this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 4 months ago (28 children)

Not mentioned in the article is that these systems are still illegal in the US.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (12 children)

do you know why they're illegal? is there some danger to them?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

FTA:

The so-called plug-in systems involve routing the direct current generated by the panels to an inverter, which converts it to an alternating current. They can then be plugged into a conventional wall socket to feed power to a home.

So, yeah, almost certainly illegal in pretty much any grid-powered home in the US.

The basic problem is that if the grid power goes down the inverter can back-feed the grid enough to electrocute the people who are working to fix it.

Utilities require an approved isolation system of some kind that prevents that happening. They are pretty strict about this for various other technical and political reasons too, but evidently it is mostly a safety concern.

I've got some good locations at home for panels, and about 500W in panels that I use for camping, but the equipment I'd need to handle easily and safely consuming the power at home is kind of expensive (just running an inverter and a battery for an isolated system is easy enough, I've got all that, but it's not cheap to seamlessly connect it to my home power system). Would love to have a safe and approved system like what is described in the article.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago

Balcony solars are not able to back feed since they need the grid to synchronize, if you want one that is able to work in "island mode" you still need approval from the grid provider/one that isnt connected with the schuko connector.

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