The solar panels are official! The electric company had told us we could run them long enough to be sure they were working but they didn’t want them on full time til they came out and inspected everything and installed the new meter. We didn’t have to go with the full smart meter . . the one we got isn’t connected to anything through satellites or internet.
Not sure if you can see it, and this is the old meter, but it’s spinning backwards. There’s a little black marker thing that goes around every now and then and when you see it, you’ll be able to notice it’s going backwards. When the meter is turning backwards, we’re sending power back to the utility company. When it’s spinning forward, we’re getting power from them. It’s all pretty interesting.
The bad news is . . there’s the neatest website where I can sign into our account and watch real time what all the solar panels are doing. This was last night after dark, and shows that we produced 30.1 kW yesterday. The system was turned off til the inspector got here about 1:30 p.m. so that means we would have produced 50+ kW if the system had been running all day.
Solar Monitoring
So, instead of getting anything done today, I’ll be watching this to see what’s going on out there. The new will wear off and I’ll forget about it but for now, I think it’s so interesting.
Vivian Oaks says
Must be GREAT to be able to send power back to the power company, instead of having to buy it from them!! I hope it saves you LOTS of money!!! Living in the Pittsburgh, PA area, we only average 70 days of sun a year, so it would be cost-prohibitive, and really not worth the effortf. (Not that we could afford it anyway, but it sounds wonderful. Just don’t spend too much time watching the meter run backwards!! You have sewing to do!! 🙂
Carolyn says
So cool! or well maybe hot!
Carolyn says
So cool! or well maybe hot!
Dottie N. says
How fun to watch the meter going backward! And I know that’s what I’d be doing. My neighbor installed solar panels last fall and her hubby took a picture of her pointing at the meter showing it running backward. Fun, fun, fun!
Judy D in WA says
I think this is so amazing and cool! How do you think up building a website that monitors your solar panels.
Now you can multitask–sit around knitting and keeping an eye on the solar panels while they work! 🙂 🙂 🙂
shirley bruner says
I love reading about all the things you do. you are my ‘test person’. i see how it all works for you….then decide if i want to do it. thank you for keeping me informed and amused. congratulations on the solar….that is awesome.
Katie Z. says
Woohoo! The ability to watch real time online is amazing and definitely worth spending time on.
Sheryl says
That is so neat. I’d be watching too!
Rebecca in SoCal says
*giggle* I wonder how much power you’re using to watch how much power you’re producing! I realize it’s negligible, but the image crossed my mind. 😉