You sound like several of my friends. Great folks. Smart! And yet I waver... I am aware of the benefits, which are not insignificant. But if I do grid-tie, the utility has at least some say in how I do things. They have a right to inspect, and even give a thumbs up / down. I'm not sure I want that. We shall see...
I don't mean grid-tie (feeding the grid with your excess solar/ two way utility interaction) which as you say comes with rules and inpection. I only mean your inverter system will be able to draw power from the utility (if/when you need) just like a generator, one-way utility connection. This doesn't require an agreement with the utility and doesn't give them some right to come onto your property. The term Off-grid inverter doesn't have to mean no grid back-up available. Think of the utility as a super-big generator, running all the time, that you can draw from for pennies per kWh if you need it.
Again, great points. But installing ANY connection to the grid (even if you don't grid-tie your solar) can give the utility the right to come onto your property, inspect, and have at least some voice in what you do (at least where I live). I don't much care if they come onto the property (heck, I'll fix 'em some coffee, show them my system, and have a chat). It's the having a voice in things that I'm against. I basically do what you propose, now. My little solar system powers some shed buildings, and I ran an AC line to them over the summer, just to prevent the need to pull out the generator during Nov-Jan. But that's different from a system that powers the entire property, which is what I'm planning for, for the next house.
Perhaps if instead of using "Off grid" we adopt "GAB" (grid as backup) designation for these AIO's and inverter/charger setups. Just a thought this morning.
You know, you have a good point Matt, this is a very confusing part to those new to solar:
i think someone(s) did, but i second/third this. kinda of like a "pimp my ride" or "knowledge eye for the amateur guy". you can come help me set up my dual victron mulitplus split phase 48v system for my van
Less difference between in and out voltage = better efficiency.
how does that explain; the victron 250/60 can reach 99% efficiency whereas the 150/60 is only 98% ?
Could be using more efficient transistors or more optimized design.
it could be, i don't know and to some extent i don't care. knowing what makes it more efficient is less useful to most people than knowing the best solar array size [watts and voltage] to use with a particular battery size for a given SCC size/type/brand. it would be too much for will to produce efficiency graphs for every SCC but a few examples would be nice and i vote for one of them to be victron's 150/60 since i'm going to be using that one
