Hi,
I would be happy to get your ideas on how to share the power generated by 20kWh solar array in a grid-tied system.
It's a small business park with 9 consumers having their own meters and separate energy supply contracts. 5 meters are three phase, 4 meters - single phase. The load of the biggest consumer is 5kW (midday), others consume between 1kW and 3kW. Total load of 9 consumers (midday) is 17kW. Average monthly consumption is 5900 kWh. As far as I understand we can not install one 20kW inverter and connect AC side in parallel. Should be one meter - one inverter, right? We could install separate solar array for each individual consumer, but then the system is not efficient. When one particular consumer does not consume - the generated energy is lost. Batteries can be a solution - but then the system is too expensive and complicated.
The Question: is there any cost efficient way to share the generated energy?
Currently, I'm considering three options:
1) 20kW PV solar array - 20kW inverter - Allume Solshare (https://allumeenergy.com/how-it-works/). This is for sharing AC power. Looks perfect - but expensive ($10k+)
2) Separate solar array for each consumer (3-5kW) with own hybrid inverter connected to a single small battery bank. The excess energy generated by individual solar array is transferred to a shared battery bank. I couldn't find cost efficient hybrid inverters.
3) 20kW solar array - 20kW charge controller - individual battery inverters for each consumer.
What do you think about these options? Do you have any other option in mind?
I would be happy to get your ideas on how to share the power generated by 20kWh solar array in a grid-tied system.
It's a small business park with 9 consumers having their own meters and separate energy supply contracts. 5 meters are three phase, 4 meters - single phase. The load of the biggest consumer is 5kW (midday), others consume between 1kW and 3kW. Total load of 9 consumers (midday) is 17kW. Average monthly consumption is 5900 kWh. As far as I understand we can not install one 20kW inverter and connect AC side in parallel. Should be one meter - one inverter, right? We could install separate solar array for each individual consumer, but then the system is not efficient. When one particular consumer does not consume - the generated energy is lost. Batteries can be a solution - but then the system is too expensive and complicated.
The Question: is there any cost efficient way to share the generated energy?
Currently, I'm considering three options:
1) 20kW PV solar array - 20kW inverter - Allume Solshare (https://allumeenergy.com/how-it-works/). This is for sharing AC power. Looks perfect - but expensive ($10k+)
2) Separate solar array for each consumer (3-5kW) with own hybrid inverter connected to a single small battery bank. The excess energy generated by individual solar array is transferred to a shared battery bank. I couldn't find cost efficient hybrid inverters.
3) 20kW solar array - 20kW charge controller - individual battery inverters for each consumer.
What do you think about these options? Do you have any other option in mind?