Grid-Tie Inverters with Batteries [RE-wrenches]

[Todd Cory, Mt. Shasta Energy Services]

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Joel,

Here it is a no brainer... our power (Pacificorp) goes out predictably whenever we got a good winter storm. It also blinks, and drops out from time to time in the summer too. I used to be off grid. When I moved closer to town and got grid power again I thought "Ah, back to the easy life", however after never having a power outage off the
grid (unless it was from my working on the system) I realized I had gotten spoiled and resetting the blinking digi clocks every week got old really fast.

Here is the list of our power outages in the recent past:
11-7-02     15 1/2 hours
12-14-02    4 1/2 hours and again later 45 minutes
12-16-02     20 minutes
12-17-02    47 minutes
3-3-03    4 minutes
10-30-03    15 minutes
11-2-03    25 minutes
12-7-03    12 minutes
1-17-04    40 minutes
1-20-04    35 minutes
1-25-04    3 hours and again later 12 minutes
6-28-04    3 minutes

This does not include all the small bumps, just the major outages.

I had been using a grid tied SW4024 for the last 8 years... worked "ok", but 95% of the time it reboot my computer during a grid to inverter transfer. The thing was loud and an huge energy hog, which was especially noticeable during those dark winter months when it ate way more then it ever back-fed. Last month the obsolete gear was
removed and a GVFX3648 installed.

WOW! What an improvement. With no setting tweaking at all, this machine is like our Prius. Smart, efficient, and FAST! I can no longer even tell when there is a grid outage, unless I happen to notice the meter. The phone does not buzz when on inverter power, and the unit is smart enough to shut off when it is not needed. Efficiencies look
to be quite close to the Sunny Boy standard, with the huge advantage of having power when the grid is down. Even without low maintenance (AGM) batteries the decision (around here at least) causes me to never do a grid tie without batteries. Most folks here have private wells, so a grid outage means no winter heat (without a wood stove)
AND no water/ toilets.

Considering the way the grid is stretched and with peak oil at our doorstep, I the reliability of the grid will only get worse.

My .02

Todd



Joel Davidson wrote:

> Wrenches,
>
> I've often said that if we did our grid-tied PV system now, we would use a batteryless inverter instead of our SW4048 with batteries because today's batteryless systems cost less and produce more energy. However, the new grid/battery inverters have me thinking about the value of grid-tie PV with battery backup.
>
> One of PV’s big selling points is personal and national energy security, but if you have batteryless PV system and the grid goes down, so does your PV. According to “The Unruly Power Grid,” the cover story in the August 2004 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine, the grid goes down a lot and really big power outages will continue to happen.
>
> Just how often do power outages really happen? We have had only 3 grid outages since June 1998 totaling 45 hours. Two outages were energy crisis rolling blackouts and one was a neighborhood pole-mounted transformer that burned out.
>
> Those of you with batteryless PV, how many grid/PV outages have you had in how many years? What about your customers? Do you think the new grid-tie inverters with batteries are worth the extra system cost?
>
> Joel Davidson

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