September 2008 Solar Production Report

September crossed the 3.5 Megawatt-hour production mark to end at 3555 kWh. We are well on our way to the predicted 3.8 Megawatt hours per year predicted by our installer (Mr. Sun Solar). October should perform about the same as March did based on the symmetry we've seen so far (see chart below) and that would get us to the goal.

The Autumnal Equinox occurred on September 22 here in North America and the solar production confirms that the days are getting shorter. Even worse is the oblique angle of the Sun. You can see how the Max kW value is sharply declining. 

The picture of the orange moon above signifies another event that impacted Sept's solar production. Smoke. There were two fires burning in Mount Hood National Forest area. The Gnarl Fire, burning on the east side of Mt Hood, was caused by lightning August 8th. The Lake Lenore Fire is burning southwest of the Gnarl Fire. These two caused a haze that was clearly visible even here 60 miles away. It dimmed the daytime sky and made the Moon appear as the burnt orange color you see above.

Oregon has had just over 1,500 wild fires over 108,000 acres of land burned in 2008. As bad as that is, California set a record this year. The state has had more than 8,100 wild fires burning about 1,227,000 acres.