Question about inverter and tie in to electrical

[foo1bar]

I guess you need a permit to do anything to the meter and that also requires an electrician.

require a permit - yes
require an electrician - not necessarily - but it'd probably be a good idea. It may be required if you are renting the land, not the owner of the land.

It's not clear at all what you currently have or what you are trying to do.
Probably pictures would help. I'm not clear on whether your meter socket is built in to your "100A disconnect" - nor what you mean by "100A disconnect" - since I believe that a layman could use that to refer to multiple different things.

There are multiple potential ways to do the backfeed tie-in. And which one is the cheapest could depend on what you currently have as well as how large of a breaker you're needing to do for the backfeed.

[supertrucker]

require a permit - yes
require an electrician - not necessarily - but it'd probably be a good idea. It may be required if you are renting the land, not the owner of the land.

It's not clear at all what you currently have or what you are trying to do.
Probably pictures would help. I'm not clear on whether your meter socket is built in to your "100A disconnect" - nor what you mean by "100A disconnect" - since I believe that a layman could use that to refer to multiple different things.

There are multiple potential ways to do the backfeed tie-in. And which one is the cheapest could depend on what you currently have as well as how large of a breaker you're needing to do for the backfeed.

Switch is similar to this: https://jet.com/product/detail/93a5b...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

Meter base is similar to this: https://jet.com/product/SOCKET-METER...c1423a8cf3076f

Main breaker is 100a ITE with 12 spots I believe and they are all full.

[foo1bar]

Main breaker is 100a ITE with 12 spots I believe and they are all full.

By that you mean the breaker panel on the structure?
And does it have a 100A breaker inside it? I'll assume it does for below discussion of options.
I think what you are calling "main breaker" is actually a subpanel.


Since what you have is:

meter base ======= 100A main breaker/disconnect ========== 100A panel
(where the '=' are wires)

I think there are a few options you can explore with your electrician.

1> a meter socket adapter
2> replacing the 100A main breaker/disconnect with a new box that provides a breaker for your subpanel and a breaker for your solar. (there are outdoor surface-mount 125A end-feed main panels that I would guess could work)
3> replacing the 12-spot panel with a panel that has room for solar (Possibly may be required to upgrade your 100A main breaker/disconnect at the same time.)
4> tapping the wires between the meter base and the 100A main breaker/disconnect (called a "line side tap" - some power companies/AHJ won't allow this). There will need to be a new breaker box to have the 40A (or whatever) breaker for that tap.
5> tapping the wires between the two 100A breakers that you have. (Again - new breaker box to have protection for the wire making that tap. And something the AHJ might not allow.)

My guess is #2 or #3 is easiest/cheapest.
And which is better probably depends on where things are located - whether it'll be easier to run the wires from the inverter to the panel closest to the meter or to the panel with all your house wiring.

BTW: I assume you are the landowner - or are getting the landowner's agreement long before you start signing contract with electrician or anything. This is a major change - not a "Oh, I made a little flower bed in the front and planted marigolds"

[supertrucker]

My goal is to be set up to hook up an inverter and build a solar array. I have 2 acres of land and I own it all. No mortgage. The breaker is located on a wall in the kitchen near an exit door in a cabinet, the meter and 100a disconnect are screwed to a 4x4 about 2 foot off the ground in the center of the mobile home 10 foot out. The home parallels the road in front of it and the meter is behind the home.

[supertrucker]

home.PNG Lot of land

[Carrie Palmer]

require a permit - yes
require an electrician - not necessarily - but it'd probably be a good idea. It may be required if you are renting the land, not the owner of the land.

It's not clear at all what you currently have or what you are trying to do.
Probably pictures would help. I'm not clear on whether your meter socket is built in to your "100A disconnect" - nor what you mean by "100A disconnect" - since I believe that a layman could use that to refer to multiple different things.

There are multiple potential ways to do the backfeed tie-in. And which one is the cheapest could depend on what you currently have as well as how large of a breaker you're needing to do for the backfeed.

From what I know, from electrical perspective there is nothing wrong in making a grid-tie inverter's AC connection into an AC outlet circuit. be on guard against excessive voltage drop in the existing wiring when grid-tie inverter is operating at high power levels. Check for this article http://solar.smps.us/grid-tie-inverter-schematic.html. Also for expert advise try approaching home electrical wiring orillia, the shock doctors for electrical repair or wiring service

[SunEagle]

From what I know, from electrical perspective there is nothing wrong in making a grid-tie inverter's AC connection into an AC outlet circuit. be on guard against excessive voltage drop in the existing wiring when grid-tie inverter is operating at high power levels. Check for this article http://solar.smps.us/grid-tie-inverter-schematic.html. Also for expert advise try approaching home electrical wiring orillia, the shock doctors for electrical repair or wiring servi est wishes

The AC outlet must be dedicated to a 2 pole circuit breaker for the pv system and approved by the AHJ as well as the homeowner having a contract with their POCO to have a grid tie connection for co-generation and possible net metering. Also all electrical codes must be followed for the installation of the AC outlet and pv system.

[ButchDeal]

From what I know, from electrical perspective there is nothing wrong in making a grid-tie inverter's AC connection into an AC outlet circuit. be on guard against excessive voltage drop in the existing wiring when grid-tie inverter is operating at high power levels.

From what I know there is nothing wrong with doing brain surgery with a pocket knife.....

In the US:

There are no UL listed inverters that plug in. There are UL listed inverters that someone has added a plug to, thus voiding the UL listing for the unit.
You would need to have a dedicated cirtuite and a way to guaranty that the inverter is not plugged into another circuit by someone. The Plug would need to be accessible and available with labeling etc for disconnect with an approved disconnect etc.
In many regions you would need permit for the mechanical work, as well as for the electrical work to set up the special outlet, possibly metered, and Interconnect.

[SunEagle]

From what I know there is nothing wrong with doing brain surgery with a pocket knife.....

In the US:

There are no UL listed inverters that plug in. There are UL listed inverters that someone has added a plug to, thus voiding the UL listing for the unit.
You would need to have a dedicated cirtuite and a way to guaranty that the inverter is not plugged into another circuit by someone. The Plug would need to be accessible and available with labeling etc for disconnect with an approved disconnect etc.
In many regions you would need permit for the mechanical work, as well as for the electrical work to set up the special outlet, possibly metered, and Interconnect.

Actually unless I am wrong (which is possible) I have been looking at those 1kw Solar Pods that use individual micro inverters along with 4 x 250watt panels. They include a plug which requires you to install a unique receptacle that matches which will not allow you to can plug anything else into it. The receptacle is then hard wired back to dedicated CB in the main panel. IMO the system can also be hard wired to the house panel and dedicated CB without using a receptacle.

You still need all the proper permits and approvals for the installation along with blessings from the AHJ and POCO but technically it is an AC plug in inverter that is UL listed.

[ButchDeal]

right so that would be a special (custom) plug to prevent it being plugged into other outlets. Basically it is a regular install with permits, interconnects etc. but with a custom plug in the middle. Don't really see the benefit of that as you still need the permit and electrician to put in the custom outlet.

[SunEagle]

The only benefit would be the simplicity of a ground installation that has a rack system that can to be tilted for summer and winter. The cost has come down but is still a little high at $2.5/watt for a 2kw system delivered to your door before the FED rebate. The installation is an easy DIY (except for all the FL legalities). Since I now have a 2.5 acre plot of land to retire on I am starting to think about solar sometime in the near future.