Battery Operation for basic understanding

[gazoo]

Sunrun told me that the batteries would power up both the backup panel and the regular panel when Edison is up and running. it only powers the backup panel when Edison is down. is this correct? would anyone have a diagram or information on this?

[SunEagle]

Depending on the wiring of the system, usually only the backup panel should be powered by the batteries

[azdave]

I would guess that it is a peak-shaving arrangement where the fully charged batteries may be called into service during high TOU periods, even when the grid is up because grid power is most expensive then. If there was a grid outage then it makes sense to only power the essentials wired to the backup panel.

Sorry I don't have a diagram or more details for the OP. I only have the simplest grid-tie system using a single inverter.

[scrambler]

Typically, the Hybrid inverter is connected on one side to the Backup (critical loads) panel, and on the other side to the Main panel / grid.
When the grid is up, there is usually a passthrough between both, that allows both circuits to communicate. So when the grid is up, power from the inverter AND the grid flow both to the critical load panel and the main panel.

When the grid goes down, the connection between the inverter and the main panel / grid is interrupted, and the only connection that remains is between the Inverter and the critical load panel.