Episcopo
New Member
Hello! I have a PowMr 3000 watt hybrid inverter with seven 400 watt panels. All is working well buttttttt:
I have this setup in a 200 square foot workshop separate from my main house. My goals: 1) supply the workshop's power needs fully to the extent possible (I need more batteries for that - I have four 100Ah 12 volt batteries right now) and 2) have backup power in case of outages. I'm in Austin, Texas. Principal power drain right now is just AC.
Here's my question: the workshop is already wired from the house panel through an auxiliary panel. I hired an electrician to wire the workshop and run the power here from the house. Since the panel is already there, rather than running all these cables from the inverter to power stuff, I'd obviously like to hook it up to this panel. I'd then like to take the power going to the panel from the house and just direct it to a single plug that can I can plug the inverter's ac into.
I tried to do this today and got weird results. I turned off the breaker in my house that leads to the workshop and then tried to hook up the inverter to the panel. I won't go into detail but I tried three different strategies and none fully worked. Any ideas? THANK YOU! Photos attached.
![PXL_20240610_204025817.jpg PXL_20240610_204025817.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221201-00662664ed8c391c7d598b5c3e66569a.jpg)
![PXL_20240610_192406745.jpg PXL_20240610_192406745.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221203-afde6f61e489f565ed96ba3bc718b6b9.jpg)
(photo above is main house panel showing breaker going to workshop labeled "storage")
![PXL_20240610_192314080.jpg PXL_20240610_192314080.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221204-f1dd4f65f960b969317af8916657ec4a.jpg)
This shows inside of auxiliary breaker box in workshop. Wiring coming from the house is 10/3 I think.
![PXL_20240610_192253346.jpg PXL_20240610_192253346.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221205-a30363a9b857d6c8ae563b3f033e50c8.jpg)
That weird red cable second from the left side of the photo is nothing in regards to the current setup. It's a floating 10/2 Romex from my attempts to hook up the inverter to the panel that I just left in place. Specifying this bc in the photo above it sure looks like it's going somewhere but it's not![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I have this setup in a 200 square foot workshop separate from my main house. My goals: 1) supply the workshop's power needs fully to the extent possible (I need more batteries for that - I have four 100Ah 12 volt batteries right now) and 2) have backup power in case of outages. I'm in Austin, Texas. Principal power drain right now is just AC.
Here's my question: the workshop is already wired from the house panel through an auxiliary panel. I hired an electrician to wire the workshop and run the power here from the house. Since the panel is already there, rather than running all these cables from the inverter to power stuff, I'd obviously like to hook it up to this panel. I'd then like to take the power going to the panel from the house and just direct it to a single plug that can I can plug the inverter's ac into.
I tried to do this today and got weird results. I turned off the breaker in my house that leads to the workshop and then tried to hook up the inverter to the panel. I won't go into detail but I tried three different strategies and none fully worked. Any ideas? THANK YOU! Photos attached.
![PXL_20240610_204025817.jpg PXL_20240610_204025817.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221201-00662664ed8c391c7d598b5c3e66569a.jpg)
![PXL_20240610_192406745.jpg PXL_20240610_192406745.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221203-afde6f61e489f565ed96ba3bc718b6b9.jpg)
(photo above is main house panel showing breaker going to workshop labeled "storage")
![PXL_20240610_192314080.jpg PXL_20240610_192314080.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221204-f1dd4f65f960b969317af8916657ec4a.jpg)
This shows inside of auxiliary breaker box in workshop. Wiring coming from the house is 10/3 I think.
![PXL_20240610_192253346.jpg PXL_20240610_192253346.jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/221/221205-a30363a9b857d6c8ae563b3f033e50c8.jpg)
That weird red cable second from the left side of the photo is nothing in regards to the current setup. It's a floating 10/2 Romex from my attempts to hook up the inverter to the panel that I just left in place. Specifying this bc in the photo above it sure looks like it's going somewhere but it's not
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