Tawonga South Solar Electric Power Station Energy Production

This page shows our electrical energy production, trend analysis, and factors that affect production.
The amount of electrical energy and power that we produce is dependent on:
time of year   time of day   amount of cloud   solar cell temperature
elevation angle of the panels   azimuth angle of the panels


Our Electricity Energy Production - KwH
Month Dec05 Jan06 Feb06 Mar06 Apr06 May06 Jun06 Jul06 Aug06 Sep06 Oct06 Nov06 Dec06 Jan07 Feb07 Mar07 Apr07 May07 Jun07 Jul07 Aug07 Sep07 Oct07
Std Dev 2.6 1.8 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.1 2.3 2.6 2.4 1.7 2.2 1.8 2.2 1.5 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.9 3.0 1.4
Min 1.0 3.4 4.0 0.7 1.1 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.1 2.0 1.4 3.2 0.1 1.5 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 4.6
 Max 10.3 10.4 9.9 8.9 8.3 7.8 6.5 6.9 8.1 9.0 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.1 9.0 8.8 8.2 7.3 6.6 6.6 7.9 8.6 8.6
Average 8.0 7.6 7.8 7.3 5.5 4.6 4.7 3.1 5.3 6.7 7.8 7.5 6.6 7.1 6.7 6.5 5.9 2.7 4.1 3.5 4.4 5.1 7.3
Monthly Total 248.7 236.2 219.7 224.9 153.7 142.1 139.6 95.0 165.5 202.0 244.4 224.9 203.80 220.2 187.3 202.3 176.4 84.7 123.3 109.8 134.9 151.6 73.1
Grand Total
Since Installation 		7513.8 7750.0 7969.8 8194.6 8348.3 8492.4 8632.0 8727.0 8892.5 9094.4 9338.8 9563.7 9767.4 9987.7 10175.0 10377.3 10553.7 10638.4 10761.7 10871.5 11006.4 11158.0 11231.1
Day of  Month Daily Output - KwH
1 8.4 6.2 5.0 8.7 3.1 1.0 1.6 0.8 1.7 1.9 9.0 7.5 6.8 7.1 9.0 3.5 7.5 1.7 1.6 0.5 1.1 0.0 5.2
2 1.0 9.0 6.0 8.5 6.0 1.5 3.1 0.8 1.5 5.7 7.2 1.1 7.8 5.4 7.8 6.9 6.1 3.1 1.3 0.9 5.4 0.0 8.6
3 3.0 10.0 6.0 7.7 6.0 3.2 6.0 6.0 0.5 2.1 8.5 7.3 8.5 9.0 8.0 7.5 7.6 1.7 1.1 5.9 2.1 5.5 7.6
4 7.7 8.1 9.0 8.9 5.0 1.2 6.1 2.6 7.0 8.3 8.3 7.1 8.0 8.0 7.8 8.0 7.2 2.3 5.9 0.5 1.2 8.4 6.9
5 10.3 9.0 9.0 8.8 6.4 0.5 6.0 3.9 6.8 6.2 5.5 7.4 9.5 7.6 7.8 7.8 8.2 0.9 6.5 0.6 1.8 8.5 4.6
6 3.2 4.8 9.9 8.8 2.0 0.2 6.4 4.3 6.7 0.7 7.6 7.0 6.3 6.2 5.5 8.6 8.1 3.5 5.8 0.7 1.3 8.0 7.5
7 9.0 8.0 9.9 8.6 4.5 0.1 6.5 1.1 7.2 7.8 7.3 7.3 4.3 2.5 6.4 8.0 8.2 4.2 6.5 1.9 2.1 7.6 8.2
8 7.9 5.7 9.7 8.7 7.0 3.0 4.9 0.5 7.5 8.3 7.3 9.5 6.5 9.0 7.7 8.6 7.9 2.1 6.6 2.7 2.3 8.0 8.1
9 9.7 10.3 4.0 8.6 8.0 0.2 5.7 0.9 2.9 7.9 8.2 9.1 8.5 7.5 7.3 8.6 7.8 3.0 6.6 6.6 0.4 7.1 8.5
10 9.5 10.4 9.2 8.6 6.8 7.8 0.8 1.7 7.5 8.1 8.0 7.2 6.4 9.0 7.6 8.8 6.3 7.3 4.1 6.1 0.2 0.8 7.9
11 10.1 6.2 8.7 8.5 7.6 5.0 5.1 0.2 7.5 8.5 8.1 9.5 3.5 8.2 6.9 8.5 7.6 7.3 0.4 6.0 0.1 1.4 5.7
12 7.5 3.4 9.6 8.1 6.2 7.3 6.3 6.2 7.2 8.6 8.3 1.6 6.4 5.5 8.8 8.6 7.5 7.1 5.7 2.7 4.2 0.8 4.6
13 8.3 6.6 9.5 0.7 3.1 7.0 6.5 6.5 7.6 8.2 8.0 4.9 6.1 7.9 6.4 8.7 4.5 3.7 5.5 3.4 5.5 1.4 5.2
14 10.3 8.7 9.4 8.5 1.1 4.2 6.1 4.3 4.9 5.9 0.8 9.0 6.5 7.1 5.5 8.5 7.1 2.6 6.5 5.4 7.7 2.0 7.5
15 8.9 4.9 8.6 2.8 3.3 7.1 0.9 0.5 7.6 8.0 8.5 5.0 6.0 8.5 7.9 6.8 7.4 2.2 5.8 6.4 6.4 6.6 8.8
16 3.6 4.5 7.8 5.4 8.3 6.6 6.2 0.5 7.5 8.2 9.1 7.6 6.2 8.4 6.0 2.5 7.5 1.9 6.2 1.4 1.9 3.9 9.1
17 2.9 7.3 8.5 8.4 7.6 3.8 6.2 3.5 0.8 7.9 7.8 9.4 6.5 3.3 6.6 5.9 6.8 1.5 6.0 0.2 1.9 3.5 9.1
18 6.0 7.1 9.3 8.5 1.3 5.8 6.3 0.0  4.0 4.0 8.3 9.1 6.9 3.2 6.5 4.8 6.0 0.3 2.4 4.5 4.5 8.1 9.1
19 9.3 7.8 8.9 8.4 7.1 6.0 6.3 5.7  5.2 7.7 8.7 8.6 3.0 3.7 5.0 7.3 1.6 0.6 0.9 5.9 7.1 4.3 8.2
20 10.2 7.9 9.1 8.2 4.3 6.0 2.0 6.2  4.9 7.0 6.2 5.7 6.4 5.6 8.1 0.4 6.5 1.3 4.9 6.5 7.8 6.3 8.8
21 8.0 9.3 8.9 8.2 5.1 4.0 5.2 6.9  5.5 6.2 8.7 6.9 8.6 1.4 4.4 6.7 3.6 0.2 2.7 6.0 7.9 6.8  
22 10.0 9.0 6.5 7.8 6.5 5.0 3.5 4.2  1.3 5.6 9.4 8.3 2.0 8.0 6.0 5.8 4.8 2.5 6.3 6.3 7.8 7.4  
23 8.0 5.9 4.5 8.2 1.9 6.0 0.4 2.7  6.0 5.1 9.3 9.0 4.1 8.4 5.5 5.0 7.2 0.4 6.0 6.2 7.5 8.6  
24 9.0 9.4 7.0 8.2 7.8 6.3 1.8 4.8  0.6 2.3 7.8 9.2 8.4 8.3 3.2 0.1 7.4 1.0 6.3 4.5 4.6 8.5  
25 10.0 9.7 6.0 8.2 7.5 6.5 4.1 2.0  5.9 8.3 6.0 8.6 5.5 9.0 8.7 8.6 4.3 3.9 1.2 5.8 6.5 8.5  
26 9.2 9.1 5.0 8.2 7.4 4.7 6.4 6.2  8.0 9.0 9.4 9.1 7.9 8.3 7.8 8.3 3.7 6.9 0.0 0.4 5.9 4.0  
27 10.0 8.0 5.9 4.5 7.4 6.3 6.2 6.4  2.3 8.0 9.3 9.2 7.4 9.1 4.0 8.3 2.1 6.8 1.8 1.2 7.4 5.4  
28 8.2 8.0 8.8 6.9 5.4 6.7 5.7 0.8  8.1 8.8 7.2 9.1 7.9 8.5 5.1 4.9 1.5 1.5 2.0 1.8 7.8 2.3  
29 9.5 6.3   6.0 1.0 6.7 6.2 0.8 7.4  8.8 9.5 9.4 8.7 8.5   5.3 1.7 1.7 4.1 1.7 7.3 1.0  
30 9.8 6.5   2.0 1.0 5.7 1.2 1.9  7.8  8.9  9.3  5.3 7.0 9.0   3.3 2.5 1.0 2.7 6.3 7.3 1.0  
31 10.0 9.0   3.0   6.7   2.1  8.1    7.8    6.2  8.9   7.6 0.4   0.8 0.0    

Trend Analysis

This Graph shows the amount of electrical energy produced each month and a sinusoidal trend line that gives the same total production. The energy production for January and February 2003 was drastically affected by smoke from bushfires.



What Affects Power Capability?
Time of year The time of year affects the number of daylight hours, the solar radiation and cloudiness and air temperature.
Time of day On a cloudless day, power production starts as soon as the sky lights up, reaches a peak at solar midday, and finishes when the sky is dark.  We are surrounded by hills, so sunset is early, but energy production continues at a lower level (down from 80 watts) while the sky is bright.
Amount of cloud The power produced is affected by cloud density, but, even with thick cloud, some power (40 to 120 watts) can be produced depending on time of day.
Cell temperature  The colder the cells are the more efficient they are.  The panel performance curves are here.
Panel azimuth angle Ideally the panels should be mounted on an azimuth (horizontal direction) tracker. Ours have a fixed azimuth mount.  So the best direction for us should be true north.  We have aligned our panels with approximate true north taken from a recent survey.  The actual optimum azimuth angle may be affected by hills to the north west of our site but we haven't tackled this problem yet.
Panel elevation angle The optimum panel elevation angle depends on the sun elevation angle which is affected by the time of year (date).  The optimum panel elevation angle is shown here.

The power (rate of energy production) produced by our system varies from zero upwards. The peak instaneous power noted by our monitoring system is 1490 watts.  This occurred on a cold day when the sun popped out from behind a cloud and thus the solar cells were cold.  The power is zero at night.  In daylight under heavy cloud we still generate around 60 - 100 watts

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