Off-the-grid with grid-tie inverter?

Xringer · 08-18-11, 02:11 PM

My GTI experiments have been terminated, after my last mishap with a new inverter.

This summer, I purchased a Chinese 48vdc 1500w 120vac 60hz Pure SineWave inverter.
The PowerJack specs said it would do 3,000w peak load.
I found it would beep and shut down, when my new dehumidifier compressor came on.
Sometimes, it would come back on, and sometimes, it would stay off.

So, I decided to try beef up the sinewave output by adding the 1200 GTI output to the 1500w Sinewave inverter.
Wow, 2700 watts total.. But, not really. Since the 1200w GTI was connected to 800w of panels. (4 in parallel).

Anyways, it worked fine for hours. Then suddenly the (PowerJack?) AC voltage started increasing.
It hit about 150 vac, in a matter of seconds. Before I could kill the load,
the Sinewave inverter popped it's fuses (and/or transistors), gave off a little puff of smoke and died.
I have not taken the time to open it and survey the damage.

Anyways, my curiosity about tricking GTIs hasn't been cheap to satisfy..
I did learn it's possible, but maybe too tricky for the average hacker.

Cheers,
Rich

08-18-11, 02:11 PM	#11
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	A cautionary tale My GTI experiments have been terminated, after my last mishap with a new inverter. This summer, I purchased a Chinese 48vdc 1500w 120vac 60hz Pure SineWave inverter. The PowerJack specs said it would do 3,000w peak load. I found it would beep and shut down, when my new dehumidifier compressor came on. Sometimes, it would come back on, and sometimes, it would stay off. So, I decided to try beef up the sinewave output by adding the 1200 GTI output to the 1500w Sinewave inverter. Wow, 2700 watts total.. But, not really. Since the 1200w GTI was connected to 800w of panels. (4 in parallel). Anyways, it worked fine for hours. Then suddenly the (PowerJack?) AC voltage started increasing. It hit about 150 vac, in a matter of seconds. Before I could kill the load, the Sinewave inverter popped it's fuses (and/or transistors), gave off a little puff of smoke and died. I have not taken the time to open it and survey the damage. Anyways, my curiosity about tricking GTIs hasn't been cheap to satisfy.. I did learn it's possible, but maybe too tricky for the average hacker. Cheers, Rich