How to Tell If My Solar Hot Water System Is Working Correctly

This is some simple troubleshooting that the system owner can do.

Of course, things can become more complex and that is when you call in the experts, but don't be intimidated by your system.
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There is a very simple way to see if things are working properly:

Observe the system pump, on a sunny day, when you know you have water in the tank that is not fully up to 120F.

The system should “cycle” on and off, maybe 2 to 10 minutes per cycle.   If it is cycling then the sensor, controller, pump, panels, valves are all working correctly.

You can hear the pump slightly when its running, or you can put your hand on it and feel the vibration, but watch out, it can be extremely hot.   If you have the STECA controller, with the digital display you can also see the pump movement indicated, however, this does not prove that the pump itself is working.

If the pump is "cycling" then all is good.

If the pump  is not cycling or cycling on really long intervals, or really short intervals, then there is something wrong.

A common problem can be what we call a “vapor lock” in which an air bubble that was stuck in the tank or delivered via city water goes up to panels and blocks the movement of water, the pump cannot overcome the stuck bubble.   

This would pretty much make your solar work not at all.    And there is a simple fix for this….it is exactly what every owner should be doing at least once a year, and some recommend twice a year….the fix is called "the annual tank and panel flush"  

This not only is a required maintenance that is easy enough to do, it will also remove the air from the panels.    You will likely hear air spurting out of the hose when you  do this (I mean if there was air in the panels).     If you hear that air spurting out, then you can feel pretty good, that you have really solved the problem.

http://oahusolar.blogspot.com/p/hot-water-maintenance.html

Understanding Your Time Clock on Solar Hot Water

Quick notes on Water Heater Timers:

1)      The number one problem with the Timers called the Little Gray Box or LGB, is that after a power outage, the time will be wrong.   So reset the time to correct time, and then review it later that day to make sure it is spinning

2)      After a HECO power outage, sometimes the Timers just get jolted by the power spike on power return, and are fried.

3)      They are electro-mechanical devices which work 24/7 and control a lot of amperage to heat your water.  They will occasionally just fail and replacement is the answer, repair is too risky on this high power device.

4)      If the timer tabs are put on too loosely, i.e. just by using hands, they can slide and jam, and this will occasionally cause the death of an LGB.   Always use a tool to tighten down the on/off timer tabs.    

5)      In general timer tabs are set at 5AM on, 9AM off and 5PM on 9PM off.    However, you can adjust these as you see fit.   Those will smaller family sizes may choose to completely remove the “on” pins, thus preventing the heater from ever coming on by itself ---maximize savings, then you can still flip the switch to on when you know there is not going to be enough hot water.   But keep the off pins in place, otherwise, if you forget to manually turn it off, you could get a high electric bill

6)      When setting timer pins, it is safest to turn off the power at the breaker box, as there is live 240V inside the timer box.

Some Tips On Troubleshooting Tank or Pipe Noises

A customer emailed in for some free tech support and I wrote up helpful how to that could save her a $105 service call. 

I thought it good to replicate it here on the blog. 

Shadia,

Usually any knocking sound from a heater system is going to be caused by air somewhere in the system.   The noise can sometimes be heard very far away from the actual source, and not heard at the source.

Air is sometimes delivered in city water and builds up over time.

1) Sometimes you can convince the air to move out by a fast flow rate...open all the hot water faucets and tubs in the house at once, and listen for and gurgling/popping to confirm air removal.   Running for 2 minutes should be more than enough.

2) Air can be trapped in the tank, at the pressure relief valve or up in the panels.    The pressure relief valve is the valve with a small level, almost always in the dead center top of the tank.    These should be replaced every 3 years in the required "solar tuneup".  You can simply "pop" the lever and if there is air it will burp out.

For air in the tank or panels, simply do the exact same process as the important "annual flush".    You are doing the customer annual flush right?   Sheesh even I forget to do that on my system.    But it's pretty easy to do, you don't even have to go on the roof.   The description of how to do it is here:

http://oahusolar.blogspot.com/p/hot-water-maintenance.html

Second link down in the article

3) If there has been new construction or plumbing work, suspect those for entrapped air or  for pipes that are not properly supported or cushioned.

4) Finally there are plumbing water hammer arrestors (WHA) in most residences.   These sometimes fail or depending on the design, just fill up with water as the air is dissolved into the water.    It’s the air that creates the cushion that prevents knocking.    This is probably a call to a plumber, or a really good handy man friend.  Typical WHA below

Hope this helps, advise on results.  

PV Solar Electric Tuneup

We having been doing PV "Tuneups" on a request basis for years.    But with hundreds of systems out there now, it seems like a good time to offer a formalized tune-up for Solar Electric.

Please review the following, and consider doing the PV tuneup at the same time as the Solar Hot Water Tuneup, you will get significant savings since a big portion of our costs of doing a service is setting up the file, scheduling, and tech time loading for the job and getting to and from the site.

In case you have been living under a rock, LOL, and you didn't hear about the Big Solar Tuneup HE Buydown Sale, Which reduces the cost almost 40%, here are the details.    Instead of $405 its just $255 using limited HE buydown funds.    And we do the BEST TUNEUP in Oahu.     We even just signed up a licensed plumber to do the tuneup on his personal system, because he is familiar with our quality and the price is so great!

http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=811f0a47091d9eb619ff2b764&id=747eb20162&e=ef0eadfd8c

Doing the PV tuneup will increase your system electricity production, and get a couple of expert set of eyes looking at your system.

The Islands BEST PV TUNEUP is being rolled out and here is what you get.

1. Pacific Energy will preview your system online and look for signs of anything wrong so we can be ready to fix them during the tuneup.
2. We will wash down all the PV panels, dust dirt and bird droppings do build up overtime, especially if there is construction in the area
3. We will operate the system disconnect switch and verify proper operation
4. We will open the rooftop "Combiner Box" aka junction box and inspect for loose wires or corrosion
5. We will inspect under the panels for any dangling wire and ziptie up where accessible
6. Report any other deficiencies that you should be aware of.

If you have "security" bolts on your system, please be ready to provide the special bit to the technician.   You can leave it on top of the system disconnect if you are not there.


The PV Tuneup Cost will be dependent upon the number of panels you have, and if you do at same time as Hot Water Tuneup we will provide a significant discount.   


Contact us, we will review your system and get you a LOW COST QUOTE

How to Read a HECO NEM Electric Meter

Getting to Know Your Heater Timer (LGB)

Getting to Know Your Heater Timer (LGB)

Why is my Electric Bill so High?

Why is my electric bill so high?

A common question.

There are a lot of answers.

1. Cost of electrical generation (Oil in Hawaii) has gone up and thus electricity has gone way up, over 50% in around a year.
2. As governments print more money, the costs of real commodities will continue to go up.  Bernanke promised to print money for years to come.
3. People have more electrical devices in their houses.
4. More people are living in a single household, because of this, even people with solar hot water may not be generating all the solar hot water they need, and the rest is made with electric.  You know, the kids moved back home of the inlaws moved in, that kind of thing.

What can you do about it?

Change almost all your lightbulbs to CFL.   LEDs are still pretty expensive, they are neat but compared to CFL they are really not worth it from a payback point of view, quite yet.   Most people have already done the light bulb cvhange out.

In your frig is 10 years old or more, buy a new one.   If you have 2 refrigerators or even 3, consider getting rid of the oldest one.

Buy a front loading washing machine.  They cut your electric bill, they cut your water usage (and thus your sewer bill), and they cut the amount of soap needed.   The clothes come out dryer, and so your dryer has to work half as hard.

Take out any 10 year old aircon, and change to new super efficient variable speed mini-split systems such as Fujitsu, Mister Slim, and others.

Beyond these conservation measures, there is not too much that can be done that makes economic sense.

Now let's talk about producing energy.

Solar Hot Water, if you have 3 or more people, it is a no-brainer to get solar hot water.   With 65% tax credits available in 2012, the payback is enormous and quick.

Solar Electric PV.   Typical residential Annual Rate of Return on Investment is 25% to 38%.    There are various ways to finance it, although your best payback is if you can pay for the system yourself.

PV Leases--PV leases are only good in one situation---you don't have the money or the ability to finance the system.    In that case, you have nothing to lose.  

DON'T DO A LEASE!

Solar Attic Fans -- These should be on every house, they produce their own power, they remove the heat from your attic, keeping your house way cooler.   There will be many more months where you don't even have the need to run the aircon if you have one.  It will protect you whole roof, shingle, and tar paper which are all adversely affected by high heat.

A new interface for owners on Enphase

The following message is from Enphase

KEEP this NUMBER handy, it is hard to find.    Enphase tech support 1-877-797-4743.      It is probably best to call Enphase if you think you have an inverter out, or are getting warning type emails regarding inverters.    They have proprietary methods of looking at your system that is very powerful.   Plus, if you do need replacement parts under warranty, they are the only ones who can issue the RMA (return material authorization) and send out parts.  

Enphase Tech Support 1-877-797-4743

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We're excited about the launch of MyEnlighten. MyEnlighten is now the default view for all new system owners. Existing array owners will continue to use Enlighten Manager until they choose to opt into MyEnlighten.

Installers and Integrators will continue to use Enlighten Manager. The following links will be very helpful moving forward.

For a high level summary of Enlighten Manager and MyEnlighten
http://enphase.com/enlighten/

The MyEnlighten Tutorial:
http://enphase.com/enlighten-help/training-center/

How to sign up for MyEnlighten now.
http://enphase.com/enlighten_content/myenlighten-beta/

After watching the MyEnlighten tutorial, if you have any questions please let me know.

Thanks for using Enphase Microinverters.

An Email from a reader - HECO Halts Solar Boom

A resident of Oahu sent this email out to all the solar stakeholders on Oahu, OK, well maybe she didn't send it to HECO.

Aloha! My name is Cathryn Takanishi, I am an Oahu resident. I have been following solar articles in Hawaii.

In the year of 2014 finding that there is a problem with solar panel installation, solar in Hawaii can no longer excel.

I wonder, why has it been taking so long to make a transition; while more and more people suffer over these limited resources? If we were all more progressive with solar, we could prevent hundreds of people from their suffering because of the battles to obtain these resources. I still see lights left on all night at empty schools, parks and recreational areas and think about the lives of the people who got that electricity there, I think of my son who in the future may not be able to live in such a beautiful place because of the constant rise in the cost of utilities and living here in Hawaii. Thinking if there were proper solar systems installed into these schools (and residential homes) how many lives it could save and how it could improve our large family here at home.

Thank you!

Scientific American A Solar Boom So Successful, It's Been Halted - 12/20/13 
Bloomberg Utilities Feeling Rooftop Solar Heat Start Fighting Back - 12/25/13
Daily Finance Utilities Set Stage for Long Battle with Solar Power - 1/2/14
Sourceable Industry News Hawaiian Electric Halts Local Boom in Solar PV - 1/10/14

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/9/hawaii-s-solar-boomistoomuchof