Plug in solar and GFIs

I was thinking of one being plugged into the first receptacle in a daisy chain, and an overload being plugged into a receptacle downstream of that one. Lots of scenarios like that where you can end up with more current than was intended on the conductors/devices
 
peatmoss said:
Anyone have experience or thoughts on this? How about GIF breakers?
Click to expand...
There's a whole working group on this issue you can join.
Send me a PM if you're interested in checking that out.

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All these topics are active discussion, and there is a lot of regulatory and advocacy work on this topic now. Recent press:
www.kqed.org

Forget Rooftops — Bay Area Residents Are Plugging Solar Into the Wall | KQED

A movement is growing to bring small, portable, affordable solar to a balcony or backyard near you. But before you see them everywhere, advocates must break through significant barriers.
www.kqed.org www.kqed.org

On the GFCI the issue is that some legacy GFCI products measure current with current transformers, and the designers never considered that power might flow backwards through the wires. CT's are directional, and this means negative current perhaps at a 50:1 or whatever ratio flows into the measuring circuit. The claim is that this negative current can fry the GFCI and/or render the

Breaker masking is a greater theoretical concern, which is more tangled.

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Millions of these units are in use in Europe where it's been accepted at all levels from the power companies, to regulators to the checkout gal at Ikea.

Joethemechanic said:
What if this thing is plugged into a GFCI protected circuit and something requiring GFCI is also on that circuit. Or that it's a source on a circuit that could be overloaded and as far as the circuit breaker is concerned, nothing is overloaded.
Click to expand...
That's called "breaker masking" in the world of plug in solar.
 
brycenesbitt said:
There's a whole working group on this issue you can join.
Send me a PM if you're interested in checking that out.

---
All these topics are active discussion, and there is a lot of regulatory and advocacy work on this topic now. Recent press:
www.kqed.org

Forget Rooftops — Bay Area Residents Are Plugging Solar Into the Wall | KQED

A movement is growing to bring small, portable, affordable solar to a balcony or backyard near you. But before you see them everywhere, advocates must break through significant barriers.
www.kqed.org www.kqed.org

On the GFCI the issue is that some legacy GFCI products measure current with current transformers, and the designers never considered that power might flow backwards through the wires. CT's are directional, and this means negative current perhaps at a 50:1 or whatever ratio flows into the measuring circuit. The claim is that this negative current can fry the GFCI and/or render the

Breaker masking is a greater theoretical concern, which is more tangled.

----
Millions of these units are in use in Europe where it's been accepted at all levels from the power companies, to regulators to the checkout gal at Ikea.


That's called "breaker masking" in the world of plug in solar.
Click to expand...
GFCI receptacles and likey GFCI circuit breakers in general all have just one CT with all the "protected conductors" passing through it.
If equal current is flowing both ways the voltage produced by the CT coil is zero and the trip function is not initiated. It doesn't know or care which way anything is flowing, all it cares about is that there is not enough imbalance to cause enough CT output to initiate the trip process.

That said any out of phase non-linear currents passing through could cause undesired tripping just like they often do in other situations.

So I kind of doubt the GFCI will care as long as current passing through it is balanced and has fairly low distortion levels
 
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