Solar electric energy for residences

[Doug Kerr]

This is not, strictly speaking, a photographic offering, but I suspect it is of interest to many of the members.

The possibility of capturing solar radiation as electric energy by way of installations serving a single residence has become very important. Of course the technical aspects of this are very complicated, as are the economic aspects.

I have recently published on The Pumpkin a series of technical articles regarding various aspects of this field. The key article is probably this one, "Principles of residential solar electrical energy systems", which is indexed on the Pumpkin here:

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/index.htm#Solar_energy_systems

Other articles are indexed starting here:

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/index.htm#SolarEnergyQuantitiesUnits

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Well just to make this a real photographic offering, here are some shots of the solar electrical energy system here at Dos Palmas, our residence, in Alamogordo, N.M.

This shows the smaller of the two solar photovoltaic panel arrays (5 panels), on the roof of our garage:

Douglas A. Kerr: Smaller solar panel array​

The primary array (23 panels of this same type) is located on the rear roof of the main house.

Here we see (with some context) the array of equipment that processes the DC power from the panel arrays into AC and properly couples it to the electrical system of our house in a way such that power produced that is not at the moment needed by the house loads will be fed back to the power utility company's grid, where it will be "saved" for us (on a paper balance basis) for us to use (at no further cost to us) when it is later needed.

Douglas A. Kerr: Ground-level equipment array​

The upper unit in the white assembly at the left is the inverter, which converts the DC power from the solar panel arrays into AC. The lower white unit is a safety switch that can disconnect the DC output of the solar panel array from the inverter proper when needed for maintenance or such.

The watthour meter at the upper right is essentially the familiar utility company meter, which now reckons the net of energy exchange between us and the utility company. The watthour meter just to the right of the inverter reckons the energy produced by the solar energy system. This meter itself is also the property of the electrical utility company. They need to know the amount of energy produces by the solar system as they get incentive payments from the state for having collaborated as needed to make it possible for that much electrical energy to not be needed from the utility network generating facilities.

Since this system went on line (on 2024.12.26) it has generated about 3.1 MWh of electrical energy (this of course being during the lower yield part of the year). The total annual yield is estimated at about 20 MWh.

Finally, here we see Carla's son Larry, who, with his wafe Nona and their puppy Foxy, are "permanent" members of our household here at Dos Palmas, regarding the new master circuit breaker panel that was installed as part of the overall project:

Douglas A. Kerr: Larry regards the new main circuit breaker panel​

Best regards,

Doug

 

[stepphiesecret]

The primary array (23 panels of this same type) is located on the rear roof of the main house.

Here we see (with some context) the array of equipment that processes the DC power from the panel arrays into AC and properly couples it to the electrical system of our house in a way such that power produced that is not at the moment needed by the house loads will be fed back to the power utility company's grid, where it will be "saved" for us (on a paper balance basis) for us to use (at no further cost to us) when it is later needed.

This system ensures you only pay for the power you need, while storing excess for future use at no extra cost.