System Setup Questions

[Bigbluecat57]

I'm considering buying a PowMr 10k SunSmart Hybrid Solar controller. I would connect it to a manual transfer switch in my shed so I still have my utility company power and my solar system to alternatively send power to my garage 200 amp breaker box to power a 240v mini split and 120v refrigerator plus some computers and lights. Load requirements aside. Do you see any problems with my proposed setup. My utility company says I have single phase but I don't intend to ever grid tie.

 

[hwy17]

Are the shed and garage two different buildings? And if they are is the garage a subpanel of the shed?

It gets more complicated to send power up to a parent panel without an export agreement.

 

[Redflyer]

I have my manual transfer switch almost beside the main panel. I run the solar to a 'solar sub' that feeds the transfer switch. Works really well.

Downside, it is a manual transfer switch.....nothing automatic about it.

 

[Bigbluecat57]

Are the shed and garage two different buildings? And if they are is the garage a subpanel of the shed?

It gets more complicated to send power up to a parent panel without an export agreement.

Yes, two different buildings. There is an outside breaker box on the pole that feeds the garage and well house. So, does that mean the garage panel is a sub-panel? I guess I've considered it a main panel.

 

[hwy17]

Yes, two different buildings. There is an outside breaker box on the pole that feeds the garage and well house. So, does that mean the garage panel is a sub-panel? I guess I've considered it a main panel.

Yes, subpanel then. May or may not have 4 wire service and seperate ground and neutral.

You should probably create a diagram of the whole electrical system if you would like more advice. I'm still not sure about getting power from one building to another, if they are both fed by an upstream panel.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Is there a reason you are going with the powmr unit and not the OEM?

I agree with @hwy17 ,we need more info on current layout. I'm feeding 3 panels with the OEM of the inverter your looking at but I isolated my grid input to a panel before the SRNE.

 

[zanydroid]

Yes, two different buildings. There is an outside breaker box on the pole that feeds the garage and well house. So, does that mean the garage panel is a sub-panel? I guess I've considered it a main panel.

Main panel means the one that forms the Neutral Ground (NG) bond for your system.

A lot of these off grid AIO can automatically switch back to grid if they don’t have battery left or they get a load that exceeds their inverter output. IOW they have an external transfer switch and can be wired between incoming feed of utility power and the subpanel. I believe the AIO will also have several options for forming N-G bond : reusing the existing one in the system, relay controlled bonding, etc

In this case most people configure an external transfer switch such that the AIO can be bypassed during servicing or if it breaks.

Spamming photos would be helpful

 

[zanydroid]

It gets more complicated to send power up to a parent panel without an export agreement.

I don’t think there’s a DIY friendly standard box to mediate this (I’ve heard it called a Microgrid Interconnect Device , copying what Enphase uses). Easier to put an AIO in that position. It will have all the components internally that a separate box would have.

EG transfer relay, some kind of grid detection logic, voltage sensors to help with syncing the inverter, maybe breakers.

Note not all MID subcomponents are relevant for all system topologies. For instance MID in some brands have an autotransformer which is not needed for a split phase inverter. So learning how various types of this setup works by looking at the block diagram of a MID is not that easy.

 

[timselectric]

Never heard of a MID, but it sure sounds real fancy.

 

[zanydroid]

Never heard of a MID, but it sure sounds real fancy.

TBH I think the name is pretty pretentious, but it does sort of do what the name implies

 

[timselectric]

TBH I think the name is pretty pretentious, but it does sort of do what the name implies

What does it do?