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Forum Index : Windmills : Grid Tie Inverter - no electrician req?
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| Greg Hudson Newbie  Joined: 28/04/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 22 |
G"Day All. I just came across this gadget from Canada - a grid tie inverter that plugs into a normal 240v wall socket (no need for an electrician to wire it in)... Switchable 110v / 240v eBay item # 200338215465 I wonder what the legalities for such a device are? Regards, Greg. |
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| Billy Bloggs Newbie Joined: 28/04/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
A very interesting device. My only quandary is :- is it dollar value per Watt? |
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Bolty Regular Member  Joined: 03/04/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 81 |
If you look at an Australian made Latronics grid connect inverter, a 1000W model can be bought for around $1600. The cost of the Canadian one with freight and imports is much more at around $1700 before Customs. If you wish to connect a 3 pin 240 volt plug to the Latronics, you have an identical system. I am unsure if this is legal, but it used to be said that you can connect anything to the mains through a 3 pin plug! The Latronics has the approved anti-islanding that prevents power being fed back to the grid when mains supplies fail! It is also certified to be connected to the Australian grid. If there was a failure of the imported inverters anti- islanding, and an electric supply person was injured (very unlikely but still possible) the owner of the unapproved grid-connect inverter could face massive litigation. BTW I have no connection with Latronics, other than I bought one of their inverters to use with my grid connect system. I have been very happy with so far...almost 1 year. |
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| Greg Hudson Newbie Joined: 28/04/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 22 |
G'Day Billy. Comparing it to the cost of a Latronics PV Edge 1200, it works out about the same $ per watt. The PVE is 1000w for $2000+ RRP. As I see it, the advantage of the Enviro-Tech is that you can start SMALL with a single unit (at around $500), pumping a max of 250w into the grid. From what I have read on these forums, 250w is more than a generous amount for most people's requirements 'most of the time'. Very few people (I imagine) would be pumping 1000w into the grid very often. (However I'm sure there are exceptions, and in these cases, a Latronics would make sense. Personally, I believe this would be an ideal 'budget' grid tie inverter - and the fact that you don't need to pay an electrician to install it is a BIG bonus. Assuming what Bolty says above is correct, and you CAN add a 3 pin plug to a Latronics and achieve the same result - why don't they (Latronics) do it this way already ? (rhetorical) It would certainly simplify installation. I have already paid for a PV Edge (but not received it yet). I'm going to email Latronics about the 3 pin plug question & see what they say. Note the specs for the Enviro-Tech - it claims to have anti-islanding built in. I have also found some comments on this inverter on another forum: http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2009/1/28/234827/200 I also fail to see why grid tie is so expensive when 'car' inverters are so cheap. See: http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/p_5143_Power_Inverter_300W_ for_Car_DC_12V_in_AC_240V_out Regards, Greg. |
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wind friend Newbie Joined: 01/05/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 39 |
gday greg sparky by trade 2 reasons why grid tie inverters are expensive.1) grid tie inverters need to have a proper sine wave(a bit like looking at corrugated iron on edge)to match in with what we get from our electrcity retailers. where as your car inverter has a thing called modified sine wave which looks like a series of steps. most things will run on this but not your sensitive electronics. the electronics to achieve this is complex. 2) should the power fail, the grid tie inverter needs to be clever enough to isolate itself. take for example a storm where the power lines come down. any electrician reconnecting a house with a dumb inverter will risk electrocution. hope this helps. |
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| Greg Hudson Newbie Joined: 28/04/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 22 |
G'Day again All. I've had a response back from Latronics re adding a 3 point power plug, then plugging the unit into a normal wall socket... They tell me it ILLEGAL due to AS4777 (Australian Standard). Searching the Net for this, I found the standard itself, but we have to PAY to read it !!! See: AS4777 No explanation was given as to WHY it would be illegal, but I guess it would have something to do with certifying the grid connection was OK (or something similar). I assume they (whoever) don't want grid connected inverters popping on to the grid will-nilly (which is fair enough I suppose). So... I guess this is the end of the topic. |
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