- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
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plug a solar panel into a large battery backup, plug the major appliances into that.
Utility companies don’t need to know shit.
That’s what I have. Basically a small-ish parallel electrical system that runs critical loads like a mini split, refrigerator, water heater, etc. And a small UPS for modem/server.
These can output 1800W, 1100Wh, Starts at CAD$700 then you just pay more for more storage for bigger systems.
Out of curiosity, how do you have that setup (at a high level)?
I’ve got a bluetti system for emergency power (12kWh, 6kW AC output) but I need to plug things directly into it. It’d be nice to feed it directly to my house wiring but … selectively. That is, I wouldn’t want to power the HVAC but it would be nice to not have to shuffle the fridge/freezer plugs from the wall to the inverter.
Dedicated circuit(s) with a manual switch from mains to inverter, I’m guessing? But then we get into all the extras required to do that safely and avoid back feeding the grid.
Granted, they have systems/setups specifically for whole house power but I don’t want to feed the whole house, just the important circuits/appliances.
Dedicated circuit(s) with a manual switch from mains to inverter, I’m guessing?
That’s how one of the hospitals I worked at did it. Probably wasn’t a manual switch though.
Basically made a really sturdy pergola and then mounted solar panels to it. Ran that wiring to the MPPT, batteries and inverter in the garage. Put in a new small breaker box right next to the existing one, which made it real easy to just grab the wires for the critical loads and run them over to the new panel.
No need to worry about backfeeding, as I said they’re parallel electrical systems, so it’s not possible.
Do you have a fallback if solar production is low?
My thoughts exactly. Also I wouldn’t really like to risk my stuff by connecting to their infrastructure anyway. At least over here, I saw how incompetent they are.
over here
Texas? 😂
I was going to say California. We have constant outages — having grown up in blizzards and tornados I never imagined they wouldn’t be able to keep power on here. It’s bad, like I mean when there’s a little wind it’s probably not staying on.
Serbia / Hungary.
Why don’t we just change the revenue model for power companies. I understand they need money to maintain the infrastructure and pay employees. If power generation becomes so cheap that it can’t sustain the company then don’t rely on that for revenue. I’d rather pay a flat rate for the infrastructure and operating costs than a fluctuating generation charge. And public utilities should not be for profit.
When I got solar panels on my previous home there was a $5 a month line charge. That when went up to $8 the next year, then $10, then closer to $20. The power company (Duke Energy in case anyway wants to the shitty company’s name) was determined to make it as painful as possible for people to use Solar. They were also apparently responsible for pushing to get it illegal in that area to go “off grid” and to have a cap on the amount of solar power a home could generate. At now point did these line changes stop them from raising the normal power usage rates mind you, this was just an extra “fuck you” from them.
Many places already do charge a “line charge” if you have solar power and use little or no utility company power. You pay for being hooked up to the grid even if you barely use it.
This. This is the way. It solves this problem completely, but utilities somehow refuse it. It’s almost like their argument is not in good faith …
This is how it works in my area. I pay about $12/mo in fees, the rest is handled by solar. They don’t pay me for excess solar, instead I get credit (in kWh, not dollars, thankfully) for it and any electricity I use at night or in the winter comes from that pool. Essentially, it makes the power company a big battery for me.
That’s what your public service commission is for! (In most states). They come up with how the costs of the utility gets passed to consumers. I agree that making sure that infrastructure costs get passed to people who have solar panels, especially if they are relying on that infrastructure at sun-not-being-in-sky hours.
I mean, it makes sense to me that consumers can’t be pumping energy into the grid with no way to cut it off, but I’m not a lineman or some sort of civil engineer or whatever.
But if I were a lawmaker, I’d be on the phone with the Germans, who have 1.2M of these connected, and figuring out if and how they’re doing it safely. But lawmakers seem to be somehow incapable of reaching out to people who know fuck all about anything.
The microinverters stop feeding in if grid goes down. So it’s safe.
Hmmm, I wonder how this would affect things in the future where this is widely used.
I.E. if you had both widespread solar usage and some kind of large blackout, would it be hard to get all your solar back online because it’s all in the “waiting for the grid” state? And the grid can’t come back at capacity because all the solar it’s expecting is out?
I assume people smarter than me have this figured out, but just a random thought if anyone knows more.
You turn on parts of the grid at a time.
What happens when someone makes an unsafe backfeed into a downed grid and then other nearby inverters detect the current and bring themselves back online? Is there a way to detect if the load is being delivered from the utility vs from incorrectly configured solar or generator installations?
Some others are arguing back and forth about this elsewhere in the thread and I see the reasoning: unpermitted systems could accidentally energize isolated portions of the grid during downtime, which might trick properly installed systems to also come back online, and you have a runaway effect where there is enough current present to allow addition safety systems to be fooled.
There isn’t any data transmission over the wires; there either is current, or there isn’t. Arguing over permitting is moot - either safety systems can handle this scenario already, or they can’t.
All paperwork does is slow the relief of dependence on the utility, which hurts their profits.
The same thing that currently happens when somebody does that with a gas generator? Linepersons get zapped… people get sued… etc…
There isn’t any data transmission over the wires…
That’s very wrong. Not only can you extend Ethernet in your own home using your power outlets, the power companies have been reading meters this way for decades.
Linepersons get zapped… people get sued… etc…
Kinda seems like something you might want to avoid…
Obviously. I was just pointing out that it isn’t an issue unique to solar.
It is unique to “balcony solar”. Typical solar systems require permits and inspections before connecting.
No it isn’t. The same thing happens with the kind of gas generators you can get from your local hardware store all the time.
It is more than just the concern around back-feeding the grid. These simple balcony setups connect to your home grid via a single outlet. Most US outlets/circuits are 15 AMP or roughly 1500 watts max capacity. These single circuits can only carry that much current total at any one time so if you have it loaded up with incoming power AND use anything else on the circuit at the same time … no bueno. To make this setup work best/safely you would ideally want a dedicated circuit for it which is basically non-existent today.
The safety issues really do need to be addressed because the folks most likely to use these systems are apartment dwellers and I don’t think anyone wants to increase fire risk in these scenarios.
Most US outlets/circuits are 15 AMP or roughly 1500 watts max capacity.
That’s why they’re limited to 1200 watts.
His point was that if you’ve got 1200w incoming from the panel then you only have 300w of overhead on that circuit before the circuit breaker blows.
Sure, it’s within the limit on its own, but without a dedicated circuit for it you’ll be blowing a fuse pretty frequently when trying to use nearby plugs and lights.
As I said, that’s not how that works. You can have 10A incoming and 10A outgoing and the circuit load is still 10A.
Idk man. It’s probably over my head but I still don’t think the wires themselves could take it. In my thought process you’ve got more electricity flowing around on the circuit and even if it gets used before getting to the breaker things are going to be heating up pretty quick.
To me it sounds like trying to hook up a power plant to a data center via an indoor extension cord. It’s gonna melt.
I do know, man.
even if it gets used before getting to the breaker
It would be both added and consumed after the breaker. Like if you had a 10A solar system connected to a dual outlet, and a 10A space heater on the other outlet, there would only be 10A flowing through the outlet, and nowhere else in the system
Yes, I was conceding that point. I was then worried about the actual romex in the walls entirely contained after the breaker. Are you able to pump as much power as you want at 15A on a 15A rated wire? There’s got to be some limit, right?
If you use anything else on the circuit the power from the solar will just go directly into that device and bypass the wall wiring entirely.
There are a lot of circuits in the US that power multiple duplex outlets around a room. You could plug in a solar panel into one outlet and a load into another and they would be connected by a length of Romex in the walls.
