How can I wire solar panels into my homes electrical grid?
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Question by PiperPilot: How can I wire solar panels into my homes electrical grid?
do i need to convert the incoming solar power to an a/c current?
I have some electrical experience, I dont want to hire anyone
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
6 Responses to How can I wire solar panels into my homes electrical grid?
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Since the cost of solar panels is so high, and the amount of power you would get from it, I wouldn’t even mess with it.
David
May 20, 2013 at 11:38 pm
Hey Pilot, it’s really pretty simple. If all you want to do is dump the power your panels are producing into your homes electrical system, you need an, “intertie inverter.” These devices simply take the DC power from your solar array and convert it to AC, which is synchronized with the grids frequency, and pour it into your AC system. Any power your home is using first comes from the inverter. If it is using more than is available, the extra is made up from the utility. If your array is producing more than the home is using, the extra feeds back out through your meter into your neighbors home instead, and your meter runs backwards. Beware that some meters are racheting types, so even if the disc is spinning the other way, you might not be getting any credit for it. And in almost all cases, you are supposed to have a permit from the power company to do this. Our system uses a Xantrex inverter, which is a bit more complicated than a straight intertie. It also connects to a battery bank, allowing the inverter to continue feeding the house even if the grid goes down. With an intertie inverter, if the grid shuts off, your inverter does too, and your home will not have power even if the sun is shining.
If I were you, I’d spend a little time getting educated on the subject, and avoid asking hacks like me online for advice. In my 12 years building, using and teaching solar power, I’ve learned there are two things in vast supply in solar energy, the sun, and missinformation. Try some of the sources below, and keep your airspeed up. I grew up on Cessna’s myself, now I’m a Boeing guy. Take care, Rudydoo
Rudydoo
May 21, 2013 at 12:24 am
You can not wire up a solar panel directly to the house AC electric because solar puts out DC electric
power. You would need to have Batteries (deep cycle) wire the panel to the batteries,then the batteries to a
an inverter which then you can use the AC from the inverter to the house power grid,that is after you have installed a unit that will allow you to hook up to the grid,oh! I forgot to mention that you will also need a voltage control unit between the solar panels and batteries. You will need a lot more than a couple of panels hooked up in series to a bank of battries ,you will need to know a lot about electricy.
nv jack
May 21, 2013 at 12:34 am
you don,t
unless you solar panels are putting out more than !,000 volts
then it has to be converted to a/c with a inverter,
but you have to store the d/c in batteries first, this will take around 40 deep cycle batteries,
at $ 90 ea then you have to buy a transfer switch that’s just $ 300,
then the new wiring you have to run to handle the voltage is only $ 5. a foot
and a sine wave Generator to bring it up to 60 hertz that’s only another $ 1,000
you will be $ 4,000 in the hole by the time your done,
William B
May 21, 2013 at 12:38 am
Rudydoo is the only one I completely agree with, here.
It is not necessary to use batteries with a modern grid-tie (grid intertie) inverter. With electrical experience, you could hook it up yourself, but would have to be experienced enough to get into the service panel, which can sometimes source 4000 amps if you were to shunt it above the main breaker. Be sure you know what you’re doing. It also generally requires permission from your local power company, and almost everywhere, permits (might be inexpensive, depending where). Also, in some countries, a homeowner is prohibited from doing a self-install. This is not true in most parts of the US, but might invalidate some state incentives, depending on where you live.
Also, it’s not generally worth connecting just a panel or two, unless you’re in an area that has a high feed-in tariff.
roderick_young
May 21, 2013 at 12:52 am
I think if you don’t want to hire someone to do that, you’re gonna have a bad time. Many companies offer free audit.s, at least do that and take notes so you know how to begin. Check the guys in my source, they do free auditing. Good luck anyhow.
Shades
May 21, 2013 at 12:59 am