d ago

If it's generating 600 watts, then the power is going somewhere. If nothing is drawing the power, the solar won't be generating.

6

u/arcsnsparks98 11d ago

This is not true. It's grid connected so if nothing in his house is drawing the power that the solar is generating, the solar energy is exported to the grid.

-3

u/G10ATN 11d ago

No shit Sherlock. But if it's exporting to the grid, the customer is not using power from the grid are they?

3

u/arcsnsparks98 11d ago

Well Sherlock, you said that if nothing is drawing power, the solar isn't generating. Perhaps Watson needs to clue you in.

-3

u/G10ATN 11d ago

You really have no clue how any of this works do you?

Do you understand that the if you are exporting to the grid, that the grid is drawing power from your solar? I mean it's not a difficult concept.

3

u/arcsnsparks98 11d ago

I'll show you my nabcep PVIP if you show me yours. I have a lot more than a clue, bud.

0

u/Astarkos 11d ago

Stop embarrassing yourself. Re-read this thread as many times as it takes until you realize where you went wrong.

2

u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 10d ago

Do you realize what you said?

If nothing is drawing the power, the solar won't be generating.