6.9 kW Solar Electric System Installed in Hector, NY
Challenge
This customer in Hector, NY was interested in having a solar electric system installed, but not on thir home. This would need to be a ground-mounted system.
Solution
This 6,900 W (6.9 kW) grid-connected solar electric system was installed as a ground-mounted array of thirty (30) SunPower 230 W solar modules oriented due South on two (2) Direct Power and Water adjustable-tilt top-of-pole mounts. Each pole holds fifteen (15) modules arranged in portrait and has dimensions of approximately 13.1 ft x 13.7 ft x 12.7 ft (width x height x depth) at 35° tilt. The system is configured electrically as three (3) DC circuits (strings) of ten (10) series connected modules providing input through one (1) DC disconnect switch to one (1) SunPower 7000m, 7.0 kW 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, or as existing infrastructure allows. System power production (kW) and cumulative energy (kWh) monitoring is provided by a modem-based SMA Sunny WebBox monitoring system, as well as by a digital display on the inverters and an electromechanical meter. As designed, this system should generate an average of 20 kWh/day (7,518 kWh/year) where daily energy production is both weather and seasonally dependent. This energy production is equivalent to over 90% of the customer's present home electrical usage, and corresponds to a CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions savings of 26 lb CO2 per day (9,773 lb per year).
