I don't yet have a good monitoring solution so I'm going to just do Monthly Total Generation and Maximum Generation stats. So far it's looking good, even without my tree being trimmed so that the solar array is blocked at least partially every day here is what I generated:
Max Generated: 6686 W
Total Generated: 620KWh
So by my calculations from my records, even in winter with my system not receiving all the light it should because of my tree (getting that fixed next week) I am generating about two times more than I use any month of the year that I live by myself. During the summer I will generate a great deal more, and I haven't yet had a chance to use an energy monitor to get rid of the biggest uses of power. So I should be doing really great once the tree is trimmed and I've reduced my electricity usage even further through efficiency.
One thing this doesn't include is the power usage of the hot tub. I've only had it a month and a half and only 2 weeks of that was before the solar was functional. So I'm not sure how much power it is pulling a month. That is one of the things I want to use the energy monitor for. Even with the hot tub I should be generating more than I use every month of the year, and quite a lot more during the summer months. It looks like this plan is going to work out.
I'm not yet sure how to calculate my total savings, there are some confounding factors and I haven't quite come up with an algorithm that will take everything into account. So I may have to wait until I've had the whole set up for an entire year before I can calculate how long it will take for it to pay for itself.
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You might want to check with your power company to see if they have a record of your monthly usage. I know SRP does here in AZ, and it's available online :) It's very helpful.
Once you've got that data, I'm sure you can add in what you expect the hot tub to use. Then just compare the number you calculated against the amount you draw now. All of that may not be the most accurate way to tell how much energy you would have pulled from the grid, but it's a good start.
I have to say that's a pretty good result for the first month. 620 kW in October, outstanding!
They tell me how much I use, but they don't tell me how much I generate. It's very annoying.
I'm trying to get a meter so I can get real readings on the use for the hot tub. I don't want to have to pay for it though, so I'm waiting for it to come through from the library.
I'm pretty happy with it, but I expected to be generating more than I was using even in the winter. I'm a bit confused by how much power I'm using.
If you're not sending any back to the grid, they have no way of knowing how much you generated and used on site. You're right, you need a meter where the panels put out their power.
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