I couldn't post a comment because of the "50 word limit". Here's a copy of what happened. This same thing happened even after I dumped my old cookies and logged in fresh.
I need some help. I've acquired 4 PV panels (85 W 17V) at a great price, and want to hook them up through an inverter into my house system - which is on grid - at a good price. Sunny Boy et al inverters are VERY expensive, and I want to put this quad to work safely and cheaply. Any ideas? MYKE
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Subject is too long (max is 50 characters). Re: Cheap photovoltaic system DC TO 120 V AC inver ( / ) (#0)
by troy on soon
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Dear Myke,
Here's a brief overview:
The big advantage of a pure intertie system is that you don't need batteries. The grid IS your battery. The are several drawbacks to this system. 1. Your inverter MUST be an intertie inverter to match the wave form and phase of the grid electricity, or things will blow up and/or catch on fire. 2. So far as I know, there are no cheap intertie inverters. 3. When the grid goes down, you automatically go down also. 4. Most utilities don't make it easy or cheap to set up intertie. Many require a special accesible disconnect and a second meter, with two sets of monthly "reading fees".
If you add a bank of batteries, then you can run a circuit from your mini system and be completely independent from the grid. The big advantage here is that when the grid goes down, you still have (limited) power. Plus, the utility has no control over your system then. You can also start out with any little cheapie square wave inverter which will run most things within their wattage rating. Not as efficiently as full sine wave inverter, but not terrible.
Good luck and have fun!
troy
