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Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:01 pm
by ALAN/ALAN D
Hello Ladies / Gents.

Any suggestions for a grid inverter that can limit / stop power export.

I only have it running if the batteries are charged. It works well.


I have got one of these. Still working.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402479496014 ... 01&mkevt=1

Other places selling them have got this on the web page.

Most of the customers' faults are the use of batteries. Because the inverter has been working at high power and high current.

It is recommended to set the discharge power of the inverter to prevent the inverter from running at full load all the time. Any electrical equipment will be prone to failure if it works at full load for a long time. Because the internal heat will be more serious.

One would think if its designed for 1 Kw it should do it 24 hours a day.

I am fitting another battery system down the road.

Any suggestions for an inverter that shuts down if power is being put into the grid. ?

Many thanks.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:49 pm
by GRUMPY
hello gents
im going along the same route as yourself
I have ordered 16 lifeP04 batteries.
Any ideas about inverter type that will not send any power up the Grid.
I just want it to cover my house use.
If the suns not out When the house is using 2000w or more the batteries are used.
When house is using 200w batteries are used.
When house is using 0w the batteries are not used
I also wanted the Inverter to charge the batteries as well if possible
does any one know anything about this as i am new to this forum and need a bit of help in the right direction

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:03 pm
by dangermouse
Ooh a widowmaker :)

I think most hybrid inverters have an export limiting feature..
Certainly my sofar hyd 3600 has a thing called 'anti reflux' in the menu, which claims to do just that. I've never enabled it because I've never seen a reason to limit export, even if I'm not getting paid for it. I might experiment next time the sun shines.

I suppose limiting the power flowing through the inverter might increase its life, I've never seen anyone suggest this could be a problem though.

However a 3.6kW inverter exporting about 1-2 kW is not running anywhere near its limit. But that little blue model is a lot cheaper than most (all?) 3.6 hybrids.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:10 pm
by nowty
Pretty much most decent branded battery or hybrid inverters do this, they don't shut down, just throttle back to zero.

An example is a Sofar ME3000SP, but many other brands do the same, Lux, Solis, Goodwe, etc.

They have a cable clamp which is usually clipped onto one of the meter tails, therefore can sense whether the house is importing or exporting and discharges the batteries to keep the grid point as close to zero import / export as possible.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:25 pm
by dangermouse
Did I misunderstand the question? I thought OP was talking about not exporting excess solar, but actually they're asking about not needlessly discharging batteries to the grid?

In which case, yeah, what nowty said. Although the adjustment isn't going to be perfect and you'll always lose a tiny amount of power to export, but it's not really significant.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:42 pm
by nowty
I was answering GRUMPY's question but some hybrid inverters (solar PV + battery combo) are capable of doing the same with export limitation.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:46 pm
by Stinsy
My inverter has the ability to set the maximum grid export. It also has a “fast zero export” setting for jurisdictions where you are not permitted to export (not that our DNOs would accept that) I’d guess that most modern inverters have similar settings.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:53 pm
by GRUMPY
Hi gents
Many thanks for your information on this subject
Much appreciated

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2023 9:15 am
by NikoV6
My Solis inverter is G99 & G100 compliant, means it can be restricted to a set export value (In our case DNO agreed 3.6kw) by CT clamp and will shut off completely if CT fails.

Re: Grid inverter that shuts down if exporting power to grid

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2023 9:31 am
by Ken
I thought he was asking the question so that he could run in an island state when the grid failed, ie not export and kill the repair team.