the switch to wind

[oil pan 4]

Last time I checked I own my house I will do what I please.
I have read about this on numerous forums. The only place for sure it is against the law to pull the meter is in the police state of maryland.

I'm saying I don't know what fried the inverter on the standalone plus grid tie experiment. I'm saying don't do it.

[Erasmo]

A proper breaker box should have a main switch between the meter and your house.
I don't recommend using a generator to trick the inverters into thinking that the grid is up, if you do that you have both the generator and the pv pumping 5-6kW in a system where it can't flow back to the net, a recipe for disaster.

Just use the generator and run a few leads to keep the fridge cold and charge your phone. Or perhaps don't neglect your public infrastructure 30 years, grid cost here for an household is about €220 and the average downtime is 20 minutes a year.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by Erasmo

I don't recommend using a generator to trick the inverters into thinking that the grid is up, if you do that you have both the generator and the pv pumping 5-6kW in a system where it can't flow back to the net, a recipe for disaster.

Shouldn't the governor on the generator simply limit the speed to 3600 rpm or 1800 rpm - whatever synchronous speed should be? It will be spinning with minimal load?

The solar .. I think .. should limit it's output voltage to 125V L-N or 250V L1-L2.

If you hit your micro-grid with a step change - like turning on the toaster when nothing else was running .. the voltage will drop until the solar or the generator ramp up and then there will be overvoltage when the toaster turns off. The voltage may rise too high and kill something then, I guess.

Just use the generator and run a few leads to keep the fridge cold and charge your phone. Or perhaps don't neglect your public infrastructure 30 years, grid cost here for an household is about €220 and the average downtime is 20 minutes a year.

I always use the grid.

But just because the average power interruption per year is 20 minutes per year per household does not mean you many not experience .. like I have .. 8 continuous hours of no power while your basement fills with groundwater from the torrential downpour that tripped the power line to begin with.

There are always worst case scenarios.

[oil pan 4]

No, most consumer generators run at between 62 to 63Hz at no load are very unstable frequency wise when hit with loads and can have a whole lot more harmonic distortion than the power grid.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

No, most consumer generators run at between 62 to 63Hz at no load are very unstable frequency wise when hit with loads and can have a whole lot more harmonic distortion than the power grid.

I guess maybe that's one reason why the little generators are cheap?

[oil pan 4]

The little generators are cheap because there isn't much to them and the scale of their production. These smaller ones are the most in demand.
My 17.5kw generator isn't produced in real large numbers so it's got a higher price per kw.

[freebeard]

I'm still hoping for aerohead to stop by and explain "[the] electric cooperative's solar farm photovoltaic power option". I suspect it would make the ensuing discussion moot.

In terms of a 'roll-your-own' grid tie; I would think a properly engineered retro-fit would incorporate a DC-DC inverter and a battery storage bank in some configuration.

Start at the loose end, 5V USB, a 12V LED lighting system, maybe a 24V utility circuit (refrigerators); but definitely a buck/boost circuit so you can run OEM vehicle components like the heat pump for a new Leaf.

Then think carefully about a grid intertie and how the economics and politics will shake out down the road.

[oil pan 4]

There are higher voltage charge controllers made to tie into grid tie inverter panel arrays and charge 12 or 24v batterys.
The highest voltage one I know of is made by midnight, will tie into up to 75 volts of panels and charge a 12 or 24 volt battery bank.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Did it happen?

I'm perplexed by the comments. It sounds like you pay an extra penny/kW-h, and the coop* pinky-swears your power comes from wind.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ns-environment


*I like coops.

Yes,I got a conformation over the phone that they'd done it.This morning I had a letter from CoServ,my electric coop,thanking me for enrolling.
It's a leap of faith that the power will actually come from wind energy.I have no control over that aspect.I just want to vote with my dollars for renewable energy and this is the most cost-effective way to get back in the game.
For 10-years I was off the grid and relied upon photvoltaics,batteries,and a modest wind generator.The whole house was 12-VDC.
Wind energy is proliferating in Texas,and not because of environmental considerations.It's a money-maker.Both for the energy company and those who lease their land to the companies.
We do have a lot of wind and I'd rather see the hydrocarbons used for plastics rather than 'see' it go up in smoke with a 4-wheeled blast furnace.
Later,with an EV,I can really lower my carbon footprint.
The US is still importing 4,700,000 barrels of foreign oil/day.That's a pretty good hit to our economy.Stupid!
Aerostealth has cut his families carbon footprint by 80% already,without inventing anything new,using off-the-shelf technology/services.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

Distributed generation does present some issues. A big part is safety, if a circuit goes down you would expect no voltage on the line.... unless someone has solar panels or a wind turbine that is tied to the grid.

My electric coop is purchasing wind power from commercial producers outside of Denton County.They just wheel it onto the grid,like any other power plant.
If there isn't any wind,other hydrocarbon-based coop providers make up the difference.