Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2020
- Messages
- 20,047
It's possible, but I don't think this exists out of the box. I'm working on something that could be used to do just that, but it's in the early stages of development and definitely not something out-of-the-box. You need something that acts as a supervisor and has an overview of everything and can control individual devices. One possibly easier method would be to put the higher loads on a timer and make sure they don't overlap. That should be easier, using a socket timer for example.
<Is it possible to implement a control strategy to prevent larger loads from turning on if the inverter is highly loaded?>
Some things are easy. Have well pump circuit trip a relay that interrupts A/C thermostat, for instance. Two similar size motors, only one running at a time.
A current transformer on one branch (with resistor, output voltage proportional to current) could be used to connect a lower priority branch.
Max inverter wattage and available battery/PV are two separate things to control.
Battery voltage could be a decent proxy for SoC of lead-acid.
Some inverters and some charge controllers have relays to control loads for that purpose.
Because mine do frequency-shift control of PV production, I could use a frequency measurement to control loads. PV is curtailed from 100% at 61 Hz to 0% at 62 Hz. I could enable loads 0% at 60.5 Hz to 100% at 61 Hz.
Water heater opportunistic heating is a good application. Larger tank, and enable element when surplus power is available. Maybe make continuously variable with a dimmer circuit.