Solar, Battery, Generator, Utility combination

[ggunn]

I have never personally seen such a system. I imagine it would work. It would certainly be an interesting set up.

I guess you could have a off grid style solar with battery, then off the inverter a reverse wired ATS with utility connected to the generator input, then down stream from that, another ATS that would start the generator.

I don’t know what ATS would work with that setup though, as 1, you would have to able to program the inverter drop out voltage, and 2, I’m not sure how the ATS would know how/when to switch between inverter and utility, especially when it’s seeing full voltage in both inputs.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how such a system could be configured. But it’s a fun exercise.

For some definitions of "interesting" and "fun", I guess.

 

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

And then there is the whole generator ATS, which throws another can of worms into the mix. And then there is the return to solar when batteries are charged. I’m not seeing how this could work this way, at least not automatically.

 

[Christopher Andrews]

I'm installing a 400A service with two 200A subpanels for a client. He wants a propane generator, solar panels, a battery bank and will be connected to the local power utility but does not want the solar to be grid tied. I know how to install daisy-chained automatic transfer switches for the generator (Generac ATS's are set up for this) but I'm looking for the best options for connecting all 4 sources. So far I've found that many vendors are generator only, some solar/battery only and some are low amperage only.

You could treat it like a small micro-grid — use a hybrid/off-grid inverter to manage the solar and batteries, and let the ATS handle switching between generator and utility. Trying to control all four sources with a single switch usually gets complicated.

 

[ggunn]

You could treat it like a small micro-grid — use a hybrid/off-grid inverter to manage the solar and batteries, and let the ATS handle switching between generator and utility. Trying to control all four sources with a single switch usually gets complicated.

EG4 and Sol-Ark have systems that will deal with PV, batteries, generator, and grid.