Do I need 200a passthrough to clean up dirty grid power?

[cafecivet]

I live in a country where there are often voltage fluctuations in the energy from the grid as well as frequent 2-5 second cuts in power. The brownouts are hard on electronics, and I constantly need to reset my pool pump. I understand that many inverters have thresholds for max/min voltage they will accept.

In order for this to help shield my electronics, do I need an inverter with 200a passthrough to sit in between my meter and main panel or is there a way to wire an inverter without it to achieve the same protection?

 

[koppted]

I live in a country where there are often voltage fluctuations in the energy from the grid as well as frequent 2-5 second cuts in power. The brownouts are hard on electronics, and I constantly need to reset my pool pump. I understand that many inverters have thresholds for max/min voltage they will accept.

In order for this to help shield my electronics, do I need an inverter with 200a passthrough to sit in between my meter and main panel or is there a way to wire an inverter without it to achieve the same protection?

Passthrough by definition passes whatever power you have from the utility to your loads. Most inverters with passthrough do not have voltage stabilizers so. It won't make a difference. Now the Power you get from solar or that is inverted from batteries might be better than what you get from the utility but the passthrough part will just give you the same dirty power.

 

[ksmithaz1]

It sounds like what you want is an online UPS to protect your gear.

 

[OffGridForGood]

the Power you get from solar or that is inverted from batteries might be better than what you get from the utility but the passthrough part will just give you the same dirty power.

Adding a Chargeverter to charge batteries from dirty grid source would allow your inverters to run and supply cleaned up power while still having a way to charge batteries from the grid.

edit: or from a generator which also may be poor quality power.

 

[Mattb4]

An inverter that has UPS type transfer will switch from a bad grid supply to PV/battery. It does not cleanup a faulty grid but it detects if it is outside specifications. If your gird has frequent momentary losses though the amount of switching in and out of AC bypass would likely damage things. Indeed sudden surges on the grid side can damage all kinds of equipment including an UPS/AIO type device.

The recommendation of only using grid for DC charging while running your home off of clean inverter AC is likely your best option. Understand that to power a lot of things will require a fairly large setup.

 

[cafecivet]

An inverter that has UPS type transfer will switch from a bad grid supply to PV/battery. It does not cleanup a faulty grid but it detects if it is outside specifications. If your gird has frequent momentary losses though the amount of switching in and out of AC bypass would likely damage things. Indeed sudden surges on the grid side can damage all kinds of equipment including an UPS/AIO type device.

The recommendation of only using grid for DC charging while running your home off of clean inverter AC is likely your best option. Understand that to power a lot of things will require a fairly large setup.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks. I was looking at an EG4 18kpv w/ 28.5kwh powerwall and 12kw in panels. We get 5-6 of peak sun year nearly year round. My heavy load times can be easily managed (most of it is irrigation/pool pumps on timers) to keep things below 5-6kwh. Does that seem like enough?

 

[OffGridForGood]

Does that seem like enough?

hard for us to know, but likely you have utility bills with your normal consumption - those bills will not tell you the peak power draw, only the kWh for the month, however since you say the peaks can be managed, just check what your monthly usage typically comes to,
The input your location into PVWatts.nrel.gov to see what your solar array should provide each month (divide by 30/31 to get daily values)
It will also tell you the variation between winter and summer, which can be helpful, even if your variation is less than those of us farther from the equator...

 

[time2roll]

Low cost clamp-on ammeter will tell the immediate load with selected items running. May not show surge power very well, just running amps.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

likely you have utility bills with your normal consumption - those bills will not tell you the peak power draw, only the kWh for the month

Just a side note/FYI - my local PoCo SDG&E (San Diego, CA) bills have shown Peak draw during the month (lists the specific day and hour) for MANY years

 

[dougbert]

Adding a Chargeverter to charge batteries from dirty grid source would allow your inverters to run and supply cleaned up power while still having a way to charge batteries from the grid.

edit: or from a generator which also may be poor quality power.

best solution to isolate the grid from your inverter and balance of system

the inverter does just that (inverting) and only that. Not used for charging and pass through is no longer used

totally protects your inverter and all devices running on the inverter. The chargeverter cleans the power by AC to DC conversion, then your inverter does the DC to AC conversion for your loads. The chargeverter accepts 50hz and 60hz, and a wide spectrum of voltages

 

[dougbert]

The recommendation of only using grid for DC charging while running your home off of clean inverter AC is likely your best option. Understand that to power a lot of things will require a fairly large setup.

Chargeverter solution again

if one is not enough, then add more of them

In my home system, I have 2 Chargeverters. They can be powered by grid or by generator

 

[OffGridForGood]

Chargeverter solution again

if one is not enough, then add more of them

NO WONDER I had a hard time to get just ONE !

 

[dougbert]

NO WONDER I had a hard time to get just ONE !

He works for Current Connected

 

[OffGridForGood]

He works for Current Connected

MONOPOLY! hogging all the Chargeverters!

 

[wpns]

Another vote for the 18Kpv, PowerPro batteries, and ChargeVerter. My grid is awful and half the reason for the batteries was full off-grid whole-house UPS.