4.5 kW Solar Electric System for Dansville, NY Customer
Challenge
We were called to evaluate the best solar electric system for this Dansville, NY home.
Solution
This 4,500 W (4.5 kW) grid-connected solar electric system was installed as a roof-mounted array of twenty (20) SunPower 225W solar modules oriented South on the roof of the Customer's house. The array is arranged as five rows of four modules, as illustrated in the accompanying schematic.The modules are mounted at the same pitch as the client's roof (30.3°) using a UniRac SunFrame racking system. The array layout is designed to maximize system size and future expansion options, while allowing only minimal losses due to shading and ensuring the system is aesthetically pleasing and well-integrated with the house. The system is configured electrically as two (2) DC circuits (strings) of ten (10) series connected modules providing input through one (1) DC disconnect switch to one (1) SunPower 5000m, 5.0kW inverter. This inverter provides grid-synchronous AC output and interfaces to the electric utility through a dedicated circuit breaker in the Customer's main service panel, as existing infrastructure allows. System power production (kW) and cumulative energy (kWh) monitoring is provided by a SunPower Data Logger and Online Monitoring System, as well as by a digital display on the inverter and an electromechanical meter.As designed, this system should generate 5,222 kWh per year, for an average of 14.3 kWh/day, where daily energy production is both weather and seasonally dependent. This energy production is equivalent to 29% of the customer's expected new home electrical usage, and corresponds to a CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions savings of 6,784 lb per year.
