Grid tie a portable solar power station to house

fluffykre

I came across this video here where they use a inverter and well known solar power station which is capably of solar charging.The power stations has LiFePO4 so lots of charge cycles. From a point of view of buying one for ROI its hard to justify. However I was thinking having one of these with a external panel maybe useful just incase we do get some kind of instability on the grid or could be used for camping or outdoor events. If you have grid tie you have solar you could charge it during peak solar times or connect a compatible solar panel to charge it off its own solar panel during the day. Once you have one of these its best to use it instead of it sitting in a corner.

Alot of us have grid tie systems, we have a NC6 so we can export. One could buy a small grid tie inverter like the one in the video and release the energy in the evening when the sun goes down. The inverter in the video appears to be around 100 euro on aliexpress.

Ideally one would buy a proper battery setup with a me3000sp, thats bigger money if you are getting a SEAI solar installer in. You cant charge the batterys when the grid is down (rare) or bring those the home batteries with you if you need some power away from your house. I think these portable solar stations have their use. It maybe fun to expand its use and power some of your usage in your house in the evenings.

My concerns would be the grid tie inverter used to send energy into the house may not be of high quality sine wave and damage some electricity in the house like a fridge or TV when they are running. Not sure how valid a concerns that is?

What are peoples thoughts. Taking out the "return on investment" out of the equation (say you buy one for backup power source) if you have one of these stations you could cycle it and fulfill part of your base load in the evening. These power stations are becoming cheaper and more accessible and come in difference sizes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYWjAZI2ess

graememk

A grid tied inverter, is a grid tied inverter, it has to match the grid waveform. So it should work.

Can't watch the video right now though to see what inverter it is.

Although at £650 for 0.7kwh it's not bad for portable storage. And the big battery banks have their place and are very useful.

But using it to replace the grid for 10-14c a day.. I'll leave that up to you. I'd rather it full for emergencies.

the_amazing_raisin

I think graemek made a good point about ROI, but I also agree batteries are there to be used

If you're looking for a way to reduce your consumption and justify a portable power generator then I'd be looking at something that uses a long extension lead and see if this can eliminate that

One problem with a lot of these portable power stations is they don't supply a lot of instantaneous power. So you might struggle to run some high powered equipment off of it like lawnmowers, cookers or kettles

Given the hot weather, one potential application would be to charge it with solar during the day and use it to power a fan or air conditioner during the evening

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330023#Comment_119330023

I'd agree to run something from it cutting out the extension leads, would be perfect in a shed that you don't have power to, charge batteries, run some lights etc

Run one of them infrared panels in the evening

But use it as a portable "generator" (I hate that name.. it's a battery!!)