Grid tie with hybrid inverter and no batteries - possible?

[Supervstech]

I like the AFCI idea... prevents a lot of house fires I’m sure. Keeps people from using extension cords overloaded, or surge strips etc... but they need to be better with existing wiring still...

 

[SalckwareRobert]

How are they with bare wire, no insulation? i.e. REALLY old homes.
I'll change to them when they make the price reasonable. I have temp sensors in all my junction boxes monitoring the temps Sub panels all have current monitoring.
I think third party monitoring is better than trusting the wire to police itself.

 

[Ampster]

How are they with bare wire, no insulation? i.e. REALLY old homes.
I'll change to them when they make the price reasonable. I have temp sensors in all my junction boxes monitoring the temps Sub panels all have current monitoring.
I think third party monitoring is better than trusting the wire to police itself.

Are you talking about knob and tube wiring?
That is an interesting risk management philosophy. Hopefully you have smoke detectors so they wake you up so you have time to escape if a fire starts in the walls.

 

[SalckwareRobert]

Yes, bare copper in the baseboards. Do these cheap pennies even work in a fuse box?
Even used the fire retardant paint on all lumber in exit paths. I'm a sucker for breathing.
The monitor will tell me which is the culprit, and light up the best exit paths with led strings. City hall finally gave me permission to put a temp probe on a gazebo in front of city hall. I'm curious about the heat absorption of a colored metal roof. I like the color, but don't want to be fighting it inside the house, and worse, under the panels. Got a bid on 100 watts of cells to test solar tracking with. Been chopping down trees for a spot to mount it. I figure track one day, fixed angle the next, track a day, fixed different angle the next to eliminate panels behaving different. Plus some force meters to see what sort of wind loading I get. Three telescoping poles with a ball joint on top will let me tilt, and lean panels. I need 52 degree tilt, and 216 sweep at summer to get full year round tracking. If the system works, it can be installed on roof, since the poles would be under it in the rafters, and they just raise up. In morning the west side would be higher to stay above the others, in evening the east side would be highest. So the panels would just do a wave across the roof in a day. Then settle down for the night. Got the idea from delta 3D printer.

 

[Ampster]

Yes, bare copper in the baseboards. Do these cheap pennies even work in a fuse box?

The first thing I would do is replace the fuse box with a panel with breakers. Then I would rewire the house. Fire retardant paint forms an etumescent coating on the wood when subject to heat so that the wood does not burn as fast. The theory is to give occupants more time to get out of a burning building to safety. The best risk management strategy in my book is to reduce the likely hood of the wire starting a fire by replacing the wiring. Good luck with what ever works best for you.
What does this have to do with the subject of this thread?

 

[yeldarb]

Pika (just bought out by Generac) and Sol-Ark have hybrid systems. They don't need batteries to work; but you won't get power when the sun is out and grid is down without them. The good news, unlike other hybrid inverters, those two can, I believe, give PV power with a tiny battery bank. If the battery backup is just for emergency (e.g., you won't be cycling them per day), Sol-Ark has a really nice story with their PCC batteries. If interested let me know and I'll find a link for information.

Hi I have a Pika system installed before Generac bought them. I didn't install a battery at the time and I'd like to now, but the Generac battery is like $10k and is overkill for my needs. Are there any other batteries that work with this system? I live in Maine and it would be nice to use the PV output when the power is out. A small (2kWh) battery would probably be enough.