Plug in solar

[ericmark]

I was thinking of getting ours converted to work off grid - would seem daft to be sitting here in the dark dring a power cut with 20 solar panels and two full batteries - but that is exactly what would happen. and in an ever more uncertain world with a more uncertain climate - we cant rule out power cuts

At what cost? My inverter was designed to have an EPS system, so all it needed was a SWA from the inverter outside house to kitchen. Very little extra cost.

But to fit a new inverter to get an EPS, that's not cheap. So one of these may be more valve for money, not looking at that one in particular, 1500W AC Input, Full Charge in 56 Minutes, 1800W output, 3600W surge beyond limits is what it says, a new 3.2 kWh battery for my solar is nearly £1000 well more fitted.

Be it with or without direct solar input, one shown will take 1000 watts of solar, the rub comes, how do you connect that output to the home?

Well before we moved, I looked at the idea of EPS, (EPS basic same as UPS, but the change over is a little slower) lights is easy enough to remove from consumer unit, and plug them into a socket wired from where the lights were fed, so you can move all lighting to be supplied from the EPS. But, I have an 8 bulb chandelier in living room, so 50 watt for just one light, do I want so much light in a power cut? And the socket circuits could need more than the inverter can give.

So the question is, what would you run from an EPS? We have just central heating and freezers, we have a spare socket, so an extension lead with an up-lighter would be quick and easy, but the old battery pack only 300 watt output, but it would run an up-lighter with a 12 watt bulb for 12 hours, so why run cables or mess around with EPS?

It could recharge from car or the spare 13 amps EPS socket, so how far do we go to give emergency light?

I have batteries removed from cars, not good enough to run a car any more, but will power a light, and a mobility scooter with 2 x 35 Ah lead acid batteries, so a simple lead, croc clips to cig lighter sockets, will charge phones with the car USB adaptor, and run anything which would work in the car.

I would like some more emergency torches, the type which auto light with a power cut, but to date, had power cuts, but not long enough to have needed the EPS for freezers.

We have a suitcase type camping gas stove, and all in all, that would be the biggest problem, we also have a single ring induction hob at 2 kW, which would run off our existing EPS.

So the biggest problem, is to find them in a power cut.

I could switch off the front of house sockets, at the double pole RCBO, and make a widow maker extension lead EPS to front of house sockets, but I have no intension of doing that. In the main, as knowing me, I would forget to turn something off.

 

[ebee]

Eric, just to clarify, what does EPS mean? I imagine it might mean Emergency Power Supply as in say a seperate lighting circuit or 3 to act similar to an Emergency light in a power cut but perhaps with manual or say PIR switching etc of some type.
I might be wrong though (it has been known)

 

[SUNRAY]

I was thinking of getting ours converted to work off grid - would seem daft to be sitting here in the dark dring a power cut with 20 solar panels and two full batteries -

A friend of mine had exactly that situation when the pole route was demolished, he tried hooking a cheap modified sine wave inverter into the system and it was enough fool the PV inverter.

but that is exactly what would happen. and in an ever more uncertain world with a more uncertain climate - we cant rule out power cuts