Micro Inverter Question

spacebiscuit · Thursday at 4:16 PM

Hi - I have a 2kw system with the 'good' feed-in-tarrif - around 2012.

I have acquired a micro inverter and have access to a spare 350w PV panel. Can I add this to my home setup without risking or breaking any rules of the feed in tariff? I don't intend to run it into the generation meter but instead would like it to top up what is available on demand on a daily basis.

I don't want to bend any rules or cheat the system - my logical way of thinking about it is that it has nothing whatsoever to do with my generation or export and therefore it is fine to proceed without jeorpardy?

Thoughts and feedback welcome.

binky · Thursday at 6:15 PM

if its not running through the FiT meter, there's no issue. Legally you should notify DNO of installing extra capacity, but 350W is diddly squat and highly unlikley to cause any issues, so frankly I wouldn't bother, but I didn't tell you that

spacebiscuit · Thursday at 9:45 PM

Aigh exactly - I'm not going to upset the apple cart.

What are the regulations around hooking the inverter up to my household supply. The inverter is an Ecoflow that comes with a wall plug which apparently is not allowed so they also provide a bare wires. Technically I guess it should be on its own cable to the consumer board? That's a pig for me to run the cable, so is there any alternative?

Again - if that max is approx 350w how dangerous is that if it is plugged into a wall socket? A toaster or kettle is pulling 2-3kw and that doesn't require it's own breaker or am I missing something?

Thanks!

binky · Friday at 1:51 PM

Not really dangerous at all. When I first started solar, tapping it into a socket circuit was allowed, although that was changed quite soon after

binky · 2025-01-06T08:41:53+0000

Forgot to say there is one problem with plugging into the mains, the shutdown time of any inverter can be upto 3 seconds, so that can prevent the protection you get from RCDs saving your life. It would be safer to connect into the existing solar circuit after the fit meter.

spacebiscuit · 2025-01-06T08:57:55+0000

Thanks that all I need to hear to give me the motivation to run the cable back to my consumer board.

I guess 2.5mm ring mains cable is sufficient, or could I use 1.5mm lighting cable since max output is 800w?

Presumably plugging into the wall is OK for a quick initial test to ensure the pv and inverter work?

binky · 2025-01-06T18:48:12+0000

plug in for a quick test is fine.

I would run 2.5mm, mostly becuase it won't cost much more and less resistance in the cable will improve energy you get - ok it's fairly marginal, but "every little helps"

Micro Inverter Question

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