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  • First post written, after many hundreds read

    I've been hard at work on the plans and NEC study for my hybrid battery/grid-tie installation out in the back woods of Eastern Washington state, and figured it was time to finally register for this forum after months of reading and learning. As an electrical engineer and independent inventor with a bunch of patents, I've found it challenging to realize that an eagerness for coming up with innovative new ideas is not particularly applicable to putting together a solid system that will satisfy code requirements and long-established best practices for power electrical systems and fire protection.

    It's also been challenging to come to grips with the severe limitations of today's energy storage technology. After all these years, the best solution still seems to be what's been around longer than I've been alive: a ton of very expensive lead and sulfuric acid in big red plastic boxes that will sit out in the garage for 10 years (at best, if I'm careful) slowly degrading before I have to get it trucked away with another pile of boxes dumped off in its place.

    This site has been an excellent resource, making me stop and think about things and pointing me in the right direction to further research what's available and what's acceptable under the NEC. I don't know if SunKing reads this particular forum, but I want to thank him in particular for his thousands of sobering and informative comments, and also his hilarious dry humor. He will undoubtedly think I'm nuts for proceeding with the huge expense and complexity of a hybrid system (and my area isn't even that great for solar insolation), but I hope I'm at least spared from his full scorn by avoiding a Nickel-Iron battery, taking the code seriously, and not ever expecting any financial payout from this project.

    There are people who devote their spare time and money to building car stereo systems so loud you can't actually sit in the cars while they play at full volume, to huge tropical fish and coral tanks in their basements, to launching bowling balls a mile above the desert with solid-fuel "model" rockets taller than you are, and to beating other people at a game involving 64 black and white squares and little statues of horses and castles. For me, generating a substantial part of my electrical energy usage from the sun that hits my property is in that same category!

  • #2
    Originally posted by BackwoodsEE View Post
    I don't know if SunKing reads this particular forum, but I want to thank him in particular for his thousands of sobering and informative comments, and also his hilarious dry humor. He will undoubtedly think I'm nuts for proceeding with the huge expense and complexity of a hybrid system (and my area isn't even that great for solar insolation), but I hope I'm at least spared from his full scorn by avoiding a Nickel-Iron battery, taking the code seriously, and not ever expecting any financial payout from this project.
    No I only bust folks who do not know what they are asking for or do not know hat they are talking about. My only suggestion to you is if you are looking at a hybrid for power outages, you would be better served with a generator, one sized to run everything. Even with a hybrid still requires a generator for outages. With a Hybrid your power is extremely limited and cannot run your entire home. Only some emergency circuits for a short period of time. Not for me and my money.

    Instead think of a Grid Tied System with a whole house pad mounted generator/ATS using LPG or diesel fuel. A lot less expensive and you get to run everything in your home for days and weeks if needed. Otherwise you are just paying for batteries to sit there, collect dust, and drain your wallet. Your electricity is dirt cheap where you live,
    Last edited by Sunking; 06-19-2017, 05:38 PM.
    MSEE, PE

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