Unisolar PVL - 1000W reached yesterday !

994W exactly ... First time I see so much on my Solar System since July 7th, the SMA inverter installation day

It is true that I have almost 1,200Wp (Watt Peak) installed on the roof

1 x 31Wp
6 x 68Wp = 408Wp
6 x 124Wp = 744Wp
Total = 31 + 408 + 744 = 1,183Wp

Uni-Solar PVL & SMA Sunny Boy - Home Solar Install Finished & Running :-)

My solar contractor, Ecogelec's boss, came today, sunday, before lunch time, to replace the defective SMA Sunny Boy 3000 Grid Tie Inverter by a brand new one, sent by SMA Technical Service few days before

After installing the new unit on its rack, replacing the MC4 connectors with Phoenix Contact ones, because this is what SMA is using now, it initialized with all the 3 LEDs on along with the 2 lines display, and performed well right away pushing between 8 and 900W for our first solar production :-)

From that moment, everything worked fine, I switched on my Energy Storage System (ESS) and it started charging as it should do when used power is lower than produced power, and it went on until close to 9:15 PM when the Sunny Boy stopped because of the sunset light becoming too weak ...

MC4 connectors had to be replaced by Phoenix Contact connectors


Phoenix Contact close up, no crimping tool required

We used a mirror to see the SMA Sunny Boy 3000 display

First Solar Production !! :-) and not bad at 850W

SMA Sunny Boy 3000 is on, completely silent,  and its top heat sink was luke warm the whole afternoon

I found a spot for Wattson transmitter: right on top of the utility meter
The Solar sub panel is now closed and Wattson sensor leads are coming out of it from the top


Then this board was put back in place and the kitchen cabinet can now be used almost like before, except for the upper storage part of course


The consumer unit is also closed now, after adding an outlet for Wattson transmitter

My ESS is on, in charger mode here, and the chargers are switched on to match the generation as close as possible
Production on the left, Net Usage (Usage - Production) on the right

Staying around 0W ... this is good

Production on the left, Net Usage (Usage - Production) on the right
Here the solar panel are pushing around 800W and the ESS - in GTI Mode at this moment - is pushing 570W, during cooking

And finally during sunset, the Generated Power declined slowly but stayed around 150 for a while at the end, still at 9PM,  - Here Wattson is set to indicate Generated Power -

This is the light I add at this moment around 9PM


until the SMA really quit around 9:15PM, Wattson indicating 0W



Wattson Anywhere power graphs for this first day of solar generation

Solar Install continues ....

Last saturday, my contractor came to continue the Solar install started tuesday morning

Close up on the DC Breaker : 600V 20A

Wattson with EasyFit configuration photographed before unplugging the transmitter

and Easy Fit fitted back in the solar sub panel ( a bigger one here) on the Line wire going back the the main consumer panel

More wiring

Closer look at the solar sub panel and Wattson


Wattson Transmitter is temporarily plugged in and placed here

My consumer unit: See the Wattson Usage sensor is located on the Main Line wire, providing power to the whole apartment; Because the solar sub panel is wired after this, I need to use Easy Fit Y-cable

After going back on the roff the link all the Uni-Solar PVLs together as one string, DC voltage of this big string was then around 360V and the sun was not even shining because of the big white clouds

Now, after closing the SMA Sunny Boy cover panel and wiring it to earth, after switching on the DC and AC breakers, the inverter 3 LEDs blinked for one second, and then nothing ... No display, no LEDs, nothing was on ... :-( and after trying everything my contractor quickly determined that there was probably a problem with this unit ... No Luck


As my contractor advised, on sunday, in the morning sun, I measured again the DC voltage and it was showing 390V; I then tried to start the inverter gain, but still nothing ...

I also read the Sunny Boy 3000 documentation trying to find an explanation in the minimum DC voltage required and in the troubleshooting section

Later on, Mark Elliott from Energeno, Wattson maker, retweeted this pic of Wattson sensors install, with a little comment

Paris - Hausmannian Building with a Uni-Solar Solar Panels Roof

Few years ago, as I started getting interested in Uni-Solar PVL flexible solar panels for our building, I found this quite unique project in Paris, 10 rue de la Boétie, 8th discrict, not far from Champs Elysees ...

They removed the existing zinc roof (traditionnal roofing in Paris and surroundings on older buidlings) and used Rheinzink (already made) metal roofing sheets with Uni-Solar PVL68 applied onto them

For me this is very important because it is a upscale and historical district and it has been approved by Architectes des batiments de France, the key to have this kind of building modification done; I think it is due to the fact that these 4mm very flat panels do not affect the visual aspect of the building from the street

More info about this project here, translated by Google    /  Project French link

Uni-Solar PVL on a house metal roof in California

Waidy, a member of the SFBay LEAFs Club, has a house with tons of Uni-Solar PVLs on its metal roof, part of a 25kW solar generation !!

- 24 Uni-solar 136W thin film, total of 3.64 kW with yearly production of 4.719 kWh
- 27 Uni-solar 31W thin film, total of 837W with yearly production of 1.210 kWh

Great job !

Just peel and stick, there is a thin layer of very sticky tar under each roll

And on top, some more regular panels ! sitting flat

 

Last week end the SFBay LEAFs Group met at Waidy's and a Japanase TV was interviewing members And that's when I first saw this great Uni-Solar PVL project

And what Waidy says about it conforts me in my Uni-Solar project on our building roof in Paris

Building Roof where the Uni-Solar flexible solar panels will be mounted

Some pictures of my building roof, where the Uni-Solar flexible solar panels will eventually be mounted
I am now in the process of finding a contractor to help me put them up there