Hello Everyone,
I am working on an off-grid system, i.e. non-grid tie, but with a sort of backup from main power in case my solar goes out. I was running through everything and I am running into a bit of a pickle. I have a Sol-ark 15k inverter which is designed to be installed with the 200 amp service pass-through, which allows the main service to be directly installed into the inverter and then feed it back out to the main panel. This is a cool feature so there is no need for a critical loads panel; however, that would require the need for contacting the utility and getting service shut off and permits and such. I am not going that route as I am not doing my solar panels the typical roof mounted way or the normal massive ground mount array and I do not think it would pass my city permitting. Anyways, I will effectively be running my Sol-Ark sort of off-grid.
I am going to install a critical loads panel/sub-panel and move a few circuits from the main panel over to the critical load panels to be powered by the inverter. However, I would like to be able to have a back-up in case my batteries run dry or something happens to my solar system. The Sol-ark has the pass through design so since I am not doing the 200 amp service route, I could have a 100 amp breaker from the main panel to the Sol-ark and then setup the sol-ark to not back feed the grid. My concern since I am not getting a permit, that if something goes wrong and for some reason it does back feed the grid, I could kill someone (worst case scenario) or potentially have the utility come knocking. My current thought is to do a 100 amp breaker from the main panel to the critical loads panel and then have a breaker lockout (Basically a Generator breaker lockout) installed to only allow either the breaker fed by the inverter or the breaker fed by the main panel to be ON at any one time. This would prevent any back feeding.
This leads me to the question of netural/ground bonding. The main panel has the neutral ground bond and currently the load panel I purchased also has a neutral ground bond. Since I am technically, off-grid during normal operation and the main panel breaker will be off. I am not sure how the neutral and grounds will work. For the circuits that I move from the main panel to the critical loads panel, can I leave the neutral and grounds in the main panel and only move the hot wires and breakers to the critical loads panel? That would leave only a single neutral ground bond; however, it would be two power sources sharing a neutral/ground bond, if that makes sense. I have modified the sol-ark wiring diagram to show what I am talking about.
If my current drawing does not work, I read something about using a 3-pole transfer switch that has 2 hots and a neutral switch but I have not been able to research that too much.
I am sorry if this made no sense haha. I had a hard time trying to type this up. Please let me know what you think!!
I am working on an off-grid system, i.e. non-grid tie, but with a sort of backup from main power in case my solar goes out. I was running through everything and I am running into a bit of a pickle. I have a Sol-ark 15k inverter which is designed to be installed with the 200 amp service pass-through, which allows the main service to be directly installed into the inverter and then feed it back out to the main panel. This is a cool feature so there is no need for a critical loads panel; however, that would require the need for contacting the utility and getting service shut off and permits and such. I am not going that route as I am not doing my solar panels the typical roof mounted way or the normal massive ground mount array and I do not think it would pass my city permitting. Anyways, I will effectively be running my Sol-Ark sort of off-grid.
I am going to install a critical loads panel/sub-panel and move a few circuits from the main panel over to the critical load panels to be powered by the inverter. However, I would like to be able to have a back-up in case my batteries run dry or something happens to my solar system. The Sol-ark has the pass through design so since I am not doing the 200 amp service route, I could have a 100 amp breaker from the main panel to the Sol-ark and then setup the sol-ark to not back feed the grid. My concern since I am not getting a permit, that if something goes wrong and for some reason it does back feed the grid, I could kill someone (worst case scenario) or potentially have the utility come knocking. My current thought is to do a 100 amp breaker from the main panel to the critical loads panel and then have a breaker lockout (Basically a Generator breaker lockout) installed to only allow either the breaker fed by the inverter or the breaker fed by the main panel to be ON at any one time. This would prevent any back feeding.
This leads me to the question of netural/ground bonding. The main panel has the neutral ground bond and currently the load panel I purchased also has a neutral ground bond. Since I am technically, off-grid during normal operation and the main panel breaker will be off. I am not sure how the neutral and grounds will work. For the circuits that I move from the main panel to the critical loads panel, can I leave the neutral and grounds in the main panel and only move the hot wires and breakers to the critical loads panel? That would leave only a single neutral ground bond; however, it would be two power sources sharing a neutral/ground bond, if that makes sense. I have modified the sol-ark wiring diagram to show what I am talking about.
If my current drawing does not work, I read something about using a 3-pole transfer switch that has 2 hots and a neutral switch but I have not been able to research that too much.
I am sorry if this made no sense haha. I had a hard time trying to type this up. Please let me know what you think!!