Solar panels with micro inverters, Yea or Nay

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billfeliciano

billfeliciano

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
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9
Location
Florida
Hi all,

hope this the best place to post this question.

I am thinking of adding solar panels and have been reading all the info I can find on the forum and elsewhere on the Net, been reading about panels with micro inverters built or added in and was wondering if this would be a good thing to set up on my RV.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.


 
I would reserve judgement until I know more about the specifications of those type panels.

They might have more of an application in a single use type of device such as a dedicated panel for a small usage A/C product.

In general the advantages of solar as it is traditionally configured is that it can charge up a battery or bank of batteries and therefore provide DC power for items such as lights and can also provide the energy thru an invertor to power A/C devices.

Another issue is that by using the DC output into the batteries they will charge anytime that the panel is exposed to light and will continue to charge the batteries.  A panel with a built in invertor might not have power without light shining on the panel.
 
Nay, most if not all micro inverter solar panels I have seen use grid sync inverters, not stand alone inverters, so they can only be used to peak shaving when connected to the electric grid and are useless in off grid applications the way people use solar panels in RV's.
 
The big drawback on any type of 120v inverter panel is that it is instant-use power. If you don't have current 120v demand, the only way to store the power is operate a battery charger, which means conversion to 12vdc anyway. With commensurate power loss.  An inverter panel is useful when you are trying to meet current 120v demand, thus the grid sync function that Isaac described.  Not good if what you want to to store power for later use, e.g. evening, or repalce power previously used (charge batteries).
 
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