Critique My Thought Process Please?

[shazam]

As a long-time reader of the forum I want to first thank everyone for the invaluable knowledge I have gained from it! I'm finally ready to have cogent discussion, and hopefully at some point become an asset to the group.

I finally decided to take the plunge. I contacted my electric co-op about the DIY project, who were less than enthusiastic. Long story short, they would arbitrarily limit me to a rack of panels no larger than my average annual consumption...around 8k kwh/year. Pvwatts says those panels won't even come close to handling my winter loads....12 k at a minimum. They would also limit my sell-back to their grid, and want documentation drawn and signed by a PE. County on the other hand seems pretty much 'whatever..'. Still negotiating with the utility, however...thinking plan B...the expensive one.

Plan B.....Solark 15k, 16 kw of ground-mounted panels, 5 SOK Pros (to start)....and a big EG 4 Chargeverter.

Turn the current 200 amp load center/current house wiring into the 'solar side' of the house, and add another (mostly empty) load center to run the utility connection into. No connection between the load centers. This set-up would be essentially off-grid, except....I would power the Chargeverter from the utility load center, and use it to charge the batteries when the sun is absent for an extended period. I would essentially pay the power company only to be Plan C...well OK, plan D. I have a 4-cylinder diesel generator with two-wire start that would be part of the mix....MEP803 for you military types.

Other than the expense, and the horrendous waste of capacity in the summer-time, how would you critique the plan? Thanks in advance!

Jim

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Plan B.....Solark 15k, 16 kw of ground-mounted panels, 5 SOK Pros (to start)....and a big EG 4 Chargeverter.

If you have the money, then yeah, Plan B sounds like the way to go.

Why the chargeverter? The Solark is an inverter/charger. To my knowledge it is more tolerant of generator power than your typical MPP Solar/Growatt/EG4, which is why the Chargeverter exists - to make up for the suck that is their generator tolerance.

Turn the current 200 amp load center/current house wiring into the 'solar side' of the house, and add another (mostly empty) load center to run the utility connection into. No connection between the load centers. This set-up would be essentially off-grid, except....I would power the Chargeverter from the utility load center, and use it to charge the batteries when the sun is absent for an extended period. I would essentially pay the power company only to be Plan C...well OK, plan D. I have a 4-cylinder diesel generator with two-wire start that would be part of the mix....MEP803 for you military types.

Again, the only concern I have is the use of the Chargeverter. If you're trying to completely never draw loads from the utility, I guess that plan works fine, but the Sol-Ark charges at 275A vs. the Chargeverter's 100A, and it could be used to fall back to grid automatically.

 

[shazam]

Thanks for the response!

The only reason for the Chargeverter is to keep the utility company out of the loop completely, so I don't have to stay within their limits.

If I run a utility's line into and connect to the Sol-Ark, the claim could be made by the utility that I've attached it to their grid...and have to play by their rules.

If I plug what is essentially a battery charger on steroids into an outlet on their utility grid, it would be hard to make that claim, no matter what I'm charging.

Admittedly a less than optimum way to do it....

Jim

PS- Cleaning the power coming out of the generator I wouldn't think would be an issue. All our armed forces use them to power their electronics in the 'field'.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thanks for the response!

The only reason for the Chargeverter is to keep the utility company out of the loop completely, so I don't have to stay within their limits.

They're not out of the loop. You're drawing power from them for your charger...

If I run a utility's line into and connect to the Sol-Ark, the claim could be made by the utility that I've attached it to their grid...and have tp play by their rules.

Do you have to play by their rules when you connect a dryer or HVAC unit?

Connected without backfeed capability enabled means that the inverter/charger is simply a load on the grid.

If I plug what is essentially a battery charger on steroids into an outlet on their utility grid, it would be hard to make that claim.

that's exactly what the Sol-ark is when it's not configured for backfeed.

Admittedly a less than optimum way to do it....

Jim

PS- Cleaning the power coming out of the generator I wouldn't think would be an issue. All our armed forces use them to power their electronics in the 'field'.

That was in reference to the Growatt/MPP solar/EG4 inverter/chargers - all very intolerant of generator output UNLESS it's an inverter generator with a very clean signal. The Chargeverter was developed to give those owners a more reliable charging options. I would expect better of a Sol-ark.

 

[shazam]

As I understand (or if I don't, enlighten me) it, none of the AIOs can claim to never, ever, positively could'nt feedback to the grid. I'd be SO happy to be wrong about that!

Jim

PS...re-reading your reply, it appears you've answered that already. Where is ' connecting without back-feed' documented? I'm gonna hae to get back into the manual!