Hi all,
My first post so please be kind! And sorry this is so long winded, I've been reading and reading but I can't find any straight answers.
We own an agricultural/light industrial estate with about 20 units. Electricity comes from the grid into one main building (which is ours), then splits out in a few 'chains' that feed all the other units over our own electrical infrastructure.
A 3kw solar system was installed a few years ago, it uses Trina 295W panels and a Solis 4G single phase inverter.
It was installed by an electrician and we do not get any payments for the electricity we generate, as it was not installed by a 'registered' installer.
The Solar system is installed on one of the units at the 'far end' of farm, so at the end of one of the 'chains'.
Basically I'm trying to ascertain if excess power that we generate will be used by other units on the farm.
My logic is that all the power has to go somewhere and if we installed a generator (solar) at one end of a chain and we have a grid feed at the other end, then anything in the middle will 'draw' power from both the solar system and the grid?
The inverter is grid tied and I notice that the export limit is set to 0. But, when I look at the Interter panel when generating energy, the Watts shown is often a much higher number than we could possibly be consuming just within the unit it is installed in.
I thought that if excess power was being generated but not 'exported', then the inverter would automatically reduce the power generation to match the local load?
My understanding it that it would change the voltage to a less efficient point on the curve, to reduce generation.
In this scenario, since the incoming grid power is being distributed along various nodes within one chain, I'm inclined to think that the inverter sees any load on the farm as a local load.
Thanks if you've had the patience to read this! I can produce a diagram if it makes it clearer?
I suppose basically I'm unsure as to how the system knows what power goes where and where it comes from! I understand quite a few of the basic principles of AC, but in this practical situation I'm at a loss.
My first post so please be kind! And sorry this is so long winded, I've been reading and reading but I can't find any straight answers.
We own an agricultural/light industrial estate with about 20 units. Electricity comes from the grid into one main building (which is ours), then splits out in a few 'chains' that feed all the other units over our own electrical infrastructure.
A 3kw solar system was installed a few years ago, it uses Trina 295W panels and a Solis 4G single phase inverter.
It was installed by an electrician and we do not get any payments for the electricity we generate, as it was not installed by a 'registered' installer.
The Solar system is installed on one of the units at the 'far end' of farm, so at the end of one of the 'chains'.
Basically I'm trying to ascertain if excess power that we generate will be used by other units on the farm.
My logic is that all the power has to go somewhere and if we installed a generator (solar) at one end of a chain and we have a grid feed at the other end, then anything in the middle will 'draw' power from both the solar system and the grid?
The inverter is grid tied and I notice that the export limit is set to 0. But, when I look at the Interter panel when generating energy, the Watts shown is often a much higher number than we could possibly be consuming just within the unit it is installed in.
I thought that if excess power was being generated but not 'exported', then the inverter would automatically reduce the power generation to match the local load?
My understanding it that it would change the voltage to a less efficient point on the curve, to reduce generation.
In this scenario, since the incoming grid power is being distributed along various nodes within one chain, I'm inclined to think that the inverter sees any load on the farm as a local load.
Thanks if you've had the patience to read this! I can produce a diagram if it makes it clearer?
I suppose basically I'm unsure as to how the system knows what power goes where and where it comes from! I understand quite a few of the basic principles of AC, but in this practical situation I'm at a loss.
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