legionsolar out of San Jose figures out plug and play.

[SunEagle]

I investigated that pretty thoroughly at least in California and found no regulations that said I could not generate my own power. To be clear, I determined that i must have a building permit for any electrical device, circuits and generating equipment. That generating equipment needs to be UL approved and cannot be configured to back feed the grid. The local building officials in the County of Sonoma and the City of Hermosa Beach, California confirmed this. At least in California and what little I know of Hawaii the jurisdiction of the Power Compny ends at the meter.

If the OP wants to have a pv system but not back feed then they need to get an inverter that will not do that.

[SunEagle]

I assume you are talking about someone with a grid connection who has significantly dropped his consumption of energy from the power company. Do you have any data to back up that statement?

Based on what my friends at a couple of local Florida POCO's, they have a computer system that will alert their staff if the consumption is lower over a period of time then it was for previous months. This alert is there to help them understand what has changed. It is usually followed up with a site visit to check the grid connection systems. If they find anything out of the ordinary they will continue to investigate.

The computer check was put into place when people started to use much more electricity then they had in the past. The reason was usually a "grow house" that consumed a lot more kWh then the customer use to. It also would find if a neighbor was tapping into an outlet through an extension.

It all comes down to meters now being able to record and track unusual usage.

I can only say anyone that tries to install a pv system without a contract with their POCO is taking a chance.

[Ampster]

.....
- If grid tied, you're screwed if discovered by the POCO. The chances of discovery are usually rather high.

I assume you are talking about someone with a grid connection who has significantly dropped his consumption of energy from the power company. Do you have any data to back up that statement?

[Ampster]

Discovering a pv system that back feeds into the grid is only one way a POCO can tell if a system is installed. Another way is that your kWh usage goes down or no longer fits previous usage charts. They then come out to investigate your power connection. If they find a pv system then you are screwed without a Contract.

I investigated that pretty thoroughly at least in California and found no regulations that said I could not generate my own power. To be clear, I determined that i must have a building permit for any electrical device, circuits and generating equipment. That generating equipment needs to be UL approved and cannot be configured to back feed the grid. The local building officials in the County of Sonoma and the City of Hermosa Beach, California confirmed this. At least in California and what little I know of Hawaii the jurisdiction of the Power Compny ends at the meter.

[bcroe]

If you have vampire loading of 600W (everything turned off), your first step should be
to track them down and minimize them. I managed to eliminate 80% of my 300W vampire
loads over a couple years.

After that you could look for loads that could be run directly by the sun. HVAC equipment
is available with this capability. Hang clothes on the line. Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

If you are in the U.S., not having UL cert. is a deal killer.
- If grid tied, you're screwed if discovered by the POCO. The chances of discovery are usually rather high.
- In the event of a fire or other damage traceable to the non UL equipment, your insurance co. will probably disallow any claim.

Why not just grid tie ? That can usually be done for < $600.

Your constant draw of 600 W seems a bit high. You sure about that ? Is this for a residence ?

Add: If your "constant" draw is 600 W, a 300 W system will never cause any feedback to the grid.

[SunEagle]

Discovering a pv system that back feeds into the grid is only one way a POCO can tell if a system is installed. Another way is that your kWh usage goes down or no longer fits previous usage charts. They then come out to investigate your power connection. If they find a pv system then you are screwed without a Contract.

I would at least investigate what a Contract with your POCO costs you and weigh that to the cost of those devices you are looking at which if not UL listed can get you into more trouble with your local code inforcer.

[Bigbillsd]

For a very long time I have been thinking of setting up a 300 watt solar panel and micro inverter and use it to supplement my always on house power usage. My only real concern was my power company states they will shut off our power if they detect watts of power backfeeding the grid without first going thru the netmetering process.

This week I found legionsolar.com and they are selling what I was thinking about making and solved the potential backfeed issue with a power regulator that uses clamp on cores to sense power use from the grid and will automatically shut down any or all their micro-inverters so they will only produce power if they aren't going to backfeed the grid. They sell them in 300 watt increments. After talking to one of their engineers he explained that the regulator shuts off individual inverters to prevent backfeeding. Example you install 900 watts because that is what is always being drawn during sunny hours at your house. But for some reason, say a breaker trips and some of your stuff stops drawing power and now you are using 620 watts, the regulator will shut off just one of the inverters so you cannot produce more than 600 watts. (it will leave 2 providing power) Kind of a sledgehammer approach but it should get the job done. I was hoping it could just tell the inverters to lower their output but that may not be technically possible... .

Its a pretty interesting way to do it. The inverters and regulator talk via WiFi (not your WiFi) The micro-inverters only turn on, if the regulator is sensing enough power is being consumed. The base kit is $599 for 300 watts then you can add extension packs of 300 watts each later up to whatever you require. I am considering pulling the trigger on one of the base units just to see if it really works. My homes constant draw is a little over 600 watts, so if the 300 w kit works out I my get one of the extension units. They suggest you take your always on power draw and multiply that by 1.4 which seems reasonable to me.based on panels only rarely produce the power they are rated for unless you get perfect conditions.. -Bill

PS. I asked about UL listings. They are not there yet.