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Anybody seen the LA news today?

Rick#7

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That stupid rule is to stop people from accidentally back feeding the grid and killing linemen who may be working on equipment that is de-energized.

However, I’d imagine there are ways to safely allow solar users to continue to use their produced energy safely during power interruptions. Doesn’t make sense to me why it’s not allowed so long as the proper safety measures to limit back feed are in place.
Of course there is. When someone hard wires a backup generator to their house (anywhere other than California), with auto on feature for when the power goes down, there is a required device wired in with the generator where it connects to the main power line at the breaker box. Basically what it does is act like the main breakers, shutting off the house from the grid so power from generator doesn't go out to the grid. When power is restored, the device senses it, shuts off the generator and turns the mains back on reconnecting the house to the grid. There's no reason this same device couldn't be hooked up to a solar array instead of an ICE powered generator, no reason besides political that is.

They aren't that hard to connect either, if you can't find anyone willing to do the labor in CA, just order the device online, and buy a bunch of car batteries with an AC/DC inverter. Hook it up to the main breaker box yourself, and run the power line to the battery bank so it charges during the day when the solar panels are pumping out peak power, then when the power grid shuts off, day or night, the battery bank will kick in like a backup generator. It's not using an ICE generator, and it wouldn't block the power company from stealing your solar generated power during a brown out, so it might even be legal in CA.
 
 




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