Has anyone here had experience with Schneider Electric's Conext PV line?

[JohnPaul]

I am considering installing a home PV system. The Schneider Elec Conext is a system that seems to have it all.

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://solar.schneider-electric.com/products/off-grid-and-backup/

Anyone used this sytem or seen it in use?
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[jaggedben]

It's a pretty old school product with Xantrex and Trace lineage. To my knowledge Schneider has not really updated the technology in the last decade. I have a little bit of experience programming one. Feels very 1990s. I would not consider it for a system that would be tied to the grid. For a truly off grid (no utilities on site) system, I might use it, but I don't really do those.

A general statement of your goals might be helpful for making suggestions.

 

[JohnPaul]

Selfish Solar as coined by Jack Rickard

http://evtv.me/2019/06/grid-wars/

I have two panels installed at my house. I can use one for PV powered circuits backed up by a Battery System that is AC coupled and topped off by the Grid when necessary. I'd like to change my rate schedule to TOU and then use the inverter by Conext to keep my peak demand at a set level and lower my bill.

Considering the Utility can now reduce the output of our inverters using FrequencyWatt modification per UL 1741 is disconcerting.

 

[jaggedben]

I think that if you have time for a hobby you might like the Conext just fine. There are other options that strike me as more user friendly.

Btw, the utilities can't force the frequency/watt thing if the inverter isn't set up that way.

 

[JohnPaul]

I hope not but being compliant with UL 1741 seems to indicate that it's built in and not a user setting.

 

[jaggedben]

It's a user setting. (Or perhaps more accurately, an installer setting.)

UL lays out a standards for it, but doesn't mandate that the various 'smart inverter' features be turned on by default. It is part of something called UL 1741 SA, and it's an expansion on the basic interconnection safety standard. In California new interconnections have to have the 'Volt-Var' feature turned on. They haven't mandated the 'Frequency-Watt' feature yet. They also currently seem to have no real enforcement mechanism for it.