Solar System FAQs

Solar Grid Tie Inverter 400W- Grid Power II FAQs Solar Grid Tie Inverter 200W FAQs Other Solar FAQs Solar Grid Tie Inverter 400W- Grid Power II FAQs 1. Can this inverter could be hooked up to a single 12 volt car battery? I have a Isuzu Diesel running on free fuel. If your inverter was fed energy continuously for 12 hours per day, how much could this offset you power consumption? I use Alabama power and my bill runs about $240 per month. Yes, this inverter will work with 12V battery. If the inverter runs at 400W for 12 hours, it will generate 4.8kWh. A typical home in North America usually consumes 30kWh per day. As a side note, if you are using solar panels you will get around 6-8 hours of sunlight in summer (depending on your location). 2. Is linking with the UK grid the same as us rewiring? The wiring to UK grid is the same. However, you might need another AC cable because the one that comes with this inverter is an America standard one. 3. I bought a gp2-400 from you. I was wondering what kind of charge controller would work. Would a 500 watt controller not work? Or must it be exactly 400 watts (the maximum output of gp2-400). A 500W controller would work, but any power above 400W will be wasted. 4. How can you sync the 60 Hz in the US? Also, we have a new PG&E "Smart" Meter that the power company in California doesn't have to read.. It sends the info directly over the power lines.. Will your Grid Tie Inverter actually run the meter backwards and supply us with a check? This inverter has frequency ranging from 46-65Hz. So it will have no problem synchronizing with 60Hz. For digital meters, you have to be careful because some are programmed to be irreversible. However, if you get a starter kit like this, most of the time you will only be lower your electricity consumption instead of sending power back to the grid. You would need more panels to do that. 5. Is there protection for the home's wiring and the Grid Tie Inverter? I assume you mean the amperage capacity of your home wiring? Each inverter will maximally produce around 3.6 amps (110V). A typical home circuit will have at least 15A capacity. You only need to worry about over loading the circuit when you stack 4 to 5 of this unit together. 6. What do you mean by circuit amperage limit-30A? So my limit is only 500W fot 2 inverters? Circuit amperage limit is … how much current your plug can handle. Normal outlets usually can handle 15A. And if you times that by voltage 110V, then that means it can handle around 1650W, which is equivalent to around 4 inverters. 7. I have a question about power outages? Now when the power goes out does it simply overload and blow the fuse? Reason I ask is when the power does go out, I would like to kill my main breaker and soly run nessesary items off my solar/wind supply. When the grid goes down, the inverter will shut off its output, so service man outside wont get electrocuted. You will need a non grid tie inverter if you need power during a black out. Solar Grid Tie Inverter 200W FAQs 1. Am I better off getting a big inverter? Will this unit spin my meter backwards? Since I am not concerned with going off grid and just want to lower my electric bill by a little bit. Yes, when you have enough of this unit it will spin your meter backward. Please note that you save money at the moment the inverter is working; it makes your meter runs slower because you are using electricity that is generated by your solar panels. 2. It is just I am not an electrician and battery cost are still high. And I hate the thought of calling the electric company for permits and hiring a licensed elicitation to set 10 200-watt panels up. Are we better spending 2-3K for a 2500 watt gird tie inverter+ 1-2K for batteries + 1-2K for an electrician to help set it up; or will this? If you have enough of this unit it will spin your meter backward. 10 of these units will be good for your application. Now, I don’t know if your State government will give you a premium buy back rate for electricity generated… usually people will go with the licensed way if they want that premium rate. However, not everyone is prepare to face that upfront cost of “licensed way”. Therefore our product will come in handy and allows you to experiment. Please visit our website at: Greenergy Star Solar Roof Project. This is a solar garage project that we recently complete. 3. If all I have is the wind turbine do I need the big kit or just the two 250W invertors run in parallel? The inverter will need a voltage regulator to keep the input voltage of your turbines at 14-28V (preferably 16-24V). Voltage above 28V will damage the inverter. 4. I am looking for a small inverter that will grid tie but work with a battery backup when the grid fails. Our inverters will shut down when the grid fails. Other inverters will do the same because this is a safety measure to prevent a home owner electrocuting a cable guy who is doing repair in your neighbor. 5. How long can a peak load of 250 watts be sustained? If I tie this to solar panels that may achieve between 200 and 250 watts less than an hour a day will they work? The inverter will works fine. The average reading we have seen is 230W, and it fluctuates between 210W to 250W. 6. They installed easily and worked well until last week. Both of them now have the Fault led on and are not putting out any power. Please check if your breaker was flipped. We’ve had experience that on a stormy day the rain somehow got into the socket and our breaker flipped and thus causing the Red LED to turn on. 7. Can it work with the European 220V AC system, and can a wind turbine be directly connected to it? Yes, this is doable. You will just need a voltage regulator in order to connect the turbine to the inverter. Other Solar FAQs 1. How do solar panels work? Solar panels collect solar radiation from the sun and convert the energy to electricity. They are comprised of solar cells. The more solar cells in a solar panel, the higher the quality they are, and the more total electrical output the solar panel can produce. The conversion of sunlight to usable electrical energy is called the Photovoltaic Effect. 2. How is the quality of different solar cells? There are three cell types: monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous. Cell types differ in terms of their production costs and their different efficiency values. The efficiency values of amorphous cells (thin-film cells) are below those of the other two cell types, but they are cheaper due to the less cost-intensive manufacturing process. 3. How does an inverter work? The inverter is the heart of a solar system. It converts the direct current(DC) generated by the solar cells to alternating current(AC). The role of inverter is to be the interface between two energy sources: the DC network on one side and the AC utility grid on the other side. In addition, an inverter is also responsible for system control and performance optimization. 4. How important is the efficiency of the inverter? We recommend to choose solar inverter based on low energy consumption and high efficiency. The efficiency indicates the percentage of available solar power that is being convertered and fed into your home utility grid. Modern inverters correspond to an overall efficiency of 92 to 96%. 5. What happens when it is cloudy? Solar panels not only harness direct sunlight, but also the diffused light when the sky is overcast. The brighter it is outside, the greater the output of the modules, regardless whether the sun can be seen directly or not. 6. How is the solar rooftop system installed? The most common are on-roof and in-roof installations. The former involves the solar modules being installed above the roof on a mount, while with the latter they are integrated into the surface of the roof. 7. How can solar energy be stored for later use? Most solar energy storage is accomplished through the use of batteries. This can range from a single PV module connect to a car battery (12V DC loads), to very large and sophisticated backup systems. 8. Why Generate your own Energy? What Are The Benefits? Reduce Your Energy Bills You will notice a dramatic reduction in your power bill, often by more than 50% and when you have installed a solar water heater you will know that you are helping to save the planet. Reduce Your Impact On The Environment The United States is the 10th largest emitter of carbon dioxide emissions per capita as of 2004. There are many opportunities to install solar roof systems to help reduce these emissions. Energy from the sun is environmental friendly. It's clean, it doesn't pollute the air. Lower Maintenance And Servicing Costs The technology used is proven and established. Solar panels are very durable, they don't have no moving component parts and so there is very little they can go wrong. There is no need for regular servicing and maintenance is minimal. Reduce Your Dependency On Fossil Fuel Imports The plentiful and free energy from the sun is estimated to be secure for the next 4 billion years. This provide you the peace of mind that a significant proportion of your energy is under your control. Your new source of energy will not increase in price as a result of foreign government actions or the prevailing economic climate.