{"id":1290,"date":"2012-03-29T10:04:42","date_gmt":"2012-03-29T00:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2023-07-13T14:02:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T03:32:41","slug":"5-reasons-your-solar-system-power-is-lower-than-you-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5-reasons-your-solar-system-power-is-lower-than-you-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your 5kW Solar System Output Is Lower Than You Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cleaning<\/a>

Dirt is one of 5 losses<\/p><\/div>\n

Is your new solar system producing the power output it should?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A very common question I get from people who have just got a new solar power system is: “Now the solar panels are on my roof, how do I know what the solar system output should be?”.<\/p>\n

The solar power system owners are usually a bit concerned because they have bought, for example, a \u00a05kW system but their inverter is telling them that they only got 4kW of peak power \u00a0yesterday! Where’s the missing 1kW? Most people expect a 5kW solar system<\/a> output!<\/p>\n

Here’s an email that I got last week from Hans that is a perfect example:<\/p>\n

Hi Finn,<\/p>\n

Thanks for your advice. Much appreciated.<\/p>\n

I had a system installed via you, all very nice and well installed on Thursday 15\/3 and very pleasant people to deal with.<\/p>\n

5 KW , 20 x \u00a0250 W ET panels with a Sunnyboy inverter.<\/p>\n

During the test we have measured at peak at 14:20 4.7 kW and we were very pleased. \u00a0After that day we had some hotter and\u00a0 more sunny\u00a0 days but the capacity of the system always stays below 4 KW at peak. never go above it, strange.<\/p>\n

Today a hot clear day 25kWh at peak 4kw.<\/p>\n

May I have your opinion about this and can i expect to reach the 4.7 KW again?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Solar System Output should Hans be getting from his 5kW system?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A fact that isn’t advertised widely in the solar industry is that most solar systems in Australian conditions will usually peak at only 80% of their specified peak power.<\/p>\n

This is actually completely normal in almost any industry that sells hardware that has associated specs. Think about the last time you bought a car with a specified fuel consumption from the manufacturer. Did your car actually ever achieve that fuel efficiency on a day-to-day basis? Thought not!<\/p>\n

Solar panel systems usually reach only 80% of their specified peak due to “system losses<\/strong>“. So what are these system losses, and how can you work them out for the solar power system sitting on your roof?<\/p>\n

In Hans’ case he is using ET Solar 250W solar panels. He hasn’t told me the model number, but there are 3 matching panels in my Solar Panel Comparison<\/a> tool. I’ll assume he is using a\u00a0ET-P672250\u00a0and use those specs in the calcs.<\/p>\n

The 5 Losses In Every Solar Power System<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

Solar System Losses Add Up!<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Manufacturer’s power tolerance.<\/strong> \u00a0(1%)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

All panels have a power tolerance<\/a>. In the panels that hans is using, this is -1%\/+3%. So worst case is that the specifiedpower output is actually 1% lower than spec.<\/p>\n

2. Temperature Loss.<\/strong> (10%)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I wrote an entire blog post on solar panel temperature losses<\/a>. To cut a long story short, solar panels don’t like to be hot. Most solar panels lose about 10% of their rated power on a 25\u00b0C day, more if it is hotter. Let’s assume 10% for this estimate.<\/p>\n

3. Dirt<\/strong> (5%)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When your solar panels are put on your roof, airborne particulates like dust will settle on the panels’ glass. These particulates block the amount of sunlight reaching the solar cells behind the glass reducing your power. The reduction in power from particulate build up typically lies in the 5%-15% range. \u00a0Hans’ panels have just been installed so we’ll assume only a 5% loss.<\/p>\n

4. Wiring Losses (voltage drops) (2%)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

All the solar panels on your roof are interconnected with wires, then a long pair of DC wires connects the final solar panel to your inverter. All these wires have a small electrical resistance, which means the electricity flowing through them will suffer a voltage drop. This will reduce your power proportionally, typically by around 2%.<\/p>\n

5. Inverter Efficiency (4%)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Everything goes through your inverter so the inverter efficiency<\/a>\u00a0will directly affect your system output. Hans is using an SMA Sunny Boy inverter. If he has a modern, transformer less model, he can expect an inverter efficiency of about 96%, giving a 4% loss.<\/p>\n

Multiply all those together (see the pic on the right) \u00a0and you are looking at 20% total losses, giving a real world peak power of 4kW – which is exactly what Hans was seeing.<\/p>\n

But what about the 4.7kW he saw on the first day?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was probably down to 3 of things. Firstly Hans tells us that the days following this reading were hotter. So there would have been higher temperature losses later on. Also, after the first day, a thin, almost invisible layer of dust probably quickly settled on the panels increasing the dirt losses from a starting point of zero. Thirdly, the panels can initially degrade a percent or two in the first day or so, before they “settle in”, after which they should degrade a lot more slowly (about 0.5% per year). Take all these into account and it would explain why Hans has not seen his 4.7kW peak power since.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is your new solar system producing the power output it should?\u00a0 A very common question I get from people who have just got a new solar power system is: “Now the solar panels are on my roof, how do I know what the solar system output should be?”. 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Read my full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/","https:\/\/x.com\/FinnPeacock"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-kO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4940,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/if-you-want-a-5kw-solar-system-in-qld-consider-getting-it-before-sept-30-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1290,"position":0},"title":"If you want a 5kW solar system in QLD \u2013 consider getting it before Sept 30 2015!","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"August 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Queensland electricity networks (hello Ergon and Energex!) are a fussy bunch. At the time of writing (August 2015) if you want to install a standard grid connect solar system bigger than 5kW, you need to\u00a0jump through all sorts of technical hoops. And then the networks may also insist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"map of qld","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/qldsept30sml.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/qldsept30sml.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/qldsept30sml.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4451,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/want-5kw-solar-system-qld-consider-getting-march-1-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1290,"position":1},"title":"If you want a 5kW solar system in QLD – consider getting it before March 1 2015!","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"January 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"****UPDATE**** On 12th Feb 2015 Ergon and Energex announced\u00a0that they are extending this deadline\u00a0from 1 March out to 30 September 2015. ***************** The Queensland electricity networks (hello Ergon and Energex!) are a fussy bunch. 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And what will be the payback for all those extra dollars?","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"solar panels and a dollar sign","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/solarcash.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66862,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-morning-evening-mb2685\/","url_meta":{"origin":1290,"position":3},"title":"Home Solar Power Outside Peak Sun Hours","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"How much power can a solar system crank well outside of the \"golden hours\" for PV electricity generation? Here's an example. While peak sun hours generally fall between 10AM - 4PM, even not long after sunrise and towards sunset can see useful levels of power generated. Making the most of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar power outside peak sun hours","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/solar-morning-evening.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/solar-morning-evening.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/solar-morning-evening.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/solar-morning-evening.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/solar-morning-evening.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2121,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/be-careful-when-calculating-solar-panel-efficiency\/","url_meta":{"origin":1290,"position":4},"title":"Be Careful When Calculating Solar Panel Efficiency","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"December 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One from the mailbag today that is bound to please fellow solar nerds: From Andrew in Cairns who has just had his system installed: Finn, I Finally got my 5KW system installed. \u00a0 I have a question for you if I may: If power output is calculated as: Area of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar Panels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Fotolia_37940794_XS.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":71850,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australian-solar-coal-mb2846\/","url_meta":{"origin":1290,"position":5},"title":"Australian Rooftop Solar Power’s Rise Astounding, But..","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Various headlines popping up around the place yesterday (and into today) might lead some to think the end of coal power in Australia is imminent. The enthusiasm for solar energy is great, but this isn't quite the case. 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