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Post by paulc on Oct 10, 2016 12:27:12 GMT
This is my first post and new to home solar. I would like to create an off grid system with battery backup to get experience with solar. There are great deals on grid tie panels but the voltages are all greater than 24v (ex. VOC 44.7 and Max PV 35.1). I'm having trouble finding an inverter to go with batteries and charge controller. There are "grid tie" inverters that accept up to 60v DC but they don't have the 120V outlets built it since they are designed to output to the grid. Any recommendations?
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Post by Admin on Oct 15, 2016 23:17:35 GMT
Welcome to the group PaulC. Are you sure you want to go grid tie? Make sure you understand the laws in your area. Most of us do not even go there, we just put the power to use rather than try to sell it to the man so to speak.
RR
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Post by chrisfletcher1889 on Oct 17, 2016 9:53:48 GMT
hi Paul, i am also going through the same thoughts, would be interesting to hear what you decided on in the end.
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Post by dennis461 on Nov 11, 2016 14:37:57 GMT
This is my first post and new to home solar. I would like to create an off grid system with battery backup to get experience with solar. There are great deals on grid tie panels but the voltages are all greater than 24v (ex. VOC 44.7 and Max PV 35.1). I'm having trouble finding an inverter to go with batteries and charge controller. There are "grid tie" inverters that accept up to 60v DC but they don't have the 120V outlets built it since they are designed to output to the grid. Any recommendations? You did not provide enough information on your goals, so answers would vary greatly. Where do you live, in a large city, a condominium, a remote desert island
I would like to create an off grid system with battery backup to get experience with solar.
For a learning experience, why not go with a tiny system to keep a 12v lawnmower battery charged, and a 12VDC-120VAC inverter to keep a laptop computer recharged. This will give you basic principle learning experience and allow you to explore getting wiring hooked up and run into the house, location of key components, etc. Slightly larger, I have a single 230 WATT panel charging (through a controller with maximum DC input 50VDC) two 12VDC batteries connected in series, then to a 24VDC-120VAC inverter.
There are great deals on grid tie panels but the voltages are all greater than 24v (ex. VOC 44.7 and Max PV 35.1). Most larger charge controllers and inverters will handle a range 24VDC and higher. I'm having trouble finding an inverter to go with batteries and charge controller. More info needed, you are probably looking in the wrong places
There are "grid tie" inverters that accept up to 60v DC but they don't have the 120V outlets built it since they are designed to output to the grid. This is because your house wiring and grid are most likely already designed to split the inverter 240VAC output into two 120VAC circuits.
One last thought, if you are in a residential neighbor hood with reliable electricity supplied, you don't need batteries at all. Getting 'grid tied' is a lot more paperwork, but maintaining a large battery bank is unnecessary and expensive, which is why some of the DIY solar/battery systems on this forum are literally on islands.
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Post by tytower on Nov 15, 2016 6:22:42 GMT
Yes I think the single panel ,two car batteries and a 12/24 volt inverter would be the way to go to start. I did almost that and ran a 24 volt system and LED spotlights at night for about three years now . The lights have been working less than half of the time because of all the problems that crop up.
I now have a grid tied system and cannot tie in to the grid so I am considering making my own 240 V grid with the batteries providing an inverter with juice which I will feed into my own loop and I will feed that 240V loop to my grid tie inverter and then run my equipment from my own 240V grid. I see no reason why that would not work as thats exactly what happens when you grid tie .
I'll run a battery charger from 240 to recharge the batteries.
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Post by tytower on Dec 3, 2016 21:28:31 GMT
Don't do it or you will see smoke. You can not feed grid power into the outlet of an inverter.......well you can if you want to make a lot of smoke. Well in fact in a system without batteries thats exactly what happens . The grid supply has to be there first before the inverter will turn on. If there the inverter produces power from the PV array and feeds it along the same line back into the grid . Now before you disagree which you are perfectly entitled to do , have you done this ? I have. Guess what - No Smoke.
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Dave Simmo
Junior Member
Recovering from Surgery. Shoulders had to be rebuilt. End Stage joint damage
Posts: 76
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Post by Dave Simmo on Dec 24, 2016 18:27:28 GMT
Recommendations Dump the GTI plan. Check with the Homeowners bunch. Never buy a 12 volt battery ( I have done it Marine Batteries they just wont handle it) Sams club 6 Volts are the best bang for the buck as far as I know. Go 12 volts and stay there. look at you house as a car. Wire it up as a dual system one on the grid that is in place. The other Off the grid plan on using it and let the Wife have the extra cash. Be ready to fail that is how I learned. I fried Multimeter's and some lights and had CC die
Ray & Johann glade to see you two. I guess I will add my two cents . As insane as it will sound. Here where I live I checked out the grid and what our local company wanted me to do. If god for bid my equipment burped and damage anything( I Pay Up ) If their Power plant Burps and does anything to my equipment I pay up. Selling Juice back to them I have to put in 20 percent more than I use to get a Nickel back.
I left the Grid jumped into the 12 Volt world and never looked back. Still trying to figure out how to post pictures here
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Post by tytower on Dec 24, 2016 23:11:57 GMT
Try hitting the reply button rather than quick post . That brings up the full edit window with add attachment on it
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Post by tytower on Dec 25, 2016 9:23:14 GMT
If you have a grid-tie-inverter and plug it up to the net, no problem there. Using a a regular inverter to make your 120-240 volts and then hooking up your grid-tie up to this will make smoke. You can make the statement but where is the proof . If I have a grid tie inverter with 240V 50hz a/c output why would that be any different to what comes down the line? Please try to explain yourself. Grid tie Inverters are made to automatically change the output to match the input So they inject the same as is there already as I understand it. Line voltage varies in frequency and in voltage so the grid tie inverter must match all changes . Set on zero export all power used by my mini -grid will be produced by the grid tie inverter.
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