Comments on: Plug & Play Solar In Germany

By: Benni Söder

Benni Söder — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:59:00 +0000

i don’t think you can compare plugging in a television with plugging in the solar panel. TV takes energy from the electric system, but solar p & p feeds the electricity into teh system. that’s a lot more dangerous. for any german users, who are interested in this field: http://www.energie-tipp.de/neue-energie/sonne/4161201. it discusses the problem extensively.

cheers.

By: RemoteSolarIsolator

RemoteSolarIsolator — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:23:00 +0000

But the solar panels are still generating power. Why not fully isolate each panel from a flick of a switch or when the mains are turned off.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:57:00 +0000

i’m leaving this piece of trolling spam up simply because it is so hilarious. thanks for the laugh.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:52:00 +0000

It’s my understanding that the Queensland government bending to pressure under the rising cost of renewable energy passed on to private households without renewable energy, which has caused an increased electricity cost over 17%.from rooftop solar power alone this year. Queensland government Campbell Newman table a report last week stating that houses which have installed rooftop grid connected solar power have been taking advantage of the system, and most likely able to afford to pay their power bills, therefore the government considering to tax rooftop solar power like that in Germany, solar power solidarity tax, after recent field trip to Germany.

It is most likely that solar power solidarity tax will come into effect by the end of this year in order to stop the electricity cost from blowing out.

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 07:38:00 +0000

This is Australia we’re talking about. It can cost more to have your Sydney house cleaned for eight hours than to buy a new inverter. The sensible thing for Australians to do with their solar inverters is nothing. If it fails within its 10 year replacement warranty you get it replaced for free. If it fails outside of warranty you pay for a new one. If you don’t have the money to buy a new one then you stack groceries on a supermarket shelf for $23 an hour until you do have enough money. Or you do what I do and steal deposit bottles from people’s recycling. Either way, there is no way the typical Australian has the time or knowledge to do anything worthwhile with their inverter. As for paying someone to come and maintain it, that doesn’t make sense because two maintenance trips could equal the cost of a new inverter.

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 02:44:00 +0000

Any solar micro-inverter would have to cut off if the voltage was too high to be sold in Australia. I really doubt that wouldn’t be the case in Germany as well.

By: Karl-Friedrich Lenz

Karl-Friedrich Lenz — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 01:37:00 +0000

I am no specialist on the technical side of electricity security. But what I’ve read is that you can actually cause a fire with these Plug & Play solar panels, if you put a lot of effort into it.

The problem comes from the fact that the panels will feed power to the house circuit behind the circuit breakers. If you have more than 10 Plug & Play solar panels hooked up in line, this additional power may be enough to overheat wires, without a circuit breaker to automatically stop the flow of power.

On the other hand, if plugging in one single 245 W solar panel is enough to overheat the wires, the circuit breaker is clearly running without the necessary safety margin.

Anyway, these issues of safety are important. Makers of Plug & Play panels need to address them. Of course, unsafe products need to be kept from the market by adequate regulation, just as with every electric appliance around.

By: Antonio IPC

Antonio IPC — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:56:00 +0000

Of course the inverter needs to be serviced just like any thing; regular inspections need to take place to see whether the PCB and its componentry are failing to excessive voltage damage. I have these in my workshop on a regular basis blown-up; most grids tied inverters fail all because too high voltage DC Damage exposed to the elements dust and water, in some cases cockroaches had made their home inside them.

By: dkatsis

dkatsis — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:33:00 +0000

Any grid-tied inverter is fair game for plug and play. Inverters meant for solar (with a UL or ETL sticker) are going to be safe for utility workers because they are tested to strict standards for safety. The main problem is HIGH VOLTAGE DC. So use a low voltage inverter like one of the many enphase micros or low-voltage Athena Energy string inverters to keep you safe from the DC-side. I dont know why an inverter needs to be “serviced” every three months either, maybe to clean the dust off of it?

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 10:31:00 +0000

Yes! I am the Omitting Negligence! Bow down before my might!

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 10:29:00 +0000

I’m looking at an inverter right now and wondering just what you could possibly do to it when you service it. It does have both male and female sockets.

By: Luke

Luke — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:48:00 +0000

And could you assume that your grid inverter is safe? When was the last time you got someone to maintenance your inverter or a service? I service my grid inverter every three months as to the Australian standard compliance ruling. I have log book maintenance reports records, to comply under the rules professional electronic engineers technicians perform all my maintenance requirements to comply with the Australian standard. I must assume that you don’t do these things if you’re concerned about what is legal, or understand your position under the contract which you would be assign, as the assignee under the agreement to export electricity back into the grid.

Luke

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:14:00 +0000

Are you an omitting negligence that grid tied solar systems inverters lift up the voltage dangerously high which caused damage to neighbours equipment. Since when the solar panels cut out, are you applying their short-circuit within the solar array panels when the voltage is too high leading to house fires.

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:32:00 +0000

I don’t really see how reporting ‘plug and play’ solar would really tell electricity retailers anything they don’t already know from looking at what’s happening to the grid. And will people have to report their plug and play solar each time they move? Or even each year when they dust it off and plug it in for the summer? If the voltage rises too high then the panels should cut out so the only real danger should be people not getting any benefit out of them at times.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:29:00 +0000

I’d think at this point all utility workers would assume that all lines are hot unless they are holding both ends in front of them in good light.

There are so many ways of getting power onto the grid other than what comes from the utility itself that I don’t see how anyone would even start to assume a line is dead simply because they cut it off between them and the utility. Even a line which has been checked and found dead might suddenly spring to life when someone cranked up their portable generator.

By: doug card

doug card — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Not if they are corectly trained

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:39:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe it would be legal to sell them if they didn’t shut down.

By: sola

sola — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Plug & Play systems DO pose a threat to the utility workers if they don’t automatically shut down when the mains power is cut off for maintenance. Grid-tie inverters do this automatically.