Trace gridtied [RE-wrenches]

[Jason Fisher]

Greetings wrenches,

I had a question which is based on:

Kurt Nelson wrote:

> the Trace is left in the LBX mode, which is a lot less efficient than
> grid-tied.
>

Why is this?  I have a bunch of net-metered systems selling away and I'm
not too sure about the performance of the Trace and battery versions.
While the sell mode is the most hands-off and convenient for a grid-tied
backup system, I'm dubious as to how good it is at selling that power.
In the typical system with battery backup, I have a 4 kW or even 5.5 kW
inverter selling around 1.5 kW worth of PV for most of the day.  I've
been planning on setting up a monitored system to get some hard results
but based on what I've witnessed, and what I've heard from others, the
overall efficiency of the unit in this mode seems to be in the 70% range
or so.  I've been considering shying away from the sell mode and using
the LBX mode for clients who are willing to get more hands on with their
system.  This way I can put the inverter back in search mode and be
confident that the PV will be used to its full capacity so long as the
batteries aren't at float.  This also gets rid of that daily float
charge cycle that they set up in the sell mode, this must waste some
juice.  The big drawback is of course that most people want more backed
up loads than the PV they bought can handle on a daily basis but that
could be worked out.  The thing I like about it is that it keeps the
consumption issue out in front, instead of blurring it behind a slightly
smaller utility bill.  I also thought it should be better for the
typical flooded batteries to see some use.  What do you all think?

Keep it up.
--
Jason Fisher

Aurora Energy
86 Conduit St.
Annapolis, MD 21401
USA

Voice/ Fax: 410-268-3088
email: aurora at toad.net


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