UUAA Renewable Energy Data

Learn more about our renewable energy projects and see photos here

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Current summary of our renewable energy production:

   Data as of 2017-08-06 10:45                 current wind W 7 MPH   

       Total       Solar        Wind  ** Cumulative totals by system **
   122,519.7   110,582.2    11,937.4  Energy produced, kilowatt hours
   196,349.4   176,055.8    20,293.6  Carbon dioxide avoided, pounds
    89,062.6    79,857.6     9,205.0  Carbon dioxide avoided, kilograms
  $27,111.44  $25,655.08   $1,456.37  Electric bill dollars saved

    Average individual inverter output in watts, various time ranges
       Total       Upper       Lower    Tracking        Wind  Time
  Solar+Wind       Solar       Solar       Solar     Turbine  Range
       2,054         687         715         447         205  lifetime
       1,007           0         728         279           0  15 min.
      on now 04/11@17:35      on now      on now 08/06@06:10  last on

       747.4 kwh sold back to the grid (estimated)
      $91.18 electric bill credit for energy sent onto the grid

Production efficiency graph:

The graph below shows today's production from our renewable energy systems. To normalize for the different sizes of our various systems, output is stated as "production efficiency" which is defined as actual output divided by manufacturer's stated maximum output. Thus, a performance efficiency of 100% (or slightly above) represents a rare situation with ideal sun or wind conditions that are as good as or better than those expected by the equipment manufacturer. By stating our performance as production efficiency our data is more useful to people considering building their own renewable energy system, as this gives a realistic estimate of what can be expected in our climate conditions.

The three lines of the graph represent our three renewable energy systems. Red corresponds to our 10,800 watt fixed solar array on our social hall roof. Green corresponds to our 2,550 watt two axis tracking solar unit. Blue corresponds to our 2,500 watt wind turbine.

graph of energy production today

Multi-day production efficiency:

This graph shows the same information for a longer time period.

graph of recent production efficiency

Absolute power output graph:

The next graph shows actual power output (red=fixed solar, green=tracking solar, blue=wind, black=total)

graph of recent power output

Monthly production graph:

This graph shows the monthly average power output for each of our systems (red = fixed solar, went online December 1, 2010, green = tracking solar, went online December 10, 2011, blue = wind, went online November 30, 2010, black = total)

graph of long term monthly production

Local wind speed data:

Data is collected from an anemometer located on our monopole slightly below the main wind turbine. Wind data is inherently very noisy; this plot is a running average of the most recent 15 minutes of data (sampled at 10 second intervals).

graph of recent wind speed

Astronomical data:

2017-12-21 11:27:48 last solstice
2018-03-20 12:15:17 last equinox
2018-05-07 22:08:35 last last quarter moon
2018-05-15 07:47:46 last new moon
2018-05-21 23:49:09 last first quarter moon
2018-05-29 10:19:32 last full moon
2018-05-31 21:04:27 last sunset
2018-05-31 22:54:48 last moonrise
2018-06-01 01:32:55 last solar antitransit
2018-06-01 03:43:35 last lunar transit
2018-06-01 06:01:08 last sunrise
2018-06-01 08:32:25 last moonset
2018-06-01 13:32:59 last solar transit
2018-06-01 16:07:50 last lunar antitransit
2018-06-01 17:37:34 *** update time for this data ***
2018-06-01 20:54:09 predicted solar inverter shutdown
2018-06-01 21:05:13 next sunset
2018-06-01 23:41:44 next moonrise
2018-06-02 01:33:04 next solar antitransit
2018-06-02 04:31:54 next lunar transit
2018-06-02 06:00:41 next sunrise
2018-06-02 06:11:45 predicted solar inverter startup
2018-06-02 09:23:48 next moonset
2018-06-02 13:33:09 next solar transit
2018-06-02 16:55:45 next lunar antitransit
2018-06-06 14:31:41 next last quarter moon
2018-06-13 15:43:13 next new moon
2018-06-20 06:50:51 next first quarter moon
2018-06-21 06:07:23 next solstice
2018-06-28 00:52:57 next full moon
2018-09-22 21:54:09 next equinox

Location dependent data computed at UUAA building:
Latitude:  42.2269 north    Longitude:  83.7848 west
Altitude:  274 meters (899 feet) above mean sea level

Comparison of current and historical data:

The thin lines are these graphs represent the percentile ranges for our output at each time of day. The thick line is the data so far for the current day. If the current day lines up with the 50th percentile line, we are having an average day; above or below this represents better or worse than average.

graph of solar percentiles today

graph of wind percentiles today

Want to see more or learn more?

Check our renewable energy projects page.

Please feel free to contact Don Winsor, don@umich.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions about our systems, our instrumentation and data, and this web page.

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