Grid tie PV with Generator back up/

ggunn said:
I don't know of any interlock kit that would turn off the PV breaker when the source at the other end of the bus is switched from the grid to the generator.
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That is exactly what post #10, and #36 describe, if local AHJ doesn't challenge the NRTL.
 
ggunn said:
every alternative we have discussed, not that there are many of them, are more complex than a supply side PV interconnection.
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Only if an ATS is preferred.
ggunn said:
moving the PV to a supply side connection is a very common way to protect a generator when it comes in as a retrofit after PV is already installed on the load side
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If manual transfer is acceptable, the Solar Interlock is simpler, more reliable, and owner builder's can install it without engineering plans.
 
ramsy said:
That is exactly what post #10, and #36 describe, if local AHJ doesn't challenge the NRTL.
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Good to know; I had never seen one of these before and I don't know how well they work.
 
ggunn said:
I would not design a system that relied on the homeowner remembering to turn off the PV manually every time the power went out in order to keep it from destroying the generator just to make it easy on myself, and I would not be afraid to convert the PV from a 705.12 installation to a 705.11 interconnection to protect the generator; I have done so many times and at least here in the US it's not at all a big deal. But as I said, suit yourself; it's your problem to solve, not mine. Peace out.
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It depends on the homeowner. Some are more hands on and some just expect everything to happen automatically. For instance, if the system design required the homeowner to manually start the generator, disconnect the utility and connect the generator through interlocked CBs, and maybe disconnect some load CBs to shed unnecessary loads, then I would expect that owner to be able to open the PV CB.
Now if the system had auto generator start, an ATS, and a separate load backup panel so the homeowner had to do nothing to transfer to the generator then the PV isolation needs to be automatic too.
 
pv_n00b said:
... if the system had auto generator start, an ATS, and a separate load backup panel so the homeowner had to do nothing to transfer to the generator then the PV isolation needs to be automatic too.
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Most of the customers by far I have dealt with in the Distributed Energy marketplace have been in this category. They want to set it and forget it.
 
ggunn said:
Most of the customers by far I have dealt with in the Distributed Energy marketplace have been in this (ATS) category. They want to set it and forget it.
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Without a shunt trip available for residential retrofit, such as Pushmatic, that special equipment upgrade may get quite expensive.
 
ramsy said:
Without a shunt trip available for residential retrofit, such as Pushmatic, that special equipment upgrade may get quite expensive.
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I am not following you. For PV and a generator on an ATS, connecting the PV on the line side of the ATS is simple and relatively cheap. No shunt trip is needed. That would be my preferred solution but the OP does not want to do that for some reason; he is in India, so that may have something to do with it.
 
ggunn said:
on an ATS, connecting the PV on the line side of the ATS is simple and relatively cheap. No shunt trip is needed.
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Can you share how generator backfeed to utility is prevented, relatively cheap, for those unfamiliar with ATS equipment cost, commensurate engineering, permit, plans, and bid costs for such installations ?
 
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ramsy said:
How do you prevent generator from backfeeding utility, without shunt trip, or expensive ATS equipment ?
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Ggunn is just saying that it's a lot simpler to put the PV on the supply side of any such setup than to deal with PV and generator both on the load side.
 
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