Will My Solar Pv System Provide Me Power During A Power Failure?
One mistake folks make about a grid-tied solar pv system is that they think the solar panels will supply electricity to their home, during a power failure. This is in most cases not true. The National Electric code section 690.2 provides for the safety of utility linesmen by “islanding” the solar eletric system from the grid during a power outage. It requires that a grid-tied inverter shut down during a power outage and not allow any electricity to flow back onto the grid during an outage.
So, what are you to do? You have a solar pv system% and you are like the rest of the folks out on the grid, with no power in your home. Fortunately, there is an answer. A battery bank is required to be integrated with your solar eletric system in order to continue your electrical usage uninterrupted. This requires a smarter inverter, than the standard issue, as well as some very specially made deep cycle batteries made for this type of peak demand.
If one does a cost analysis on the battery banks, they will quickly see that they are costly and have a much shorter life expectancy than the 40 plus years of life they will enjoy from their solar eletric system. The cheapest battery bank is the grid itself. It gives you back 100% of the energy your system fed to it. It doesn’t cost you a thing to store power in the grid, and use it when you need it. It may actually be more cost effective to integrate a small generator with your solar pv system, for small power failures. Talk to your solar integrator about the options available to you.
One of the upcoming ideas being studied right now is the possibilities of elecric cars being used to power back homes during power grid interruptions. Some of theelecric car could power an average home for up to several days, with their 8kW plus battery banks. It is a pretty cool idea.
There are solar powered stand-alone battery backup power generators, which are commercially available. These can be used to power submersible pumps and refrigerators, during power outages. Additionally, RV and campers could use these to provide some of the comforts of home on their family camping trip.
If you are looking for solar to be your savior in a national emergency or power failure, you are going to have to spend a little bit of that SREC money you are earning. Why not? It is never a mistake to invest in your family’s safety and well-being.
Be sure to contact you local solar integrator, to see what the latest technology has to offer by way of power system back up.
Bloggers that are want to get information about the sphere of suspended ceiling supplies, please visit the URL that was quoted in this line.
