Inverter with off grid capabilities WITHOUT battery

[timselectric]

Light is light.

 

[timselectric]

I'm going to steal electricity from the power company, by installing a solar panel under a street light.

 

[Lt.Dan]

I was just going to get my flashlight and shine it at my roof, then charge the battery for the flashlight with my solar. Infinite energy

 

[timselectric]

It's the circle of light.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

We laugh but sometimes my charge controller does say it’s charging with 40w at night when the moons bright. Probably just a false positive

 

[timselectric]

Moonlight, can actually produce power.
Just not much, compared to daylight.

 

[Ampster]

Sunny Boy does that, 2000W 120V available when grid is down but sun is up from "Secure Power" feature of newer models.

Yes that is a great feature. Of course it still doesn't work at night. Also if you have to meet Rapid Shut Down requirements it has to be disabled.

 

[Hedges]

Yes that is a great feature. Of course it still doesn't work at night. Also if you have to meet Rapid Shut Down requirements it has to be disabled.

One of their papers said the voltage from a PV string in RSD is too low to reenable, but they have a way with a couple 9V batteries to work around it. I had understood they get Secure Power to work despite RSD, apparently that's how.

I Kludge you not!

TECHNICAL NOTE: Sunny Boy US-41: Secure Power Supply Operation with TS4-R-O

PURPOSE This notice provides instructions for installing the Secure Power Supply for a Sunny Boy PV system outfitted with SMA TS4-R-O devices. APPLICABLE PRODUCTS Sunny Boy 3.0 / 3.8 / 5.0 / 6.0 / 7.0 / 7.7-US-41 Type designation: SBx.x-1SP-US-41 Firmware software package version: 3.01.06.R or...

www.stellavolta.com

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Maybe but that would mean adding yet another feature to look for for my inverter, which is that it should be able to accept any battery.

By “inverter” I think you are referring to an AIO- All In One- unit which usually contains a solar charge controller, a ‘utility’ charger, and an inverter at a minimum.
The inverter merely takes battery power and turns it into 120VAC (or 240V or whatever it is made for) to output for use. Inverters are generally designed for a specific battery voltage: 12V, 24V, 48V DC

The solar charge controller- SCC- is what charges the battery/batteries. Within its designed voltage, any good AIO or standalone SCC will be setable/programmable for whatever battery type/chemistry you use.

the 2 models of hybrid inverter my provider showed me both use only proprietary batteries

I’d shop further. There’s plenty of decent equipment that let you choose your own batteries; some available that will integrate with their own brand battery will also accept other batteries but just not feature the battery status/reporting integration capabilities.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

We laugh but sometimes my charge controller does say it’s charging with 40w at night when the moons bright. Probably just a false positive

I haven’t ever seen a charging wattage, but a couple times under bright moon when I was using the AN30, the display indicated the sun was out. An actual 40W would be pretty cool!

 

[Hedges]

One of my Sunny Boys did show 10W or 20W at night.
I did the math for illumination from yard light, decided that wasn't sufficient to be the source.
Its electronics and display are powered by PV, not by AC and it doesn't have a battery. The power was coming from SOMEWHERE.
My best theory was that some coupling on AC side was being rectified to DC and providing a bit of power.

 

[timselectric]

Or aliens were trying to communicate with us. And you just ignored them. lol

 

[efficientPV]

I run my washing machine from solar panels with a $20 inverter and no battery. A cloud passes and it will stop. I just press start after it is gone and the machine remembers where it was. No need for expensive technology.

 

[Fardenco]

Just need to do much much more research, before you spend any money.
There's many ways to skin a cat.
This stuff can be done very cost savvy.

Yes, I know, in fact I'm not planning on making my installation next week, I'm thinking maybe 6 months to one year from now
The price I have for now is around 5500 to 6000€ for a 6.5kWc kit. I'll install the panels myself.

By “inverter” I think you are referring to an AIO- All In One- unit which usually contains a solar charge controller, a ‘utility’ charger, and an inverter at a minimum.
The inverter merely takes battery power and turns it into 120VAC (or 240V or whatever it is made for) to output for use. Inverters are generally designed for a specific battery voltage: 12V, 24V, 48V DC

The solar charge controller- SCC- is what charges the battery/batteries. Within its designed voltage, any good AIO or standalone SCC will be setable/programmable for whatever battery type/chemistry you use.

I’d shop further. There’s plenty of decent equipment that let you choose your own batteries; some available that will integrate with their own brand battery will also accept other batteries but just not feature the battery status/reporting integration capabilities.

Yeah that's what I'm referring to.
Ok I understand. And is there any better option between AIO and standalone SCC ?

I run my washing machine from solar panels with a $20 inverter and no battery. A cloud passes and it will stop. I just press start after it is gone and the machine remembers where it was. No need for expensive technology.

Yeah but your system was totally off grid, right ? What I'm looking for is a grid tied system that can also power my house by solar energy only in the event of an outage

 

[timselectric]

The fact that you want to send excess power to the grid. Puts you in a smaller, more expensive options list.

 

[Hedges]

Sunny Boy with Secure Power could fit the grid-tie plus occasional backup requirement pretty well.

 

[Fardenco]

Sunny Boy with Secure Power could fit the grid-tie plus occasional backup requirement pretty well.

Yes it's the kind of feature I want but my problem with it is that from what I understand, it's limited to 2kW

Edit : Thinking about it 2kW would already be great, but after looking for it, it seems like the SMA inverters that have this "SPS" feature are not available in France...

 

[Britguy]

Yeah but your system was totally off grid, right ? What I'm looking for is a grid tied system that can also power my house by solar energy only in the event of an outage

You're making a mistake in your thinking ........ off grid is the way to go.
Why do you want to provide power to the grid?
1. The grid doesn't want your power.
2. The grid won't pay much for your excess power.
3. Grid tie costs a lot more money in installation, inverter and permissions.
4. When TEOTWAWKI happens, and the grid ends forever, you'll still have no power.

Best to use a cheap off grid inverter with no battery.
1. Most will use solar, then top up any needs from the grid.
2. You can add a battery later.
3. You'll still have power after TSHTF.

 

[timselectric]

You're making a mistake in your thinking ........ off grid is the way to go.
Why do you want to provide power to the grid?
1. The grid doesn't want your power.
2. The grid won't pay much for your excess power.
3. Grid tie costs a lot more money in installation, inverter and permissions.
4. When TEOTWAWKI happens, and the grid ends forever, you'll still have no power.

Best to use a cheap off grid inverter with no battery.
1. Most will use solar, then top up any needs from the grid.
2. You can add a battery later.
3. You'll still have power after TSHTF.

I'm with you on this. I don't want anything to do with the grid. Other than to use it if I need to do any maintenance or upgrades. And then, kick it back to the curb, where it belongs. lol

 

[pollenface]

You can do it with a step down converter to change the voltage to 13-14v. Wouldn't recommend doing it without a solar panel that exceeds your needs.