FLOWDIAGRAMOFFIVEDIFFERENTTYPESOFINVERTERSYSTEMS

FIGURE1

Batterybackupwithnosolar.Thisisthemostbasicsystemusefulforoccasionalgridfailures.
Thebatteriesarekeptatfullchargeatalltimesfromthegrid.Thissystemusesasubpanelto
powercriticalloadsduringablackout.Ageneratorcanalsobeinstalledwithatransfer
switchtorechargebatteriesandrunthecriticalloads.Thissystemdoesnotrequireagridtie
inverter.Thissystemdoesnotrequireanagreementwiththeutilitycompanybecauseit
cannotsellbacktothegrid.Itisincapableofsellingbacktothegridwheninstalledproperly.


FIGURE2

Thisisabasicoffgridsystem.Thisdoesnotrequireagridtieinverter.Itcannotsellbackto
thegrid,asthereisnogrid.Thissystemhasaninverter/chargersoitcanrechargebatteries
fromagenerator.Theprimarychargingsourcehereissolar.Thesolarrequiresasolarcharge
controllersuchastheMidNiteclassic.Thissystemcanalsohavewindandhydroasacharging
source,buttheywouldeachrequiretheirowncontroller.

FIGURE3

Thissystemisverymuchlikeanoffgridsystemwithafewimportantdifferences.

Thissystemhasautilityconnectionandthatistheprimarysourceofpower.Thissystemhas
abatterybasedgridtieinverterandsolarpanels.Whenthesunisshining,thesolarpanelstry
topushthevoltageofthebatteriesup.Thegridtieinverterisprogrammedtoonlyallowthe
batteriestogotoapresetvoltage,soallexcesspowerissentouttheacinputterminalsand
offtotheutility.Thismakestheutilitymeterspinbackwards.TheMPPTsolarcharge
controllerdoestwofunctionshere.Itgreatlyimprovestheoutputofthesolararrayovera
PWMcontrolleranditisthefailsafeincasethegridgoesdown.Youstillneedaregulatorto
protectthebatteriesfromoverchargeincasetheutilitygoesdown.Youcanaddagenerator
tothissystemtoextendthetimewhereyouhavepowerduringanoutage.Somebattery
basedgridtieinverterswillnotchargebatteriesfromagenerator,buttheywillallkeepthe
lightsonforthecriticalloadspanelduringanoutageregardlessiftheycanchargeornot.You
canalsohavewindandhydrotochargethebatteriesinasystemlikethis,buteachcharging
sourcedoesrequireitsownchargecontroller.

FIGURE4

Straightgridtie(gridtie).Thisisthemostpopulartypeofsolarsystem.Whenthesunshines,
thegridtieinvertersendspowertotheutility.Mostofthesesystemswillhaveaseparate
utilitymetersotheycantellhowmuchpoweryouarebuyingvs.selling.Thissystemhasno
batteries.Thissystemwillshutdownduringapoweroutageandcannotbylawproduceany
power.Thelightsinthehousewillbeoutduringanoutage.

FIGURE5

Thisisforthosepeoplethatboughtthestraightgridtiesystemandwereshockedtofindout
thelightswentoutduringapoweroutage.ThissystemshowsSMAequipment,butitcanuse
anystraightgridtieinverter.Thebatterybased(nongridtie)inverterworksbackwardsas
thebatterychargerandpassesthepowertotheutilityfromthegridtieinverter.Whenthe
utilitypowergoesdown,thebatterybasedinverterdisconnectsfromthegridandstarts
poweringthebackedupcriticalloadspanel.Ageneratorcanbeaddedtothissystemwitha
transferswitch.Thegridtieinvertercouldbegettingpowerfromsolar,windorhydro.The
batterybasedinverterdoesntcarewherethepowercomesfrom,butitmustbecapableof
backfeedoperation.OutBack,Magnum,SchneiderXWandSMAbatterybasedinvertersare
theprimechoiceforthebatterybasedcomponent.TheSMASunnyBoy/SunnyIsland
combinationisthebestsystembecauseitwasdesignedforACcoupling.Alltheotherbattery
basedinvertersandgridtieinvertershaveshortcomingsthateithercauseextrapartstobe
installedorhavebatterychargingissues.Theycanallworkjustfinethough.