DIY Supplemental Solar Installation
I am redoing my roof shingles myself and am thinking about adding a small solar array to offset some of my power bills while I'm at it. I don't want to feed power back to the grid and only want to consume or waste power that I generate. I will do this with a Grid Tie Inverter with a Limiter (GTIL). The way the limiters work is they clamp around the mains coming into your house to detect the load, and apply that same load to your home grid from your batteries/solar panels. This is all fine and dandy, except I'm in the US where we are 110/120Vgays and have split phase power. A grid tie inverter's limiter is only made to clamp around a single phase coming into our houses, but we have two phases. I'm fine buying two inverters if I must, but I would want it all on a single solar array.
I've done the math and using used panels from Craigslist (don't care if they're subpar or approaching "EOL"), I can get a 2KW setup for just about $1200, where a similar install from other companies is around $15,000-20,000.
1) Can I wire a single array of PV solar panels to two inverters in parallel without causing problems?
2) Is there a way to use a single GTIL for both phases?
How would you set up such a solar system. Pictures appreciated. What solar projects have you done?
no
Just get a two-phase inverter.
Each inverter unit has a maximum wattage it can take for big arrays they often have to use multiple. Modern pv panels have a microinverter on each panel and use a “combiner” but since you’re trying to use old stuff it will probably be inverters. In short yes you can do this in theory because each 120v service line connects to a different bus bar and only 240v power uses both at the same time. Here’s the thing though, you need a safety factor as far as what your breaker box can handle and it should be a Solar ready panel. If I were you i would look into just getting an electrician, a permit, and a meter adapter from the power company because if they find out you hooked this up without telling them they will probably turn off your power until you remove it all.
>Modern pv panels have a microinverter on each panel
The ones that try to scam you at least
get some batteries to go along with your solar array, install a non-grid-connected only subpanel and then from there run a new line to your fridge or something. then your fridge will now be fed off your solar/battery stsyem and be taken off of your utility bill. i just used the fridge as an wxample, you can obviously do whatever load you want. you just have to figure out what you want connected will draw in terms of amps to make sure you get enough solar panels and batteries.
are you fricking dense motherfricker?
what the frick is a phase 2?
if your inverter is 230v 1p then you wire it in, clamp goes on any of the two hots. If you are trying to grid tie 120v you're a dumb fricker. Just dont even touch a solar panel for then next 10 years.
it's stupid fricks like you that make all this shit get regulated.
what the frick is the point of tieing it. just use a nromal inverter and a cutover switch. run off the inverter till it cant sustain itself and then it switches to grid.
>he doesn't know what split phase power is
>he likes daddy gubmint telling him what to do
why don't you just bend over and stick a big 240V main on your prostate already
i know exactly what split phase is, Black person.
you seem to not know what the frick it is.
t. Salty lineman who got his hands blown off by a solar chad. Fix my power, johhny.
>a solar chad
oxymoron
I've had pure solar for over a year and now still have almost everything on solar about 4 years later. You dont even have a fricking setup and rely on the grid to even run your inverter, like baby.
I told you first off that grid tie is stupid and all you do is talk shit and then talk about non existing scenarios.
get good homosexual.
No you don't. Why on the internet to look cool for strangers?
europoor detected
>How would you set up such a solar system
KISS. Pick either a 240 V or 120 V GTI that matches your pv array wattage and go for it.
>Can I wire a single array of PV solar panels to two inverters in parallel without causing problems?
Sounds needlessly complicated. You're basically just dividing the current coming from your pv array. Just get a single or dual phase GTI.
> Is there a way to use a single GTIL for both phases?
Yes, a dual phase GTI.
>What solar projects have you done?
A grid-tied 300 watt rated balcony solar for about 5 years. Otherwise just small 12 V stuff charging batteries since 1988..