EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Off-the-grid with grid-tie inverter?

gbbengi · 08-18-11, 11:26 AM

Hello all,

First post! Yup, I'm a newbie!

So, here is the deal. I built myself a small sweet little battery back up bank. I am currently disconnected from local utilities, so I am technically "off grid".

Here is my video: Never mind, it wont let me post my you tube video. But if you want to find it, go to you tube, and in the address bar add this "watch?v=_Ryw-6R0l9o"

I was looking into purchasing one of the tie in inverters and "tricking it" into thinking I am on grid, I don't need it to do much, basically just power on bathroom lights when needed, and also outside lights for a couple hours per night so it looks like I have power to my neighbors! LOL

(every bulb in my place is 10 watt energy star spiral)

I do have a smaller set of solar panels which I will be adding to next week, also will be getting a small wind turbine.

What is the easiest way to set it up so that I can minimally use the household wiring that I would normally be using everyday anyway? I thought about the "suicide cable" and turning all circuits off but one and putting a protective harness on the extra male end to keep it plugged in, but I was told this could still start a fire through reverse polarity, hence the reason I was looking to use the GTI-because it has reverse polarity protection.

Thanks for any help I can get!

08-18-11, 11:26 AM	#30
gbbengi Lurking Renovator Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 5 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	working on my off grid Hello all, First post! Yup, I'm a newbie! So, here is the deal. I built myself a small sweet little battery back up bank. I am currently disconnected from local utilities, so I am technically "off grid". Here is my video: Never mind, it wont let me post my you tube video. But if you want to find it, go to you tube, and in the address bar add this "watch?v=_Ryw-6R0l9o" I was looking into purchasing one of the tie in inverters and "tricking it" into thinking I am on grid, I don't need it to do much, basically just power on bathroom lights when needed, and also outside lights for a couple hours per night so it looks like I have power to my neighbors! LOL (every bulb in my place is 10 watt energy star spiral) I do have a smaller set of solar panels which I will be adding to next week, also will be getting a small wind turbine. What is the easiest way to set it up so that I can minimally use the household wiring that I would normally be using everyday anyway? I thought about the "suicide cable" and turning all circuits off but one and putting a protective harness on the extra male end to keep it plugged in, but I was told this could still start a fire through reverse polarity, hence the reason I was looking to use the GTI-because it has reverse polarity protection. Thanks for any help I can get!