Need some help with grid tie equipments.

[paulcheung]

Hi guys, Merry late Christmas and happy new year when it come tonight.

It has been a while I haven

[paulcheung]

Hi guys, Merry late Christmas and happy new year when it come tonight.
It has been a while I haven

[sdold]

Hi Paul, it's been a while. Try posting again without apostrophes, on from a PC. Some devices use character encoding that causes post truncating.

[paulcheung]

Hi guys, Merry late Christmas and happy new year when it come tonight.

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]It has been a while I haven

[J.P.M.]

Hi guys, Merry late Christmas and happy new year when it come tonight.

It has been a while I haven

Hey Paul ! Back at cha'. Where ya' been ?

[paulcheung]

Hi guys, Merry be lated Christmas and Happy New Year when it comes tonight.

It has been a while I haven't post anything at this board. I have been busy dealing with the dying batteries and the high inflation at my country.

I need some advice and I also have some questions about the grid tie inverters.

As you guys know that I have been (off) grid assisted from 2012. working with panels and batteries. I have no clue about grid tie stuff. I don't want to make the same mistake that I made with the off grid setup.

I need to change my (off) grid assisted setup to grid tie as the batteries are on their last legs.

I have 32 panels from 225 watts to 250 watts each. I currently wired them 4 in a series and 8 series in all. I plane to keep 12 panels on the battery inverter for the critical loads; like the pond pumps and the lights in the house.

Someone who has been dealing with solar setup with off grid and grid tie for many years told me the the power from the inverters are connected direct to the meter that the power company provide. is that so? my understanding was they are connected to the main panel that carry the power to the house with breakers.

I was told some inverters readily available in Jamaica are some 3000 watts grid tie inverter sold for $145,000 $JA each. ($130 JA dollars to 1 $US), Some mini inverters sold by the power company for 45,000 EACH for the 500 watts.

I need to get a license from the power company in order to sell back power to them. I have to make sure all the equipment and panels and wiring are up to the code.

So what do you think is the best option for me? one large 5000 watts inverter or two 3000 watts inverters or one 3000 watts inverter with some mini ones?

Thank you in advance.

Paul from Jamaica.

[paulcheung]

Hey Paul ! Back at cha'. Where ya' been ?

Hi, I am in Jamaica suffer the high inflation and dealing with a new baby who only 2 years young.

[Sunking]

Hey Paul sorry about inflation and your batteries. With mixed panels you are better off going with Micro-Inverters that attach to each panel. Grid Tie systems interface at the power meter. Not so much as to make them work because that is not necessary, but for safety in the even tof a fire so the fire department knows where to disconnect the system.

Now for the bad news. Grid Tied systems do not work when power is out, even if the sun is shinning. Well they can if you have a hybrid system and that requires batteries and, very expensive inverter and equipment to make it work. However not needed to run pumps during the day if you buy solar powered pumps directly from panels assuming the sun is shinning.

Jamaica economy is in a deep hole. Currency ratio does not mean that much to US citizens, unless they do not. Example if gasoline were to cost roughly the same in Jamaica would cost around $150/JMD which translates to $4.20/gal USD. In the USA I happen to be in TX now and gasoline is $1.70/gal less than half than in Jamaica. I was there a few months ago on contract work and was quite suppressed. At my favorite restaurant, Scotchies, and whole chicken was $22 USD ($3000 JMD) more than double two years ago. I can only imagine the hardship as a chicken dinner cos tmor ethan a days wage in Jamaica. Not sure what the way out is for Jamaica if there is even a way out. My prayers are with you.

[paulcheung]

Hey Paul sorry about inflation and your batteries. With mixed panels you are better off going with Micro-Inverters that attach to each panel. Grid Tie systems interface at the power meter. Not so much as to make them work because that is not necessary, but for safety in the even tof a fire so the fire department knows where to disconnect the system.

What kind problem would I have if I use 2 3000 watts inverters for the 20 panels?

Now for the bad news. Grid Tied systems do not work when power is out, even if the sun is shinning. Well they can if you have a hybrid system and that requires batteries and, very expensive inverter and equipment to make it work. However not needed to run pumps during the day if you buy solar powered pumps directly from panels assuming the sun is shinning.

That is why I want to keep 12 panels with the current inverter to use a smaller bank of batteries to supply the pond pumps and the lights in the house. the pond pumps don't draw a lot current but is critical to the fishes.

Jamaica economy is in a deep hole. Currency ratio does not mean that much to US citizens, unless they do not. Example if gasoline were to cost roughly the same in Jamaica would cost around $150/JMD which translates to $4.20/gal USD. In the USA I happen to be in TX now and gasoline is $1.70/gal less than half than in Jamaica. I was there a few months ago on contract work and was quite suppressed. At my favorite restaurant, Scotchies, and whole chicken was $22 USD ($3000 JMD) more than double two years ago. I can only imagine the hardship as a chicken dinner cos tmor ethan a days wage in Jamaica. Not sure what the way out is for Jamaica if there is even a way out. My prayers are with you.

Thanks Derrick.

[Sunking]

You are talking 2 x 3000 watt GT Inverters right?

Same problems with Micro Inverters. In other words no difference, same challenges. Biggest issue is if your service panel has capacity and space for it. Not familiar enough with Jamaica Residentail codes to answer that entirely. From what I have seen, not many codes to follow. In fact surprised they even allow GT???? Cannot be a lot of help Paul. Sorry my Jamaica friend.

We can tell you what is required in the USA, but that is likely a lot of overkill and expense you are not required to endure. Wished I could do more for you.

[paulcheung]

Hi Derrick,
How are the GT inverters connected to the house system? is it connect direct to the meter? or connect the wires to the service panel from the GT inverters? I have to put a new main panel and new meter socket to take power from the grid and then connect the new main panel to the old service panels. I just need to know how those grid tie inverter works and what common mistake to avoid. We have some kind code like yours. wire size match the loads and etc etc.

[ButchDeal]

Hi Derrick,
How are the GT inverters connected to the house system? is it connect direct to the meter? or connect the wires to the service panel from the GT inverters? I have to put a new main panel and new meter socket to take power from the grid and then connect the new main panel to the old service panels. I just need to know how those grid tie inverter works and what common mistake to avoid. We have some kind code like yours. wire size match the loads and etc etc.

It should not be connected directly to the meter. There is an adapter which is infrequently used that plugs into the meter slot and effectlivly does a line side tap for you if that is what your friend is talking about.

Commonly smaller installs of less than 8kW are installed with an interconnect at the MSP (Main Service Panel).

[Sunking]

Paul looks like Butch answered your question but for clarification if you are adding a a new service panel and meter, you just use a dual pole breaker slot in the panel just like a load circuit uses. Example instead of a circuit to say an Air Conditioner or Oven, one to the Inverter.

[paulcheung]

Ok Thank you guys.

How is the voltage on from the panels? Does it have to higher thank 240 volts? What is the specification for the input DC current to the inverters? what is the input ranger? The Voltage from the panels series.
Thank you.