Usage during outage and generator connection?

[billvon]

Why couldn't one still run devices in their home off the electricity the panels produce?

Because his inverter was not designed to stand alone. It needed utility power to synchronize to and to feed back power to.

I understand you may not be able to send the excess back out to the grid since power lines were down, etc. Does one need a particular type of device (or installation procedure) to enable this?

You mean operation without utility power? Yes, you need three things:

1) A standalone inverter
2) A battery bank
3) A charge controller

You cannot get by without a battery bank.

If you want to feed power back when the utility is available you'll need a very specific type of inverter, a grid tie/standalone inverter. An example of this sort of inverter is the GTFX3048 from Outback. It has the circuitry needed to allow both operation from (solar charged) batteries and to and from the grid.

Also, thinking about my possible installation, I may want to add a portable, gas generator (for backup at night during power outages) and before I considered adding solar I was researching either a transfer switch or interlock (on the board). If I have solar power as well is it still possible to interface a gas generator and/or do I need to tell this to the installers when they install everything (would they have to do something extra, use certain devices, etc.)?

Yes, that's possible. Generally you'll need to add a transfer switch, and that will likely be easiest to do during installation.

[desmo907]

I am new to solar (and have general knowledge of electricity) and was considering solar panels for my home.
I may have other questions but for now I wondered about a friend in this situation.
He has solar panels for electrical production. It is tied to the grid and in summer he makes more then he needs (it goes back out to the grid) so works off the "bank" at other times.
Last year we had a power outage for ~7 days and he said they he could not run anything off the solar power he was producing. This didn't make sense to us. (He did ask but didn't receive a satisfactory answer from installer.)

Why couldn't one still run devices in their home off the electricity the panels produce?
I understand you may not be able to send the excess back out to the grid since power lines were down, etc. Does one need a particular type of device (or installation procedure) to enable this?

Also, thinking about my possible installation, I may want to add a portable, gas generator (for backup at night during power outages) and before I considered adding solar I was researching either a transfer switch or interlock (on the board). If I have solar power as well is it still possible to interface a gas generator and/or do I need to tell this to the installers when they install everything (would they have to do something extra, use certain devices, etc.)?

Thx!