Whole house without backup?

[oboateng]

Hi,

I am new to this DIY when it comes solar. I just watched All-in-One solar power system on YouTube. I must admit, you are awesome and wish I could speak to concern my system. I have solar system installed for my house since November 2018 by a company here in Tampa, FL. Unfortunately it doesn't include any storage or backup. Except that we were told it is net metering. However if there is a power outage from the power company the whole are or community loses power including my house with 32 solar panels on my roof. Is there a way to add storage or backup system or batteries so that I can have some power to keep if not all at least some of my essential components or appliances on till power is restored?
Thank you and very sorry for the long message.

 

[MisterSandals]

Rigging grid tied system for power when grid goes down

Hello everyone I know it is not recommended but hear me out. My system is a 11 year old grid tied set up that does not have any rapid shutdown capabilities so I was thinking that if I added a blue sea A B switch before the solar panel disconnect to divert the solar panel output to a separate...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Hedges]

Start by finding brand/model of your grid tie inverter. Might be one or two on the side of the house, or one per panel under the panels.
Some brands have their own batteries that work well with them. Some will place nice with battery inverters. Some have batteryless backup capability already.
Beyond that, you could arrange a way to swap wiring of a few panels to feed a hybrid, all-in-one, or other inverter during power failures.

 

[wattmatters]

Is there a way to add storage or backup system or batteries so that I can have some power to keep if not all at least some of my essential components or appliances on till power is restored?

You can add a grid tied AC coupled battery (one with its own inverter) configured to operate along with your existing solar PV system. If specified and configured correctly, during grid outages it will work along with the solar PV system in isolation from the grid. Speak with an experienced solar PV and battery installation professional about options suitable for working alongside your existing inverter.

The alternative is to set up a separate off-grid solar PV + battery system and to have a cut over switch so you can choose to supply power to the house during outages from the off-grid supply instead of the grid. Your grid tied system will still be off-line during outages, but such DIY off-grid systems can be built for a lot less than a dedicated grid tied battery system.

Which is the right solution depends on what exactly you want the battery for.

If it's primarily for reducing your imports from the grid, then you'll need a grid tied battery system for that but one specified for providing backup power AND which keeps your solar PV system operational during grid outages.

If however you just want a means to supply power during outages, then a DIY off-grid option of a parallel system might be something worth considering. This is what I have done as grid tied batteries are just way too expensive here and make little financial sense with the way our local (NSW, Australia) grid tariffs work.

However if there is a power outage from the power company the whole are or community loses power including my house with 32 solar panels on my roof.

This is normal BTW - all grid tied solar PV systems must either shut down or disconnect from the grid during grid outages. It's to ensure power is not fed down the grid's wires while workers are doing their job to restore power.

 

[houseofancients]

my best guess is to start looking at what inverter you have..
it may support batteries, but my best bet is that it doesnt..

That would replacing it with a Hybrid one ( or grid assisted offgrid model).

then you would need to take a look at you power consumption and make up you you mind how long you want things to keep running, or decide what you consider "critial devices" and how long you want to keep them running...

Then purchase batteries, this can be either single cells with a bms if you like to fiddle your self, or a ready made solution like pylontech, or like

Gyll Batteries , sold by signature solar in the us...​

 

[solar8484]

Hi,

I am new to this DIY when it comes solar. I just watched All-in-One solar power system on YouTube. I must admit, you are awesome and wish I could speak to concern my system. I have solar system installed for my house since November 2018 by a company here in Tampa, FL. Unfortunately it doesn't include any storage or backup. Except that we were told it is net metering. However if there is a power outage from the power company the whole are or community loses power including my house with 32 solar panels on my roof. Is there a way to add storage or backup system or batteries so that I can have some power to keep if not all at least some of my essential components or appliances on till power is restored?
Thank you and very sorry for the long message.

Home battery systems (e.g. EnCharge, Powerwall, RESU, etc.) are readily available. Depending on your system, you can add an AC or DC coupled battery system that would work with your grid-tied solar system to power your house during grid outages. You should ask your solar installer for more info but be prepared to spend significantly more to install a code compliant home battery system than your solar system.

 

[MarkSolar]

You could probably install a backup generator for a lot less money than adding batteries and a new inverter. That's what we have, but natural gas is cheap here. It also depends how often your power is going off and how critical power is. We have the winter frozen pipe problem if power goes off.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

I’d personally spend $2500 on solar/batteries/devices long before I bought a generator. A good solar system can provide a decade of repeatable energy off the investment. A generator runs out of a reasonable amount of fuel storage in a few days or a week.

 

[wattmatters]

I’d personally spend $2500 on solar/batteries/devices long before I bought a generator. A good solar system can provide a decade of repeatable energy off the investment. A generator runs out of a reasonable amount of fuel storage in a few days or a week.

You'd probably want both as a $2.5k solar + battery set up is unlikely to supply a regular sized home with 24hr power for long outages. Operating on minimal circuit coverage perhaps but it just needs a day or so of crummy weather and you'll be firing up the genny anyway.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

You'd probably want both as a $2.5k solar + battery set up is unlikely to supply a regular sized home with 24hr power for long outages. Operating on minimal circuit coverage perhaps but it just needs a day or so of crummy weather and you'll be firing up the genny anyway.

Maybe. At least here in USA most households could be a lot smarter with their electricity usage imho.
When my kids were still in school and not adults our electric usage was $40-$60-ish/month. Everyone I knew who rented apartments was $90-$140 and most of my homeowner friends were $120-$250/month.
Granted, our hot water was fossil-fed, but I never was able to understand how people could use so much electricity. We weren’t TV users other than DVDs but still!

 

[wattmatters]

Granted, our hot water was fossil-fed, but I never was able to understand how people could use so much electricity.

Hot water can be 1/4 to 1/3rd of total household energy consumption, while choice of energy source for heating and cooling also makes a massive difference.

Comparing electricity consumption for homes using a different mix of energy supply sources for their water heating and environmental controls is comparing apples with oranges. Of course size of home, its thermal efficiency and local climate also makes a large difference to those energy demands.

In our entirely electric home our daily consumption including hot water and pool pump is ~15kWh when no space heating or cooling is required, but during a hot summer day we can exceed 100kWh. Our biggest day ever was 143kWh.