There is a YouTube video where a guy tested how many amps are required before a fire starts and it was like 70 iirc. 30 amps didn’t even get the wires hot. I’m not sure that’s true after several hours of continuous usage of multiple space heaters plus plug in solar, for example. It’s not a risk I would even entertain but I think the real risk is pretty low.
It could be that easy but it would serve you well to dig a little deeper into your energy usage to optimize the system. If your base load is around 250w/hr and you produce the full 1200 then you sending almost 1kwh back to the grid for free meaning you bought an extra 2 panels for nothing.
If your baseload is high, like 2kw/hr or more if you have an ev charger or pool pump or whatever but that load is mostly on the other phase then it is essentially the top scenario again. (There are two phases, L1 and L2 in the US so if ev charger is L2 and your plug in solar is L1 then there is no offset).
The ideal system will have a battery and a smart meter so you can really offset usage as much as possible and especially during on-peak time.
I pray California is NOT the future of the US. I say that as a resident of the state. All those links you posted are great but I think only Hawaii has higher electricity prices that California? And Texas already has more wind and solar than California despite not giving any f*cks about the environment? Nah, US needs less California bs.
Plug in batteries where the battery itself is cheap af (like Australia) and the ability to charge it for free from the grid exists (like Australia) are a no brainer. When batteries are expensive and grid electricity is not free (the entire US) then it doesn’t really pencil out and requires the plug in solar but that has to be cheap too. Think used panels off Facebook marketplace type cheap. Like I don’t care about offsetting a portion of my energy for free with a 7-10 year payback. Plug in systems should pay for themselves in less than 2 years IMO.
Behind the meter yes but the meter does still need to be a smart meter and programmed correctly otherwise you could get billed for any extra power that is exported to the grid.
People still actually pay attention to global warming forecasts? Err I mean climate change. I’m not a denier, in fact I’m quite a believer though not quite 100%, prolly closer to 80-90%. I mean the climate certainly changed a lot before humans. But count me out on people predicting 1.76 degrees higher next year…
Bumping up against current limits on the wiring and the inverter, sadly. Not sure how important that is, if the inverter refuses to pull more than that, though. The structure of our current wiring layout is also just more amenable to adding more in series.
Yeah the only code compliant way this is possible is if an additional sub panel is installed and maybe/probably a transfer switch that needs to be manually pulled in order to disconnect the sub panel from the main panel. Possibly OP is confused about running in zero export mode? Would love to hear how we could be wrong…
Yeah the truth is much closer to your experience than OP but, especially in California, there is a non-zero amount of people passing inspection but waiting a long time for the poco to give approval. Most delays don’t seem to be related to additional requirements but rather the poco just dragging its feet…
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