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RE: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

Posted By Steven Hegedus 10-29-2025 06:45 AM
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Mike, Great idea. You are ahead of the times. I'm wondering - since you are using microinverters, why not leave the module up all year? In summer when it is shaded it will still put out a little due to the diffuse light and won't reduce the output of the rest of the modules since they are independently ...

balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

Posted By Steven Hegedus 10-14-2025 12:35 PM
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Hello The concept of what has been called 'balcony solar' has been catching on in US. I used to be skeptical and concerned about non-certified products being plugged into a home or apartment outlets and injected poor quality power and maybe lacking safety shut down features. No inspection or permits ...

RE: Solar Air Domes

Posted By Steven Hegedus 08-11-2025 09:26 AM
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Bill, I'm with you on this one. Those of us who have seen and been part of the many different solar iterations of new concepts and applications and devices for 40 years know that what we have now is pretty good and able to get the job done. It has been tested and validated and survival of the fittest ...

RE: comparing Enphase microinverter with Solar Edge string inverter with battery

Posted By Steven Hegedus 07-05-2025 01:58 PM
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Hi David The reason I am retiring my 18 y/o system is because of a convergence of 4 things: I want to replace my 20 year old roof before it leaks; I have to remove the old modules to replace the roof; with new modules and power optimizers, I will be able to install almost 4 times more power on the ...

comparing Enphase microinverter with Solar Edge string inverter with battery

Posted By Steven Hegedus 07-01-2025 07:41 AM
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Hello I want to replace my 18 year old rooftop PV system on my house. A few weeks ago I posted here asking for opinions of residential inverter brands especially with battery attached. I have evaluated both SMA Sunny Boy and Solar Edge HD Wave Hub with batteries in my inverter testing lab at University ...

RE: Which residential solar + battery system do you recommend?

Posted By Steven Hegedus 06-16-2025 06:17 PM
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Richard, It will be a while before the modules are removed but I will take photos for you. I have not done any module level diagnostics as you suggest. I have monitored the energy output for 18 years. Without correcting for any annual variation in irradiance, the best fit to the 17 data points gives ...

Which residential solar + battery system do you recommend?

Posted By Steven Hegedus 06-14-2025 01:41 PM
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Hi all I have had a small rooftop array since 2007. I have decided to replace the roof (over 20 y/o) and since they have to remove the array I might as well upgrade to new modules. I also want to install a battery (probably 10 kWh for short outages). I am a solar researcher who has two PV+BESS installed ...

RE: Solar Incentives under Threat Update

Posted By Steven Hegedus 05-20-2025 07:59 PM
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Hi Dennis, William, Joe, Good points but remember that ASES is a non-profit so they can't advocate for or against a specific party or person. Just legislation. Which is what Ella's original email did. If you have a Republican representative or senator, of course contact them and make the argument ...

RE: new solar certificate course at University of Delaware

Posted By Steven Hegedus 01-20-2025 08:49 PM
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RichardThanks for asking. Go to the link and scroll down to "Modules". Click each one for detailed description of the content. ("Modules" here refers to course modules not solar modules). I hope to see some ASES members sigh up! Steve Steven Hegedus Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior ...

University of Delaware new Solar Academy Certificate program

Posted By Steven Hegedus 01-15-2025 01:55 PM
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Are you involved in Solar Photovoltaics but want to develop a more complete understanding of why it is the fastest-growing clean energy technology? How did we arrive at today's technology and where it is headed? What is a smart inverter? What is the difference between all the new solar cell technologies ...

new solar certificate course at University of Delaware

Posted By Steven Hegedus 01-15-2025 09:51 AM
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Are you involved in Solar Photovoltaics but want to develop a more complete understanding of why it is the fastest-growing clean energy technology? How did we arrive at today's technology and where it is headed? What is a smart inverter? What is the difference between all the new solar cell technologies ...

RE: Introduction

Posted By Steven Hegedus 10-08-2024 06:24 PM
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Hi MichaelThere are several different roles that metal oxides can play in solar cells as you probably know. The biggest challenge is finding ones that match the band alignment and have very high transparency but low resistivity while being chemically compatible with the rest of the device stack. I did ...

RE: Slar panel mounting

Posted By Steven Hegedus 09-03-2024 02:32 PM
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Hello Michael I also was shocked when about 8 years ago I saw the first residential system in my neigborhood with both south and north facing modules. (I Live in Delaware). Then I thought about it. (I teach a class on solar technology applications). The cost breakdown for a residential system nowadays ...

RE: Solar Array Design Modeling Software

Posted By Steven Hegedus 08-29-2024 12:23 PM
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Hi RobertA very comprehensive free platform is SAM from NREL (System Advisor Model). It is at sam.nrel.gov. It does both technical and financial analysis using meteorological data bases, product specs (a wide range of commercially available PV modules, inverters, batteries). It allows you to incorporate ...

RE: NPR article: "Thinking about rooftop solar?"

Posted By Steven Hegedus 08-20-2024 10:22 AM
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HiOthers may already be aware that DOE and SEIA have both recently made residential solar customer protection a high priority. It is not clear whether the motivation comes from high pressure sales tactic, hidden fees, poor quality control and/or over-stated performance claims. They seem to imply the ...

RE: News article: Space-based solar power

Posted By Steven Hegedus 07-26-2024 09:13 AM
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Hi KatIn your article you mention the single benefit of space-based PV power - steady 24/7 electricity on earth regardless of clouds. But then you list the many many really difficult challenges. As you note, this idea has been around for a long time but there has never been a credible attempt to even ...

RE: best deal for PV energy going to the grid in northeast ohio ?

Posted By Steven Hegedus 06-12-2024 12:18 PM
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Hi Allen We have some things in common! By way of introduction, I grew up in eastern Cleveland and lived in Cleveland Heights (Mayfield Rd near Overlook) while I was going to CWRU. Also I got bit by the solar bug while visiting NASA Glenn Lewis in 1977 with my professor and have been in PV since 1982 ...

RE: "I Fronius."

Posted By Steven Hegedus 05-07-2024 02:12 PM
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Hello Bill, I wanted to comment on your complaint about utilities requiring inverters to have additional features, specifically Penn Power and Light (PPL). I also read your blog from 2021 diving deeper into your opposition. The issue is centralized or coordinated control of smart inverter features ...

RE: What policy topics do you think Solar Today should cover this fall?

Posted By Steven Hegedus 05-04-2024 11:37 AM
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There are several states reconsidering net energy metering (NM) to reduce value of residential PV electricity exported to grid . There are some valid reasons based on grid dynamics (duck curve). The utilities also claim it results in cost shifting. They tend to neglect the benefits and only view the ...

RE: Cleaning panels

Posted By Steven Hegedus 04-30-2024 11:22 AM
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I live in northern Delaware and have had an array on my roof for 17 years. I have never cleaned them and my output is degrading annually about 0.45% which is better than expected. So no evidence that they would benefit from a cleaning. Every few years I go up and inspect them and nothing obvious. The ...

Dr. Steven Hegedus

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