1) Make a plot of daily energy production (in kWh; on the y axis) vs. time (Nov. 30, 2010 to Sept. 1, 2015; on the x axis) covered in the dataset. Is there any trend apparent in the data?
2) Calculate the total energy production (in kWh) for each complete year (i.e., Jan. 1 – Dec. 31) in the data series. Have there been any significant year-to-year differences? If so, what factors might be responsible?
3) Go to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s PVWatts Calculator (http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/index.php), which estimates energy production of solar (photovoltaic) systems anywhere in the world.
Required details:
Address for the BGSC panels – Grove St. Extension, Orono, ME 04469.
DC system size (kW) – 4 panels * 0.100 kW = 0.4 kW
Module type = standard
Array type = Fixed (roof mount)
System losses = 14%
Tilt = 10 degrees
Azimuth = 180 degrees
What is the estimated energy production (in kWh per year) for the BGSC panels? How does that compare to the actual values you calculated in step 2? What factors could account for any discrepancies?
4)
Calculate the residential electricity consumption per capita in Maine, using data available from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=ME). Given what you have found in this analysis, how big of a solar PV array is necessary to meet the annual electrical demand of a typical resident of Orono?
