Inverter as UPS

[xcentric]

Still trying to understand grid-tied inverters and anti-islanding and so on (in the UK if it makes a difference).

If an inverter detects when the grid is out and disconnects from it so as not to pump solar or battery power into it (helpful to the repair people!) I get the usefulness of that.

Now, depending on where that connection is, can the inverter still be connected to the consume unit and so power the house via battery and any solar? I know some inverters have a critical loads output which is always on, but I'm thinking more generally of inverters that could run the house (up to the level of the inverters output, obviously) without any intervention?

Reading a data sheet https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-II-inverter-charger-EN.pdf it seems to suggest this is possible, but I'd been led to believe it wasn't possible in the UK at least......

 

[hwy17]

Yes, the two conceptual options are to turn the entire consumer unit into a CLP behind the inverter, or to have the inverter downstream of the consumer unit and then an islanding switch between the meter and consumer unit that communicates with the inverter to take the consumer unit off grid.

I don't know what products and configurations are available in the UK market.

The common constraint against turning the entire loads panel into a CLP is the inverter not being capable of 100A+ passthrough to the CLP.

Also not all automatic switchover systems are fast enough to keep electronics online, even if they offer a UPS-type mode. It's generally easiest to just keep electronics on an actual UPS.