Gold Country Russ
New Member
95% positive I will buy that 3,000lb 48V battery, it is new (made 2023), it will provide about 560 useable KWH, it has a useable life of 7-10 years, and it will cost me about the same as two EG4 batteries. I don't really care what PG&E thinks. I wanted to use 32 panels (12.8KW), but they limited me to 24 (9.6KW). I actually bought a full pallet of 35 400W bifacial panels and with my heavy-duty water-cooled propane generator and its dedicated 300-gallon tank, I really won't have any need to be grid-tied anymore. Last July (A/C on 24hrs day) we averaged 41KWH per day but even with only 24 panels (@400W) the ground mounted, true south facing, and seasonally adjustable bifacials will perform better than most rooftop installations because we have ideal sun, they will run cooler, and will give a bonus 15% or 11KWH. That should easily meet our needs and recharge the battery to 100% every day even with the A/C. The split-phase generator will run everything if the inverter is down and if necessary, the generator can charge the battery thru the EG4 18Kpv inverter which can charge 48V @200 amps. The more I think about it the less I need PG&E and their grid-tie rules. That said, I will stay grid-tied because it would make our house more valuable when or if we sell it.If you have NEM-3 authorization, nothing special there, that's what everything is going forward. You could make the system bigger or smaller, or add batteries. Maybe need to apply for a new authorization to make major changes. What inverter is named on the authorization?
If you have NEM-2 authorization and mistyped NEM-3, then Congratulations! It offers a special deal that has gone the way of the dodo. But now what you install must fit within a number of limits regarding PV array size, inverter rating, and no battery (at first) if battery wasn't part of the reservation. In that case, battery can be added later.
The stuff about UL listed ESS I've been hearing - likely no way FLA forklift battery is part of a listed ESS. Getting permit office and utility signoff of a batteryless system could be the way to go. Then hook up a battery when no one is watching. Maybe inverter + lead-acid is still possible with compliance to code, but we've been hearing something otherwise.