This is another entry in the ‘Solar on a Strata’ blog series.
This is the first since 2018, because there hasn’t been much to report. The system continues to produce electricity every day, without maintenance, except annual cleaning some years. The owners no longer ask me to attend their Strata meetings, they took back their keys, and I rarely hear from them. My connection is now through the reports from Fronius and view-only access to the Strata’s BC Hydro bills.
Electricity Production:
The electrical output has been consistent over the eight years of operation, as shown in this graph of annual production from the Fronius SolarWeb website. 2022 was a cloudy June which may explain the reduction in that year. In the planning stages in 2015, pvwatts estimated 16,300 kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year (16.3 MWh), and production has been above that every year so far. Degradation of the solar panels is not visible in this data, although increasing sun with climate change may be masking it. I don’t have the time to tease that out.
Network:
The building now has Telus fibre installed throughout, so the system uses that to communicate with the Internet. This has been more reliable than the borrowed resident WiFi connection.
Lobby Display:
When I last dropped by a few weeks ago, the lobby display was still working. There Is now a resident with tech skills who can help with diagnosing any problems.
Bruce Mackenzie July 2023
