Posted by neoplasticity on September 8, 2006, 11:21 pm
I've search the internet extensively and haven't found an answer to
this question.
I just wanted to play with solar panels and human powered generators
and couldn't figure out the simplest and cheapest way to hook it into
my house to get some benefit out of it.
I.E. can i just have my panel hooked into a charge controller and a
single battery to act as a float and then an inverter and hook the
output from the inverter into a standard power plug in the house? can
i push power into a power outlet or is there some system so that power
can only come out of the plug?
anyone have any ideas on the easiest simplest way to hook up a panel or
a car alternator? I was going to turn my indoor bicycle into a
generator by hooking up a car alternator to it... how could i most
simply hook this into the house?
Posted by Anthony Matonak on September 9, 2006, 12:14 am
neoplasticity wrote:
> I just wanted to play with solar panels and human powered generators
> and couldn't figure out the simplest and cheapest way to hook it into
> my house to get some benefit out of it.
You're looking for a product called a grid-tied inverter. Since these
connect to the power grid they usually have to pass stringent tests.
These tests are expensive so it's become uneconomical to offer grid
tied inverters in small sizes.
Basically, they don't sell (any more) what you are looking for.
The easiest method is to build yourself an 'off grid' system that
does not connect to the homes power outlets at all. For solar this
would consist of a panel, charge controller, battery, inverter
(if you want to use AC appliances) and various fuses, disconnects,
meters, a box and so forth.
You can sometimes find these items all packaged together in home
improvement stores as backup power systems.
Anthony
Posted by nicksanspam on September 9, 2006, 1:16 am
>You're looking for a product called a grid-tied inverter. Since these
>connect to the power grid they usually have to pass stringent tests.
>These tests are expensive so it's become uneconomical to offer grid
>tied inverters in small sizes.
I'm not sure that's the whole picture. If UL safety and islanding tests
cost $100K and somebody sells 1000 inverters, that's $100 each.
With a 10K production volume, that's only $10 each.
Nick
Posted by Eeyore on September 9, 2006, 5:40 am
nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu wrote:
> >You're looking for a product called a grid-tied inverter. Since these
> >connect to the power grid they usually have to pass stringent tests.
> >These tests are expensive so it's become uneconomical to offer grid
> >tied inverters in small sizes.
> I'm not sure that's the whole picture. If UL safety and islanding tests
> cost $100K and somebody sells 1000 inverters, that's $100 each.
> With a 10K production volume, that's only $10 each.
Who's going to buy those 10k units ?
Graham
Posted by nicksanspam on September 9, 2006, 12:52 pm
>nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu wrote:
>>
>> >You're looking for a product called a grid-tied inverter. Since these
>> >connect to the power grid they usually have to pass stringent tests.
>> >These tests are expensive so it's become uneconomical to offer grid
>> >tied inverters in small sizes.
>>
>> I'm not sure that's the whole picture. If UL safety and islanding tests
>> cost $100K and somebody sells 1000 inverters, that's $100 each.
>> With a 10K production volume, that's only $10 each.
>Who's going to buy those 10k units ?
A lot of people with spinning lawn ornaments, for starters. And people
with single solar panels and small windmills and various kinds of
exercise machines, eventually... A 10K/year production volume is
fairly small in the world of electronics.
I suspect this may be more a matter of fun and saving the earth
than pure economics.
Nick
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> and couldn't figure out the simplest and cheapest way to hook it into
> my house to get some benefit out of it.