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JonA3531 t1_isb0fb3 wrote

Reply to comment by Correct_Influence450 in FREE ELECTRICITY! Credit Suisse analysis says Inflation Reduction Act will produce solar modules for two pennies a watt in Ohio, while federal tax credits will cover 50% of project costs. by manual_tranny

Yes, some kind of battery storage system. But that's another pricey upfront cost.

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nsa_reddit_monitor t1_isb8nya wrote

Why do that? Just have an automatic transfer switch like people do with standby backup generators. When the solar stops producing, the panel automatically switches back to the grid. Then you only need enough batteries to last a few seconds at a time.

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BigPickleKAM t1_isbylpj wrote

Depends on where you live but where I am doing that without approval of the utility is A BAD THING.

You can do it with their approval that is a proforma process provided you use one of their approved switches and it's installed by a certified electrician and a permit is pulled at city hall.

The reason and I agree since my father was an electrician is you don't want to back feed into the grid during an outage that is dangerous for the linesmen working the problem.

These days it's far too easy to buy a product online that has all the right stickers but isn't actually safe to use.

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nsa_reddit_monitor t1_isc5pu6 wrote

> you don't want to back feed into the grid during an outage

A transfer switch is designed to prevent this entirely though. Either your house is connected to the grid, or it's connected to your solar/generator/whatever. Never both.

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BigPickleKAM t1_isch03l wrote

Yes there are many options with as many different functions as you can imagine.

Mine assists solar so on cloudy days and mornings etc it takes what it can from solar and then supplements from the grid if needed.

If I generate more power than I consume it feeds back into the grid and my utility pays me for that power (at a heavily discounted rate).

But mine has to monitor the grid side and open the grid supply breaker if the grid voltage drops below 220 volts for more than 50 milliseconds.

And it won't allow the grid tie breaker to close if there are less than 220 volts on grid side etc.

Since that requires a connection around the tie breaker to monitor grid side it has to be installed by a certified electrician. And the switch has to meet utility requirements for those variables.

The switch you describe would still need to monitor grid voltage and interlock with your solar or generator supply breaker so only one could ever be closed at a time. To meet the code where I live.

There are a couple of physical interlocking designs where one can't close the grid supply breaker if the generator or solar breaker is closed. They even come with a sticker saying it meets code. But when you read the fine print what they meet us that the Interlock doesn't modify your breaker panel in a way that takes it out of code. They specifically do not cover and device or system connected to the panel behind it.

My main point is that you can find some great value when shopping online depending on where the switch sells from. Lots of those switches do not meet requirements. Be very careful as you can hurt someone and or leave yourself open to liabilities if you install some sub standard transfer switch.

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