Plugged A Solar Panel Into My Home For 7 Days | Here's What Happened
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ย. 2023
- Calculate Solar Panel Cost For Your Home - www.solarreviews.com/solar-es...
2 Panel Micro Inverter Unit (600W) - amzn.to/3QEPrDc
4 Panel Micro Inverter Unit (1200W) - amzn.to/3tXAenQ
EG4 BrightMount - signaturesolar.com/eg4-bright...
I love the idea of "Plug-N-Play" solar but is this a feasible way to offset or eliminate your monthly power bill? I tested out a product I purchased on Amazon which provides a way to plug into an exterior outlet and feed power into your electrical system. Before you go out and purchase a similar product let me walk you through my results and also what you need to consider to have a safe and approved installation.
Original video showing Micro Inverter setup - • Plugging Solar Panels ...
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
@Everyday Solar To answer your question about the electrolytic capacitors: they should NOT run hot or even warm. That would be a sign that they are incorrectly rated for the application. Electrolytic capacitors tend to have a short life in cheap inverters and charge controllers but failure is usually obvious because the top of the capacitor will fracture and vent smoke OR the rubber plug in the bottom of the capacitor will be pushed out. Yours look OK. More likely that a fuse has melted or a semiconductor has blown. It's hard to tell from the video but it does appear that the semiconductor immediately above the toroidal coil (top right on the lower PCB) has exploded.
FYI, I am more familiar to much larger inverter systems. The semiconductors to which you are referring are likely SCR gates, a very common item in an inverter. They are the units that know when to feed the electricity back in and on which correct part of the AC cycle to feed it. And the SCR gates generally are the main source of failures in them. They take a beating. Could be a fuse if there is one.
The pads on the capacitor, likely those are simply insulators to separate the aluminum body of the case from the metal part of the capacitor. Someone mentioned that electrolytic capacitors regularly fail. Yes, that is somewhat true. However, you need to consider the practical use to their implementation. If you used a same farad rated foil wrapped capacitor in that spot, it would have to be much larger in physical size and more expensive, that is if it is even available in the first place. Larger inverter systems use oil capacitors and with constant use it is recommended those capacitors be replaced every 7 or so years. Electrolytic capacitors actually hold up better/longer than oil filled, but can't match the rated capacity of oil filled for the physical size of the capacitor. It is basically the only real practical option you have in this type of environment.
I have an old Y&H/ecoworthy inverter (I think they're part of the same company). What I found is that you cant run them a full wattage/full amperage. You need to halve that or it fails. They're coy with the specs on what tolerances their components have. I suspect the top wattages are the company being a little loose with the truth. Some of the ones I looked at inside had some quality control issues where connections had been reversed on the mp4 connectors. I'd strongly suggest checking your polarity on the unit (even the panels).
Another informative video, thank you for taking the time to do this experiment. I have 4 GTI installed and on my 1300 watt setup I am getting right around 1 Kw per day and using over 20, so my ROI is over 9 years but offsets and fun are PRICELESS!
There is just something about harvest the sun that sucks a lot of us in 🙌
it just shows us how far people have to go to gesture the aesthetic of maintaining any sort of control over their lives and then woops, nope, thought you had a great idea to beat the system but now the bottom half of your inverter throws an error light and your idea of energy independence is a non-starter.
Thank you for sharing your experience with solar panels! It's great to see people like you taking steps towards sustainability. If you're interested in a reliable backup power solution for your outdoor adventures, I highly recommend the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series. Its massive capacity, fast recharging, and versatile sockets make it perfect for camping trips and RV use. Plus, its rugged design ensures durability in various weather conditions. Happy camping and enjoy the priceless moments with your family! 🌞🚐
@@user-hh6ex9md4w While I appreciate your generic comments, and have looked at the Segway cube, it falls short of my needs and therefore will NOT become part of my options.
This is the 3rd time you have commented on one of my comments, all on other sites and shows you are trying to market for Segway.
Thank you for the video. What is the device in your breaker box you mentioned please?
Emporia monitoring system is great, I've been using it since 2020 good accurate gadget
The most important tip is the installation of a -Anti - Islanding- circuit and a Manuel cut off to not energize the the lines while they are being repaired,for safty .
Contraptions like these--especially ones that need to integrate with other systems--really make me appreciate standards and certifications.
I was waiting to see if he used a suicide cord to feed power back into his home distribution.
An electrical suicide plug, also known as a male-to-male extension cord, is a highly dangerous device. These cords have male plugs on both ends, unlike regular extension cords that have one male (protruding plug) end and one female (receptacle) end. @@joefrisco
Right. I wonder why we even show these videos to DIYers. Someone is going to get killed someday...but the youtuber will still cash his check. We have electrician's licenses for a reason folks.
@@Icehso140you must be a government worker
@@hildacorea No...just an educated electrician that knows how dangerous electricity is. But be my guest. Electricity doesn't care who you are and when a DYIer hurts or kills someone I'm sure you'll blame the govt.
Had my 2kw solar/9kw battery system producing easily 80% of my needs 4 years now, the first year it produced 95% which was a bit of a struggle in winter but is still amazing for such a small system. Installed it myself so payback is already achieved. Since I did it, its even easier to do yourself with all in one boxes and is a no brainer for anywhere with decent sun.
Yes, but the winter there îs problem.
@@MrGigi-dz9cv Whats your point ? Don’t use solar because it’s less efficient in the winter ?
@@stephencrowther524 You need ellectricity in the winter too ...
This was very informative. Thank you
Put a set of aluminum fins on the back of the controller box. Use the computer paste for cpu. Put a sealed bag around that display.
You can open any water sensitive electronics like the power display and spray the board and connections with 4 coats of krylon acrylic clear spray to make them resistant. Not saying skip the box but it will help.
I'd always prefer to have a solar backup to mains so I'd prefer batteries. Here in the UK feed-in payments have gone down, they were 100% at first but now it's about 5%. Most times I want backup power, it's already dark so a charged battery is more use than a dark solar panel.
Well if you are going to open it up and do the things, if you have a 12V source, install a chassis fan for cooling, you can also get heatsinks that you can stick onto the back side of the unit. They use a layer of sticky that is also a thermal conducting layer. Probably could do the same thing inside the unit, with some of those small heatsinks that you can attach to PI processors. Do that while pushing air through the unit, I'll bet you stop getting the overheating errors.
I did grid-tie for years, now I just bought more poly solar panels, and went fully off grid!
Are you able to do a video on your experience??? Explain your different set-ups for each stage...Would be much appreciated if you could...😁☺️
I did multiple grid-tie with the crypto mining boom a few years back. Really lowered imported electricity and Bill but my meter never registered/logged any exported electricity so they had a freebie at times.
Now I'm semi off grid with LFP batteries and hybrid inverter. I just need to install more panels as what I do have won't maintain batteries on rainy winter days and switches back to grid. Once I'm certain to produce enough solar on the worst days ill get my electricity service disconnected and save $1.60 per day of service charges.
this is an easy addon to an RV system without any wiring needed.
Please provide the link to the other inverter you mentioned that you were trying to get approved by your Net metering service provider. Thank you!
If you want to add solar power without a grid connection, you need batteries, which are enormously expensive. But you could use a heat battery: Heat a tank full of water or sand directly with your solar electricity, and draw that heat to warm your house or water as needed when the sun is not shining.
As an experiment, can you turn your breakers off so the home is not drawing power and show a video of your meter while it is backfeeding. Let’s see if it goes backwards, forwards or stay stationary. I hear lots of opinions, but I have never seen this experiment. thank you.
I've done it several times. It depends on the meter. Many of the old analog meters will most definitely spin backwards. The new digital smart meters will throw an error code... and contact the power company. So don't try it with the smart meters, unless you want the power company to come knocking on your door!
Yes the old ones with the wheel will spin backwards, the newer ones are uni-directional, so if it doesnt give you an error, you will be paying for the backfed power you fed into the grid just the same as if you used it from the grid. The meter doesn't know what way power is traveling it only tracks the amount that passes through it, regardless of if it is going into the house, or being backfed to the grid. bi-directional meter is necessary unless you have the old style. @@ssoffshore5111
Smart meters don't run backwards
Have you done further experimentation to see if there is a quality MI that can do as you have set up here without failure?
I am looking for a four-into-one 240VAC micro inverter that I will simply run a jumper off of my A/C condenser contacter to an identical contacter that controls the "On/Off" of the micro inverter to my A/C condenser. That way without Net Metering I am able to substantially offset my A/C load on my grid (I will keep the watts under what the A/C is actually using) yet I will never backfeed the grid as the contacter can only be closed when the grid is present.
It addtion to the pads on each of the 6 capacitors, it looks like they may have forgotten to remove the adhesive blue tape from the two big rectangular thermal pads on the components next to the capacitors. It might be resulting in less heat transfer to the case from those components. You can see they made allowance on the cover for those pads to also dissapate heat.
I just saw that too. You've got a good eye.
Thank you for the video.. I was curious to see how this would perform.
Regarding the failure...
Is it possible that too much voltage/amperage got into the microinverter?
Its a 1200W inverter hooked to 1440W of panels.
Yes, I understand losses. But you mentioned that it was super cold when they failed.
If they got some good light while cold, they could have produced over the 300W microinverter rating and harmed the (lets just says "sensitive") electronics inside the micro right?
Thanks!
You can't force-feed an inverter. It will draw as much power as it's designed to. The rest will go to waste.
@@britishtechguru You can certainly over-draw your inverter, so is it possible there was just too much passing through the micro?
I usually take Chinese ratings and divide them in 1/2. If they say 1200 watts, it's probably really 600 watts. If I was going to do this, I'd pick a 2400 watt inverter. Running things on the edge is asking for failure.
We have a transfer switch box to run certain circuits off our generator during power outages. It has a 30amp receptacle. Could something like this connect to the 30amp as an alternative power source?
The Y&H 1200W Solar Grid Tie Micro Inverter you've described is a specific type of inverter designed for use in grid-tied solar power systems. Here are some key features and information about this particular microinverter:
The microinverter has a power capacity of 1200W, which means it can handle a maximum power input of 1200 watts from the solar panels.
This microinverter is designed for grid-tied solar power systems. In grid-tied systems, the solar panels generate electricity, and the microinverter converts the DC power generated by the panels into AC power that can be fed into the electrical grid.
MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking):
The microinverter likely features MPPT technology, which optimizes the power output from the solar panels by adjusting the operating point to the maximum power point.
The PV (photovoltaic) input range is specified as DC28-50V, indicating the compatible input voltage range from the solar panels. The AC output range is specified as AC80-160V.
It comes equipped with a monitoring display screen that allows users to view data related to the inverter's performance. This can include information such as power output, voltage, and other relevant data.
The microinverter has an IP65 waterproof rating, which means it is designed to be protected against dust and low-pressure water jets from any direction. This level of protection makes it suitable for outdoor installation.
It's crucial to ensure that the microinverter is compatible with the specific solar panels and system requirements you have. Check the specifications and compatibility guidelines provided by the manufacturer.
Installation:
Microinverters are typically installed on or near the solar panels. The AC output is then connected to the electrical grid.
Ensure that the microinverter complies with relevant safety standards and regulations in your region.
The inverter type you are using is know for having over heating problems. I suggest the indoor type that is fan cooled or the larger more expensive type that is made to handle an entire system of panels.
So, the little black devices in the middle of the unit are the things that need heat sinking. If there is a heat issue, it would be there, not the 3 capacitors. You would need to check on the type of devices there. You could also use a infrared camera while the unit is open to check if there is one of those that appears to be hotter than the others. I will bet it will not be easy to get a schematic with parts information, but if you see one or more getting hotter, you can look at the part and there usually is identifying information on them. If you have a warranty, I would not go further, if not and you want to repair, find those parts. desolder the hot ones, and replace them with new parts. Be sure to apply a heat sink compound.
I should have ran it with the cover off that would have been a fun test with a FLIR camera 👍
Love the structure for holding the panels
I don't. The wooden fundament layout is poor und will wear out rapidly when the panels start to swing in the wind.
I'm all for the the alternative power source, but, unless I am located in the middle of nowhere, I really don't see the need for solar energy and it is confirmed with this video. Very informative and no biased review and for that, you earned my sub!!!
The need comes in after the payback period where all the energy the panels produces is free, which can be significant considering power companies are always increasing the rates. And if your area has frequent power outages solar with battery storage system can be a life saver.
In Australia every third house has roof top solar and the saving are quite dramatic across the board especially if you can afford a storage battery. There are government backed cheap loans available so payback time is reasonable. It used to be a lot better but the power companies have wound back their payments for your excess power . You do have to change your usage pattern a bit to do the heavy electrical use jobs during the daylight hours if you can. In the city of Melbourne alone the power produced from roof top solar equals the output of one of our old coal fired power stations. Night time hours will always be a problem with solar power but with better storage systems being developed and redesigning the power grid to take advantage of our time zones it will become more usable. My personal annual power costs have been cut by two thirds and when I upgrade from a 5 Kw to a 7Kw system by adding more panels the cost will reduce even more. If you have the sunlight put the panels on your roof.
@@Resist4 Residential AC power rates with tax have been very consistent in Will County IL for years @ .13kw/h all in with taxes.
Well I'm not in the middle of nowhere and my solar system offsets my electrical consumption by about $200 per month. And I did it myself so I paid less than $10,000 for it..
@@user-ke9yk5qp3u I agree! I have had my system for over a decade, so basically I haven't had an electric bill in most of that time. And now I drive an EV and my system fills its tank for free too!
Does the smaller version suffer from the same issues? (Over heating}
Looking forward to you testing other 120v inventors . Question, do you have to plug this into a dedicated outlet?
Yes, technically these go to a dedicated circuit to prevent any possible screw up with overloading the wires before reaching breaker capacity.
You might had an issue meter backfeeding to your inverter vs just overheat - the emf off a meter is pretty a good size and if you dont have some form of a gfci/afci this could be one issue
Get a few Enphase microinverters!
(If you must go 120v an autotransformer is all you need)
is there a nylon thin layer over the heating paste? that blue film? if there is it has to be removed for the paste to work
Interesting stuff!😎 Perchance is there a very small glass fuse (similar to old automotive fuses) soldered into the circuit like they have on modern fluorescent ballasts which are actually unserviceable?
I use compressed air to run generators instead of DIRECTLY sourcing solar for power, but what I do to get around all the rules is, I have "emergency" outlets in my house - not grid tied, so no problems with Code or power company rules.
Also, I use cheap ($35) solar panels to run small compressors whenever there's sunshine, so my 2,000 gallons of compressed air is free.
How much electricity can you store in 2,000gallons of compressed air? What psi?
@@kalradic1252
80 psig my electricity needs are minimal, but I can make enough to run my meat freezer 5 hours a day as a rule.
Man I'm so glad I watched this before I pulled the trigger on buying that inverter. On a side note did you ever find something decent? Also for my setup I wanted to put a transfer switch for the inverter and a boost charge controller because it's a small bike shed where I can charge my ebike or Sur Ron for free but when it's not charging the bike I can have it feed some power into the grid to supplement my power. It be cool if you ever could do a video like that, but that might just be a special case. Also it would be cool to see a solar shed with just DC power powering it and see if that runs more efficient than transferring everything to AC. Just a thought!
You can figure out what part failed by swapping the panels from the lower inverter one by one onto the upper inverter it might be a fault in a panel or the wiring from the inverter to the panels. Of course you could also swap the panels from the working inverter to the lower one and see if it goes green. A new system could have any number of faults. You might also try conecting your output to the 2nd connector. It is strange the left output is connected directly to bottom inverter that had the red light and the top one had the green light but it is connected directly to the right side plug. I think I would verify the internal wires between the inverters is solid the thick wire with the black shield.
It's nothing more than Chinese Junk. You can't fix junk.
If the inverter is flashing, that means the MPPT is not accepting energy?
The MPPT is looking for ideal conditions for the panels? To get/Receive the most power output? How does an MPPT "look" for ideal conditions to accept energy?
Ideal point on what curve?
Concerning the inverter - is it possible that the outputs are splitting the output? I assume they are both outputs? in the middle on each side?
I have 32 kW system at my house.I did myself.
Middle of the summer I put back 130-140 kw a day.
winter maybe 40.
Summertime when it rains it still spins backwards😊
Your issue for the damage of the inverter most likely stems from the low temperature that you experienced. Temperature effects power output from the PV array. The lower the temperature the higher the voltage from the array. I would dare to say that due to the low temperature the array power output raised and damaged the inverter due to excessive voltage and power. Bear in mind that the power curve rating for the modules are given for standard test conditions (STC= 77 degrees F). When calculating maximum power input for the inverter, we need to take into account the minimum ambient temperatures that the modules will experience.
Best way to solor for home, is literally rewire it all back in time to DC energy, mainly lighting and small loads.
Sure there is large white goods that run on DC, but are small :(
One failure of the shut off during a power outage could fry a lineman. I'd be very leery of ever connecting to the 'grid'. I'd want to islolate the grid power then use that to install several line voltage coil relays in series to make quite certain (or at least reduce the chance) that any of my power was reaching out into the grid. Morally, legally and financially I'd want to be certain.
It needs fans placed inside to bring in cool air and exhaust hot air OR much much better heat synchs to exhaust the heat.
Quick question? If theres a power outage in the day time will solar panels still work?
Thanks for the follow up and I tried to warn people that microinverter is not going to pass code and does not appear to be safe. There are no heat sinks or fans on that unit. Don't recommend anyone buy one and look at off grid system components from reputable dealers not a plug n system that could burn your house down or cost you your insurance coverage.
There is a 600 Watt with 120V out micro inverter made by NEP that looks to have all the certifications needed. I have an email sent out to my utility to get their feedback on this type of setup being approved for Net Metering. Not getting my hopes up but more curious than anything to see what they say.
@ solar cabin I'd rather offset my usage by putting energy into a battery bank and inverter, using it to help lower our usage some. I did see an Asian guy do something similar to what this poster did, but he used a grid tie inverter, plugged into a power strip surge protector, plugged into the wall, to offset some of his usage. He also demonstrated that if there's no power it's not feeding back into the grid. I liked his set up better, but I still would rather offset some of my usage with a battery bank and inverter, or a larger solar generator, that can handle say a refrigerator, freezer, or small ac. For a little bit. Or whilst the sun is out with pass through charging.
While I didn't look up the model of this inverter. Others responding to this thread stated it is a "grid tie" unit.
If so, it monitors the grid line Fq, Phase, and Voltage. It will dynamically adjust to synchronize to the grid parameters to optimize load conditions.
If designed to regulatory codes, it will also disable it's output if the grid voltage goes under a predetermined "Low Voltage Shutdown threshold". IE, is designed specifically not to back feed solar power to the grid during a grid power outage!
There are a multitude of NEC, and Fed/State code and regulations pertaining to grid-tied solar installs.
*(While not legal, or advised), and used only for testing on highways in Mexico. 🙄 Simple circuit Breaker(s), adequate sized AWG wire between the micro-inverter and the structure's load panel, and good Earth ground bonding, (is hypothetically) enough to protect from wiring fires from a single defective 1200Watt micro-inverter.
Although, it is worth mentioning that many DIY residential solar systems do increase the likelihood of lighting damage to said structure and contents! 👀
This is the kind of setup I wanted to do to learn solar. Something like 8 panels on the ground to offset power use. Im at $0.30 a kwh here. Hoping you do a video with a functional setup.
Dang, what state are you in?
Wondering if the failure could be caused by condensation. If the unit is getting damp inside, any moisture could have dripped to the lower board and shorted it out. Maybe inspect closely and see if you see any signs of water.
of course the condensation must be the cause. If the heat would be the culprit then the upper part would be damaged not the lower one.
The issue may be at the center of the board where all those little back squares are with Philips screws on them. Looks like they just sit on a thermal layer but that's blocking the chips from dissipating any heat to the outside of the box and the box being be air cooled. Those chips should be the same type you would see in a car amplifier, however decent car amps thermal paste each chip and direct mount them to bare metal inside of the amp. Maybe consider testing this as a fix.
Pull the bottom board out, may need to re-solder the chips back on board, but you should consider cutting the purple color layer off the board, thermal paste the metal area and mount those chips with the Philips screws.
Should solve the overheat issue,
I feel like it may be easier and more code friendly to only use this setup to run specific devices in your home on dedicated wiring NOT hooked up to the grid with battery storage for use in the evenings. Maybe a washer and dryer that you'll only use during days on the weekend or something like that.
Dryer's requires thousands of watts.
Can alway hang dry the old way.
I'd be interested to get a used solar panel just to run some lights and chargers. Even if it doesn't feed into the grid, it would still replace some power we would otherwise have to pay the utility for.
I do exactly that. I use a EF ECOFLOW Portable Power Station DELTA 2 with 100w panel and charge my power tool batteries and if it hits 100% I plug it into the Tesla! All of it cost me $750 and I will never pay me for the cost and my time, but I love knowing that I am farming my own power:)
Easy enough to do. Just beware of the cheap (Under $20 charge controllers) they are typically rated at 30A. I wouldn't trust them past 10A. Basically, 1x100W panel. I blew up 4-5 of them figuring this out. Hooked up to 2 panels they'd last anywhere from a month to six months.
They are designed to be solar powered light pole charge and light controllers. Great for little setups, or you know, solar powered light poles. At this they work just fine.
I wonder if you put a small low voltage fan on the inverter if it will help????
what is the voltage off each panel, and what is the voltage rating on the inverter
Hi, your videos are great. We are from Slovenia and we have a CTC 9kw heat pump for heating water and rooms in the house and electricity is the only source of energy.
We are considering upgrading solar collectors for water heating or a solar power plant with an Ecoflow Delta pro storage tank, as an aid to the heat pump or saving energy costs.
What do you advise us?
If you want to go a little more DIY (added planning and work) I would check out @WillProwse for some of his server rack battery options where you will get more kWh for the money. If you want to stay more Plug-N-Play I would most likely wait for the EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra which is coming Q1 2024. I should be getting a Delta Pro Ultra in the next few weeks and will do an installation on my Everyday Home Repairs channel. I will also use the unit on this channel but the first video will probably be on our other channel.
@@everydaysolar Hi :) thanx for fast answer. Our HP do not have own batery, Max imput id cca 3.5kw. We have a 20 m2 fence on the balcony and we would like to have 100w cells to cover the fence (height approx. 90cm). We would start with 1 PRO battery and 6 x 100w cells to see how it works. Then we would upgrade. In Slovenia, according to the law, a maximum of 600W per hour can be supplied to the home network. The remaining energy would be stored in the accumulator. Above all, we want to use energy to help the heat pump in the winter, and to power all the consumers in the house in the summer.
Why is the inverter running with a low DC input? I'm used to panels being installed in series and outputting 800-1500 vdc.
First time viewing your channel! -------- I believe its likely a defective half to the inverter (Chinese made parts are always of dubious quality) but it could also be a defective panel or bad shorted lead coming from a solar panel shutting the inverter off on that bottom half or too much total input power as exceeding either the max input wattage or input voltage being inputed into the inverter can cause it to shut down. Q. Do the two panels on the lower half (with the red light) work ok on the top half of the inverter without overheating it?
How much did the setup cost and how long would it cost to pay for it's self?
I have a solar and battery setup. Solar is fine IF you have a lot of sunshine. Winter time in the UK i.e. Nov - March, its nigh on a waste of time if you are looking for a fast payback. Winter time, I tend to charge up the batteries to 100% capacity on the cheap rate overnight (16p a unit compared to the day rate of 34.8p) and the capacity I have is enough to see me through the day/night.
The solar produced:
Nov = 117.5kWh
Dec = 50.1 kWh
Jan = 88.0 kWh
Feb = 141.5 kWh
Compare that to June (last year) 642.2 kWh
May and July were each over 550kWh
For the whole of January '24 I exported the grand total of 5 kWh!
Summertime though, it really is all change. The solar arrays are more than enough to not only charge the batteries to 100% with no import required at all but also export a good chunk of electricity. But even then we do get the odd days where sunshine just doesn't shine.
Having a smart meter, I have an export display to read. I get paid for what I export. But it ain't great!
Thank you. This is some very important information. The bang for the buck on solar is different with some cheap components. Expectations should be lowered. To spend $500 to get only $1 of energy is insane. People are rushing into solar energy with loans that do not make good $ sense. Every one needs to calculate the bang for the buck and the payback for break even.
Solar buyers need to look at the long term benefits. Yes, the unit in the video produced about $1 in a week. As explained, a defect caused only half the solar panels to produce electricity for most of the week. So, it should have been closer to $2/week, 52 weeks in the year, or $104 worth of electricity produced in a year. Payback would be around 5 years. And this was in an area with some of the cheapest electric rates around.
I agree with you. Cheep electric energy is the holy grail. There are thousands of solar powered homes that are depending on solar energy because there is no alternative. We need to evaluate the bang for the buck for all energy and be realistic in our expectations. Some of the best energy is the energy saved with conservation. @@twostate7822
Everybody has to start somewhere. There's nothing like making your own electricity.
Amen 👍
Great video man :) That inverter enclosure doesn't look that weatherproof to me ! Perhaps the lower half has moisture damage ?
I was sealed reasonably well and in that short of a time period I don't think the root cause was moisture. Seems to just not have a reasonable design for heat rejection.
You exceeded the wattage Input. The power supply is only rated for 300 watts input as it states on the Amazon listing. So on a sunny day, it likely burned up that side of the inverter.
I was at a home show at Florida state fair. And there was a guy that was selling this thing that went between your meter and power panel and it would send power back to a through your house basically slowing your meter while not affecting your your neighbors on the lines. I kinda understood it made sense. Because ac power just goes from one house to the next with the meter just being the go between. But all three big eclectic companies shut his product down and it was on the news and they said it was working by slowing down your meter. But I ain't no electrician expert.
Just to clarify multiple houses, buildings may be on a single stepdown transformer from the grid.
The power is NOT daisy chained from the first house/meter to the next, and so on. Rather, all loads (structures) are connected to said transformer in parallel.
Now, I'm just guessing on the "band power-saver device". There were/are fake BS devices, purported to save energy sold on the Internet.
And then there are real ways to trick power meters with electronics. They modify the way the load is presented to the meter. I won't go into details, as I don't want the feds knocking on my door.
As I look at the open chassis. I wonder if the light blue tape has the factory shield removed (thin plastic to protect adhesive). Is it possible that the blue tape is not conducting heat at all? These are on top of what looks like coils.
Not sure, but seeing the other reviews it seems like well over half the units people order burn out in a week or 2. That would make me think there is a major defect in the design. Looking at a NEP micro-inverter which should hold up much better and actually has 120V out.
Just an FYI you might want to clarify with your utility some Smart meters charge you for putting power back onto the grid. Basically anytime power comes from the grid or from your house you get charged if it passes through the meter. It happened to me in an apartment Several months after I installed it they updated To a smart meter and they told me, Then I was able to track and verify it. If you don't want to be charged for the extra power you feed the grid you need a limiter on your inverter connected to One leg of your power box.
It looks like you have solar in your house so that won't make much difference because you already have a solar agreement
Excellent Point! After my solar system was installed, the installer turned the system on prior to the utility approving net metering for billing. It took two months for the approval, so in July and August my solar production was billed to me ($400 per month) rather than being credited to my account.
I have several grid tie inverters and solar panels and I tested to see if it shuts down when power on the grid goes down. Later I found that if my pellet stove was running with the fan on and auger motor on, if you shut down the main breaker, the motor generates a signal that keeps the inverter running creating its own micro grid. You should check your system to see if that can happen in your case.
Wow! That's interesting. As the motor spins down the back emf must be picked up by the inverter as grid power and the inverter stays on. Or such?
Yes I believe the back emf keeps it in sync. It happened when they came to replace my meter with the new smart meter. I asked the meter guy to wait while my pellet stove shut down, but he pulled the meter out of the socket and I was surprised my basement lights stayed on. After he put the new meter in I realized it was my solar panels and inverter with the pellt stove running that kept it generating. It akes sense as I have a 3 phase machine that I run by stating a 3/4 hp 3 phase motor that I start with a phase converter ( I only have single phase in my house) then I can run my 1/2 hp milling machine as if I had 3 phase in my house. Thanks for your reply Bob Hayes @@bobd.6005
Hoymiles micro inverters have been tested and are performiming well in Europe, 25 year manufactures warranty.
Your local inspector would red tag your installation within seconds. You are back feeding an outlet made to supply power. You have also installed a male plug on your system, when unplugged could become energized. Go to home depot and buy the correct outlet, and then wire a female outlet on your system. That would mean you would have to turn your extension cord to work the opposite way.
Actually on this one I called the inspector and he gave the green light. This micro inverter will not supply power unless it detects power at the outlet. So this will ensure no back feeding is the power goes out and also that the prongs aren't hot when unplugged.
I don't understand how you can just plug one these into an outside outlet. AC has a sine wave. If you have two things producing power and the sine waves are not in sync, I would think that woul be a problem. How does that work?
Looked into this, but was told by some TH-camrs that the power that they fed into their house actually ended up costing them because house meter couldn't tell that this energy was being directed into the house not used from the grid. Hope that makes sense.
how? its not coming from the meter?
I've been told the same thing; unless your meter is specifically set up for delivery back to the grid (ie net metering), you will likely get charged for the kWh you produce because the meter doesnt know if the power is coming or going.
I think you get charged for the power coming in and also the power going out if you are producing excess power and don't have a net metering agreement. This should mean if your appliances are consuming 2 kW of power and you are producing 1 kW of power you would only be getting billed at the 1 kW power consumption. I also bet this is varies across the different utility companies.
@everydaysolar-ps3xg well in California they are about to pass a law that will charge you for the power you get from your panels.
Only If you’re using more than it’s producing.
First Impressions: no DC or AC breakers or manual disconnects to deal with inverter failure and fire
Can you send a link to everything you have there?
For Safety and stability, you should be using a Growatt grid tie inverter. Can add an export limiter so you never back feed anything to the grid, thus does not require a net metering agreement
Why that one? There are 100 varieties.
Based on Availability and price. These tiny ones have lots of issues, even the ones from Enphase have issues. Using something more robust and active cooling will keep them working longer and some have UL Listings making them pass your home insurance requirements.
@@RiggerBrew your information is old. Enphase had problems many many years ago. Today they are rocksolid reliable and active cooling would be a truly dumb idea. Cooling fans fail all the time, a large heat sink never fails.
@@ericeric9208 well said, I am doing exactly what you just described. I had my own solar business for 10 years and I quit because I was sick and tired of permitting and dealing with the local electric utilities. So even though I did everything above board for 10 years I am now using my system behind the meter and I never back feed the grid and screw them! I am not bothering with a permit!
I have a grid tie inverter and pay 12 bucks for a connection fee. Once the warranty on the inverter is up i want to screw the power company also and go off grid since they give me nothing back in Oregon for my excess power. What system do you use? Finding an inverter that is reasonably priced but made to last seems like a suspect proposition currently. 5.44 kw and looking to add kw also in the future. @@user-ke9yk5qp3u
Can anyone tell me how the AC from the solar panel/inverter system goes into the grid?
Does that system produce slightly higher voltage than the grid or what? We have 27 panels and net metering, and haven’t paid the electric company anything in years. If anyone knows of a good text or website that explains how this works, I would appreciate knowing about it. 4:49
we pay .30c a kW/h in Australia (QLD)
Is that legal? If the power company turns the power off for service there is still a lethal voltage being fed into the system.
I wonder if you could use a smart plug which will shut off when the grid goes out and an mppt inverter for solar, which is more reliable because of the cooling fan.
Has to a frequency-matching inverter. That's usually where the trouble arises.
Was there any sign of component failure? You took the time to open the inverter but didn't investigate.
well I know here in AU unless its in an solar export circuit any power your exporting you will be billed for as the default meter does not have flow control and just bills power assuming its all coming from grid
I confirmed with the utility in my area and they will not charge me but at the same time they will not give me credits for any extra either.
Would like to know i have a solar generator can i plug that into my generator and charge it . while it is connected to my ats???
Can this unit be throttled or choked via the app in order to stop back feeding into the grid. Example: unit will stop at 350Watts for my home's baseline?
Nope, those smarts aren't built in and the App is from the Emporia energy monitor installed in my main electrical panel. This microinverter doesn't have any connectivity or App that I saw.
How did you get your inverter to match the 60Hz phase of the power company?
The inverter has the smarts to monitor if there is grid power. I assume through the same monitoring the inverter also is able to align with the frequency of the grid.
Micro converters to one breaker are accepted in EU on grid. All stop when the main is dead. 3200 watt max. Times 240 volt.
3200 watts !?!? I though most were limited to 600 watts in Europe? Maybe that is only the plug-n-play balcony style.
@@everydaysolar 3200 it is. Most put them on the 16amp C breaker of the washing machine with an EV device.
Have had grid tied 10 kW tracker system for 12 years which produces about 14000 kW hrs / year. 2X6 kW Aurora inverters!
I burred two of 300W before I figured it out how to keep this device cool, just install any kind of cooling fan....
Need at least 4kw to come anywhere near running a normal house, inverters need to be rated at least 20-30% over what the max input and needed output are, so they last longer, same for batterys.
I have a new unit showing up this week with more capability. We shall see if it lasts 🤞
I am wondering if you synchronized with the utility. Otherwise, when your sine wave is going one direction the utilities power is going the other direction it just isn't working very well.
This is done automatically within the inverter, similar to the way two inverter generators can be hooked together.
Thank you for the video.
You bet!
Do you have to pay transmission and generation fees on your provider along with 12 cents a kilowatt? Its what we pay in califorina at more than double your rate.
Yes, there are some additional fees. Depending on your usage that can come out to $0.15 - $0.20 per Kwh in my area.
You mention there is another microinverter you are looking into that may fit the standard requirements - can you share which one?
For sure, I would like to try the NEP 600-LV but it is hard to find a dependable supplier in the US for the low voltage (120V out) version northernep.com/products/microinverters/bdm-600-lv
@@everydaysolar thank you!
Looking at the inside of the box, it appears that one inverter is attached directly to one 120v output, and the other is attached directly to the other 120v output
we have smart meters and you would have to have a contract with our power company to feed back any power into the grid, when i got my contract with the power company it's cost me $525.00 . i wouldn't try doing this without approval from the power company, because they can tell when someone feeds into the system power from your smart meter.
Take a big bathroom mirror and make it point the sun at a panel. Tell me how much better it does?
hey over heated bcause to many watts maybe, on a good day they could produce close to 400 wtts,its happened to me here inarizona
We make 8 to 12 Kwhrs off grid per day in the summer and 2 to 5 Kwhrs per day in the winter here in TN off grid. Whole house depends on solar as there is no utility. Starting in Nov,Dec, Jan and some of Feb we use 1/4 gallon of gas at night for those months when the suns not out or 1 gallon of gas per day if it continues the following day of no sun. So 21 days of the year we're burning a little fuel. Math thats roughly $3 a gallon x21 = $63 a year.
Nice information, but the part I am missing is understanding how you have provided safety for the utility linemen, whenever the ‘grid’ has been shut down for repairs?
These micro inverters shut off when there's no power
Great job.
Thanks!
I feel funny loading my roof with panels. How is the wear and tear on your roof? What do roofing companies do with guarantees of the roof material?
Shingles under panels will out last shingles exposed to weather elements...
Since you used that MI per the specifications, did Amazon refund your money?
I didn't send it back 🤷♂️
I want to build a system to offset power outage to keep my freezers and refrigerator operating. Maybe a few lights
WOW ... talk about Deception.