Installing solar panels on your home or business is common in many European countries. But they really come into their own during energy crises.
“If you’ve got a solar roof on your home and you’ve got a battery then, depending on how much energy you can generate, you are substantially insulated from importing electricity,” explains Matthew Clayton, CEO of UK-based Thrive Renewables.
Dynamic tariffs are becoming more common in Europe. This is where the price of electricity varies throughout the day and night, with costs going up during peak periods, like dinner time, when households are using more.
This means that if you store up solar power during daylight hours, when the sun is at its strongest, then you can use that energy, rather than drawing it from the electricity grid, during the most expensive periods. “Your relationship with the grid is totally changed,” says Clayton.
What people never seem to realize is that the most popular solar panel + inverter + battery configurations do not work when the grid goes down. Newer systems often have 1-2 outlets that are dedicated as “works with grid failure”.
This is by design so maintenance workers don’t get electrocuted working on lines that are thought to be unpowered.
You need special inverters with built in grid detection and independent frequency generation AND a switch between your meter and your house so that it will dynamically start/stop grid tying (or at least have a manual DPDT/DP4T high amp switch.
Um… wouldnt it already have all that stuff? How would it cleanly switch to grid power once the batteries are drained.
Is that true? My system and everyone I know who has one all work fine with the grid goes down. I lose 220v outlets but I only have a couple things on that.