Inverter to house saftey

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LishFish

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Apr 16, 2017
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Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't been updating anything for a while, life kinda got in the way.

One thing that has come to my attention is: How do I safely run a inverter to my house without the need for an electrician in a off grid type set up?

I don't really fancy a 'suicide cord' (male to male extension cord) plugged into the house without tripping something or blowing something up, although if a way around this I'd do it.


When I say off grid I still want everything to turn on but don't want it 'feeding back to the grid' cos then we'd probably blacklisted as tenants for having an 'illegal system' installed, as i'm not an electrician by any means.

(FYI i'm in South Australia)

Can someone help my out here, so I don't do something stupid?
 
There are also grid-tie systems that will actually since the mains voltage/freq and adjust it's output accordingly. And then as you use power, it adjusts it's output amperage to compensate as best as it can to minimize how much grid power you use.
I think there a few on here who use the grid-tie inverters, not sure who they are off top of my head, though.
 
Thanks for the reply's guys.
Might have to contact an electrician about what I want to do.
Korishan when you say Grid tie inverters, your saying that they could be used in a off grid scenario but being connected to the Grid?
My other thought was If I just switch off power from the box? This would save power coming in and shouldn't be going back out???

since posting I see that everyone on the interwebs suggest a transfer switch box thing, but this seems to be a switch that just switches off power from the Grid and stops power going back out. Only problem is they need to be hard wired into your box.

hmmm
 
Grid-Tie inverters work in conjunction with your Grid Mains. It just helps to lower your usage from the grid.

You said:
"I don't really fancy a 'suicide cord'" and "When I say off grid I still want everything to turn on but don't want it 'feeding back to the grid'"

So I'm guessing you still want to be connected to the grid as a backup, or at least reduce your grid usage. That is why I suggested the Grid-Tie Inverter.
 
I literally just remembered that we have a sparky coming over Wednesday, might sneak the question in while he's working lol
 
Korishan said:
"Grid-Tie inverters work in conjunction with your Grid Mains. It just helps to lower your usage from the grid.

You said:
"I don't really fancy a 'suicide cord'" and "When I say off grid I still want everything to turn on but don't want it 'feeding back to the grid'"

So I'm guessing you still want to be connected to the grid as a backup, or at least reduce your grid usage. That is why I suggested the Grid-Tie Inverter."

Yeah thats what I meant lol. Dont suppose you might have a link to one as a reference?
Click to expand...
 
Its just a matter of searching grid-tie
Though with battery in junction some of them are named as Hybrid inverters.
I use MPP solar 10kw hybrid version but there are others out there.
 
I suggest using an inverter that switches between grid and battery. These inverters are also called grid-tied, since they need the grid to synchronize with it in order to switch sources. I'm using a 24V/3000W WesTech inverter, model WT Combi-Eco. It can be set to battery or grid priority and switcheswithout interruption (<10ms). With battery priority, the inverter uses the battery as source as long as there's juice (either from solar or battery). If the battery runs empty, it switches back to grid. With grid priority, you can use the inverter as a UPS: If grid power is lost, the inverter kicks the battery in. My model also have a built-in charger, but I don't use it.

With such inverter, you'll never feed energy back to the grid.

Have sun!
Oliver
 
Almost all off-grid does switch between grid and battery. Most of them better than others. I wouldnt call those grid tie. Not even when they sync with the grid. They are off-grid inverters with UPS functionality in terms of syncing. Even those not syncing will switch in less than 10ms like the "famous" MPP stuff.

Off-grid in terms of that you can run the inverter without the grid and thats what the WT Combi also can be used.


For me or atleast in Sweden grid-tie is an inverter that need grid to even turn on. Off grid on the other hand can run without the grid therefore called off-grid. meanwhile the Hybrid is a combination of both and can run with or without the grid and has battery support.
Grid sync is though a nice feature that do exist on some off-grid and that makes the inverter more useable for sensitive equipment. Compures among others really doesnt care much though :)

Edit: i guess the term grid-tie have different meanings where you are from.
 
daromer said:
Edit: i guess the term grid-tie have different meanings where you are from.
Click to expand...

It looks like in the Australian market they call anything which can feed excess into the grid a grid-tie inverter.

So for Australian sitessearch for hybrid inverter. If you are having one installed as part of a solar install, various companies have their favorites that they like to use and that their staff have training in.

If going for one of the MPP Solar hybrid inverters, check that it is certified for the Australian standard for grid connection or you might have hassles getting it installed(I think the 5.5kw HybridMPP Solar is, but not all of them are)

edit... Also one of the local solar install companies actively steer people away from hybrid inverters. Their logic is to just go with an AC coupled Tesla powerwall 2 because it has its own inverter, is relatively low cost per watt and has good warranty. It's at that point you need to decide if you want to mention massive DIY batteries to them ;)
 
Can either a hybrid or grid tie inverter be installed by youself and removed with ease when needed?
 
All depends on what u mean by "with ease"? If u mean just turn off the power, disconnect some power wires, and unscrew/unbolt from the support, then yeah, I suppose that's with ease.

You just need to make sure you have proper breakers to turn everything off before you start working with mains wires.
 
If it can be removed also depends on if you are allowed to do that in your country. For instance if the inverter uses quick connection then it might be allowed but other wise most likely not. Ie you need a sparky to do it.
 
LishFish said:
Can either a hybrid or grid tie inverter be installed by youself and removed with ease when needed?
Click to expand...

In Australia the answer is no. Unless you're a licensed electrician (even if you do everything perfectly by the standards), you're not permitted to do this.
 
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