solar user from Nebraska

[westondc]

Hello all. I've been experimenting with solar for about a year now. i'm currently setting-up a 300 watt solar system with battery backup and a grid tie for my river side cabin. I'm a ham radio operator and I use the 12v dc solar system to supply power for emergancy communications.

[inetdog]

Hello all. I've been experimenting with solar for about a year now. i'm currently setting-up a 300 watt solar system with battery backup and a grid tie for my river side cabin. I'm a ham radio operator and I use the 12v dc solar system to supply power for emergancy communications.

Hi,
A 300 watt system set up for grid tie sounds like it is using one of the "plug-and-play" Chinese manufactured GT inverters, which do not have UL approval, are not designed for a hard-wired connection, and are generally reported to be unreliable.
If you are setting this up primarily for battery backup use, you should go for an off-grid-only system, since the amount of utility bill savings with a 300 watt GT will be small compared to the risks involved.

If you are just talking about have a grid-powered charger for your battery backup system, that is a different story.

[Sunking]

Roger that. 73's to you.

[westondc]

Hi,
A 300 watt system set up for grid tie sounds like it is using one of the "plug-and-play" Chinese manufactured GT inverters, which do not have UL approval, are not designed for a hard-wired connection, and are generally reported to be unreliable.
If you are setting this up primarily for battery backup use, you should go for an off-grid-only system, since the amount of utility bill savings with a 300 watt GT will be small compared to the risks involved.

If you are just talking about have a grid-powered charger for your battery backup system, that is a different story.

I should rephrase, i have full battery backup currently installed and running my DC powered radios and an inverter running some of the AC accessories. The plan was to use a "plug-and-play" GTI.... maybe I should abandon that idea? I know they were not UL approved but most of the online videos and reviews seemed to give them much praise. But you made a good point with your comment!

[russ]

The online videos and reviews are about 99% garbage - some may even be well intentioned but quite wrong.

[Sunking]

Those Plug-N-Play GTI you mention are net negative return. They are so poorly designed, inefficient, and expensvie they will never generate more electricity than it takes to make them, nor will they ever produce enough energy that it took to make them. On a good day they might generate .5 Kwh or a nickels worth of energy.