Interesting reason for not using an extension lead with Plug-in Solar

[boringoldcodger]

There may well be good reasons for not using an extension lead with plugin solar, but is this one of them?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/plug-in-solar/#:~:text=Standard%20household%20extension%20cables%20are,with%20a%20long%20enough%20cable.

At (admittedly, currently) limited to 800 Watts I'd have thought almost any extension lead would be OK.

 

[flameport]

No.

Best case it's someone who read somewhere that extension cables can overheat when wound up or used with high loads such as EV charging for long periods and somehow jumbled that up into them not being suitable for solar.
Or more likely is AI slop.

 

[JohnD]

"Standard household extension cables are designed to send power, not receive it, so they could become dangerously hot."

Cables are not clever enough to know which way power is travelling

 

[BS3036]

It's frightening that any educated person should make such a statement. The only reason I can think of not to use an extension cable is if its resistance is high enough that the voltage drop causes the inverter to see a voltage higher than its cutoff voltage.

 

[JohnD]

It's frightening that any educated person should make such a statement.

Some people consider Boris Johnson to be educated.

 

[IJWS15]

"Standard household extension cables are designed to send power, not receive it, so they could become dangerously hot."

Cables are not clever enough to know which way power is travelling

I guess these people think cable has an arrow on it so the factories making up extension leads know which end to fit the plug onto.

 

[ebee]

They might be mistaking Wattless Power for Powerless Watts I suppose

 

[Collectors]

What's a standard extension cable?. I have nothing under 1.5mm blue artic cable rated @ 16A 3.3KW. But it could be 0.5mm RATED & 3A 700w. Either one i would want to run to long at there ratings.

 

[ebee]

Yes you`d have to make sure that the extension(s) are up to the job ref current and length and uncoile where appropriate and especialy because potentially they could run for quite a while but most bog standard ones (on their own) are rated around 13A uncoiled and 6A ish wound up.
Providing you get proprietary make and follow those instructions supplied with them and do not daisy chain a few together should be OK.

Anyone who makes their own would probably be inclined to make one using 1.5 flex but could at a push run up to 2.5 flex with care and decent brands of plugs and trialling sockets and know the max length accordingly and stick under it.

But we all know of people who will inevitably use twin bellwire flex = fluroescents of old were run like that by some who declared "it does not have an earth but it still works so no problem!"
You reply - "It does not need an Earth to work but YOU need it to have an Earth for YOU to continue to work properly or you might conk out!" and you know they will still carry on regardless and because they are still alive it proves their point in their own minds.

 

[JohnD]

What's a standard extension cable?. I have nothing under 1.5mm blue artic cable rated @ 16A 3.3KW. But it could be 0.5mm RATED & 3A 700w. Either one i would want to run to long at there ratings.

I thought I heard these plug-in panels were around 800W max.

 

[SimonH2]

"Standard household extension cables are designed to send power, not receive it, so they could become dangerously hot."

And then goes on to say that you can get extension cables for the job.
There's no such thing as a "standard" household extension cable - there are many different types with different ratings. Other than leaving one coiled up, then provided it has the right fuse it shouldn't be possible to overheat it - either the fuse or breaker will trip.

Cables are not clever enough to know which way power is travelling

And in any case, it changes direction 100 times a second

 

[ebee]

Yes the power company sends electrons out to you then in less than a blink of the eye it pulls them back again and then repeats again and again and each time they charge you for the same electrons and you never get to keep them.
Its a con!

 

[ericmark]

I look at my lead sets, as to if classed as an extension lead I don't know, the longest one was to comply with BS 7671:2008 with A plug complying with BS EN 60309-2, and a flexible cord or cable of 25 m (±2 m) length, harmonized code designation HOSRN-F (BS 7919) or equivalent, incorporating a protective conductor, with a colour identification and 2.5 mm² which was used to supply my caravan. Blue outer to show 230 volts. But I have at least two cable reels and an outdoor extension lead with sealing flaps, never really understood why, as in use one needs to lift the flaps, and when not in use, it is rapped up and stored indoors, but that one two thick for a reel, and uses a cable tidy, and then there are all the cables for lawn mower etc, which have two pin connectors.

I am sure most households are the same, plus two of the three outside sockets are on a plug and socket in the house, so they can be isolated should water get in, not really a lead, as in SWA and never moved, but it plugs in like an extension lead.

However, the main point, is the plug-in-solar has many conditions which it does not really need to comply with to make it safe. And the more writting, the less likely a user will read it.

I have battery powered electric drills which are supplied without a battery or charger, but the instructions tell you how to wire a plug, the result is you just scan read, and miss all the safety bits, as most is waffle and does not apply to item bought. On the other hand, the instructions for the garden chipper are very important.

Personally I would question if a 4 way extension lead is used, how will the other items plugged in react with the solar inverter? I simply don't know, so better not to use an extension lead.

 

[SimonH2]

Personally I would question if a 4 way extension lead is used, how will the other items plugged in react with the solar inverter? I simply don't know, so better not to use an extension lead.

They'll react the same way as if they were in the next socket on the wall. So that's no reason not to use an extension.

 

[ericmark]

They'll react the same way as if they were in the next socket on the wall. So that's no reason not to use an extension.

If I plug something in which causes the plug-in solar to not disconnect in the required time then it would matter.

I can guess how the plug-in solar detects disconnection, but it is only a guess.

So lets say for example I have a grind stone plugged in, the weight of the stones will keep it revolving for a little time, and the back EMF can give you a nasty shock if you touch the plug before it has stopped revolving, but likely they will not revolve for too long, so one would need to be quite unlucky to get a shock from the plug, but if that back EMF causes the plug-in solar inverter to think it is still connected, it may extend the time.

Either it would cause the voltage to raise until 253 volts is reached and then turn off, or it could delay it until the voltage has dropped to 216 volts, before turning off, could extend the time before the extension lead plug is safe to touch. It may detect the speed out of range, but the idea is that a solar array will shut off fast with loss of grid but not with just a dip in the grid, if a large load coming online auto-disconnected all solar inverters, it could cause a chain reaction and loss of whole grid.

We have seen the experiments, with both high and low loads, and although it will decay fast with a high load, it has been found low loads specially rotating loads, can delay the turn off.

This is where experiments by the likes of efixx can give one a false sense of security, one would not expect anything else but it to disconnect with a SDS drill in parallel, but what about sheep shearing clippers sharpening disc, I remember the clippers would stall our generator, but if we ran the sharpening disc first, this would allow the clippers to start up without it causing the generators field to collapse.

The real problem is, we simply don't know what would happen.