Going off Grid for the summer.

I intend to change my power supplier in the Autumn & have my house disconnected from the grid from March
next.
Can I use my Gen2 Hybrid inverter to supply power to charge my battery and supply the house for the summer.
I figure that supplying the automatic isolator switch with power from the inverter that the system should
function normally.
Will the Hybrid inverter self regulate to the varying load without any issues.
Has anyone done this before
All comments are most welcome

I'm intrigued.
What would be the advantage of disconnecting from the grid?
Any standing charge mitigated would be offset by exporting to the grid.

Eddiemccourt I think the max output from the inverter is quite limited while off-grid. 2.6kW ?

And you may need to pay a fee to reconnect in the autumn - possibly more than the standing charge you save.

You'd probably need to get an electrician to wire up an EPS circuit board and install a earth rod if youve not got that already.

However the EPS output is limited. It might depend on the model of inverter.

I presume 3kW or 5kW or bigger inverters are available in the Gen2 Hybrid series. But I'm not sure what the maximum output of the EPS is.

If you pull too much power (say an oven), the EPS will trip. If it trips too much it might eventually kill the inverter meaning a costly issue and a long wait for a replacement perhaps.

Eddiemccourt Can I use my Gen2 Hybrid inverter to supply power to charge my battery and supply the house for the summer.

Yes, a hybrid inverter if disconnected from the grid will still charge the battery and function normally supplying the house. If the battery gets full from solar then the inverter will shut off PV generation.

TX200 You'd probably need to get an electrician to wire up an EPS circuit board and install a earth rod if youve not got that already.

However the EPS output is limited. It might depend on the model of inverter.

I presume 3kW or 5kW or bigger inverters are available in the Gen2 Hybrid series. But I'm not sure what the maximum output of the EPS is.

As TX200 says, you’d need the house wiring onto the EPS circuits of the inverter and you would need an earth rod if that’s not already in place.

On a gen 2 hybrid the output is limited to 3.6kW so just be careful what large loads you in in parallel - kettle, oven, washing machine, etc

I personally would like the peace of mind of a grid in case of a system failure.

geoffreycoan
Thanks guys. The EPS board and Earth rod are in place since building the house.
Load normally limited to 2.5Kw.

Since my sailing days . . . just want to try for the summer.
Probably go with a changeover switch after that.

I think you'll only get EPS power, not inverter 'grid' power as it needs to sense grid to supply grid.

But if solar, battery and EPS work for you (max 3.6kWh), go for it.

Hmm. That is an interesting idea and people have covered many aspects of how it might work. One thing I have thought of is how are you going to handle any excess solar generation? i.e. what happens on a sunny day when your battery is 100% full and there is still plenty of daylight left?

Weasel i.e. what happens on a sunny day when your battery is 100% full and there is still plenty of daylight left?

The inverter will throttle back the DC to AC conversion to the house load. Extra power still being generated by the panels gets wasted as heat energy in the inverter. Better have some cooling fans!

Not letting the battery go flat is probably going to be the biggest issue. If it does then the inverter is down and that's game over regardless of any subsequent solar input.

Edit - also I dunno how all the various inverter generations behave if you turn them off with no grid power. For example if you turn the inverter off to save battery will it come back on ONLY from battery? Maybe run some tests to see what happens now....

Vestas

Not letting the battery go flat is probably going to be the biggest issue. If it does then the inverter is down and that's game over regardless of any subsequent solar input.

Would a small generator get around this issue? If so, when would be best to fire up the generator to keep things running?

Weasel I think there was advice given by GivEnergy not to use a generator to charge the inverter batteries due to the unknown quality of the power it generates

Thanks again guys,
I will keep inverter cooling in mind . . .!!
Perhaps a dummy load, ie water heater in a very large tank may also be an option.
Regarding two comments above, My inverter is 5Kw and EPS power would suffice.
Sailing teaches one how to prioritise and conserve power (& water ).

geoffreycoan I don't think the extra energy is lost in the inverter. I think it is not converted in the panels themselves. If the inverter had to "lose" several kilowatts that's a serious amount of heat. But the panels would just allow some of the photons hitting them not to move the electrons as far (and therefore reduce the current). It's a bit like when a power source is not matched to its load which reduces the transfer of power. When the inverter is off, the panels produce no electricity even if in full sun as the electrons cannot move round the circuit (and there is therefore no current and no transfer of energy). Just as well really as if the voltage kept going up and up you would get arcing from the panels when you switched the inverter off on a sunny day.