Sunny Boy inverter has no display visible or bluetooth connection?

If your Sunny Boy inverter has no display visible or bluetooth connection then the inverter may have locked up or frozen. It may be a very simple fix which is worth trying before calling a solar panel installation engineer to repair it   Sunny Boy inverter has no display visible or bluetooth connection? For some reason our Sunny Boy 3000HF inverter had frozen and was not generating any electricity. Quickly turning off and on again didn't resolve the problem. In the end the solution to the problem we had was to turn the inverter off for a longer time - around 20 minutes so that the inverter was completely powered down. Once this had happened the Sunny Boy inverter was switched back on and came back to life producing electricity as normal.

Solar Panel Output 2013 Annual Review - Summary of Solar Electricity Production

We have now had our solar panels operating for two full calendar years and some interesting details are emerging. Despite 2013 starting much worse than 2012, with very dull and cold weather at the beginning of the year, the overall electricity produced was higher than in 2012 with some new records set.

Best month solar electricity production: 479kWh (July 2013)
Best day solar electricity production: 21.6kWh (April 2013)

With the colder April and May than is usual the effect of temperature on solar panel electricity production became very apparent which with the lengthening days gave the impressive daily totals for April 2013.

Overall for 2013 the solar panels generated a total of 3095kWh of electricity and were operating for 3972 hours in total. This compares to 2996 kWh and 3635 hours for 2012.

View the full yearly and monthly solar panel electricity production stats here

Dull November Means Poor Solar Electricity Generation

A dull November has meant a relatively poor month for Solar PV electricity generation. November 2013 only managed 128kWh of electricity generated compared to 152kWh for November 2012. One other aspect that may be affecting the generation at this time of year is shading of the solar panels.

You can view a month by month comparison of solar PV electricity output here

And a year by year comparison of solar output

We have a tree in a neighbouring garden that shades the solar panels when the sun is low around the shortest day. From approx 2pm onwards the sun starts to be blocked from some panels which dramatically reduces the electricity generated. The tree may be higher that in previous years which would cause more blocking effect. You can see the impact of shading on the roof from the trees as below.

Dull November Means Poor Solar Electricity Generation

The long range forecast for December 2013 is for more sun and colder days which should improve the generation.

Comparing Solar Output for Each Month Year by Year

Now that the data is building up from our solar panels with nearly 2 years worth of solar electricity generated from them it seemed useful to compare how each month varies year on year.

So the data can now be viewed month by month comparing each year against the next.

Comparing Solar Panel Output and Solar Electricity generated each month year by year

It is interesting to see how each month can vary so significantly and also how the different months of the year change. For example in January the start and end times are fairly constant but the overall output is significantly different.

January

Month	Earliest Start Time	Latest End Time	Max Peak Output kW	Total Monthly Output	Total Generation Time (hours)	Min Daily Generation kWh	Max Daily Generation kWh
01/2013	08:05	16:40	2.460	87.89	197	0.023	9.35
01/2012	08:05	16:30	2.388	111.913	224	0.193	9.51

Do Solar Panels Generate during a Power Cut?

In the UK solar panels that qualify for FIT (Feed in Tariff) payments will not generate during a pwoer cut as they switch off immediately a grid failure is detected.

This is to protect any engineers working on the grid repairs so that electricity isn't being supplied into the system while they are working.

Solar Panels - What About Storm and Wind Damage?

With the predicted storm approaching the UK this weekend there may be people wondering about their solar panels being damaged by the wind and stormy conditions.



Solar Panels Storm Wind Damage

Solar panels are designed to withstand strong winds and are attached directly to roof beams if correctly fitted. The main problem that could be expected is damage to solar panels from flying debris or falling trees rather than the wind affecting them directly. And of course if we have power lines down and power cuts as a result then we won't get any electricity generation as the panels/inverter shut down when the grid is off.



Rain on Solar Panels - Can they be damaged by Storm Winds

Poor September for Solar as Sunshine Drops After Stunning July & August

September has been a disappointing month for the solar panels with a lowly 278kWh generated compared to 356kWh for September 2012.



Poor September for Solar as Sunshine Drops After Stunning July & August

July and August 2013 have been fantastic months for our solar panels with 484kWh and 411kWh generated respectively but with September now poor we are currently running at 86kWh less than 2012.

Weather for September hasn't actually been bad - it has been a fairly warm month and with very little rain in Kent but equally quite cloudy with few sunny days. You can see the details in the breakdown of monthly generated solar power.

You can also view the yearly solar panel electricity generation here