Solar Generator for Backup

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electricmanscott

electricmanscott

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Boston, MA
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Massachusetts Master Electrician, one man show.
I have a guy that bought a portable solar generator. He wants to connect it to his system much like you would a portable gas generator. I was thinking a standard interlock setup with an inlet box and cord would work. The Generator has a 50A 250V three wire receptacle. It appears that it outputs 120 to onboard receptacles and 240 to an onboard receptacle that the cord would connect to. However, it's a three wire receptacle apparently offering straight 240v vs 120/240. Thoughts? Input? Experiences?
 
I don't have that info. The specs were lacking and the engineer at the manufacturer wasn't terribly helpful. That is why I'm here asking for help.
 
electricmanscott said:
I have a guy that bought a portable solar generator. He wants to connect it to his system much like you would a portable gas generator. I was thinking a standard interlock setup with an inlet box and cord would work. The Generator has a 50A 250V three wire receptacle. It appears that it outputs 120 to onboard receptacles and 240 to an onboard receptacle that the cord would connect to. However, it's a three wire receptacle apparently offering straight 240v vs 120/240. Thoughts? Input? Experiences?
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What is a solar generator? Solar arrays and generators are different animals. Anything purely solar and small enough to be considered portable is not going to produce enough power to back much of anything up.
 
ggunn said:
What is a solar generator? Solar arrays and generators are different animals. Anything purely solar and small enough to be considered portable is not going to produce enough power to back much of anything up.
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I feel the same way about this as you. If anyone has an awesome solar generator I would like to see it. Otherwise I am not even wasting my time considering it. Just like Lowe's and Home Depot's LEDs and Fluorescent lights. The electronics are almost designed to fail.... As a side note, I have a customer who will not buy anything from either store. Says manufacturers make their products cheaper for the big box stores.
 
Ravenvalor said:
I feel the same way about this as you. If anyone has an awesome solar generator I would like to see it. Otherwise I am not even wasting my time considering it. Just like Lowe's and Home Depot's LEDs and Fluorescent lights. The electronics are almost designed to fail.... As a side note, I have a customer who will not buy anything from either store. Says manufacturers make their products cheaper for the big box stores.
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FWIW, I have several LED incandescent replacement bulbs I got from HD and even the oldest (~6 years) are still working fine. CFLs though, not so much.
 
1250 watts

1250 watts

The biggest solar generator I found on web was a 1250 w max for one hour. I would ask the customer to double check if this is what they want?
 
just the cowboy said:
The biggest solar generator I found on web was a 1250 w max for one hour. I would ask the customer to double check if this is what they want?
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If its capacity is quoted in Watt-hours, then there is a battery involved.
 
I've been reading to much lately...

Isn't it a fact that most house AC smoke alarms don't like generator power?

Where's this sit with that situation?
 
ggunn said:
What is a solar generator? Solar arrays and generators are different animals. Anything purely solar and small enough to be considered portable is not going to produce enough power to back much of anything up.
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I sort of have same question. "Solar generator" to me would mean something that generates the equivalent of solar energy - perhaps a radiant heater??:blink:
 
There are truck and trailer mounted solar arrays with batteries and inverter that can deliver a decent amount of power. Some of them fold up for transport. I think of them as a very niche market. Probably the best use is for powering small to medium outdoor performances.
 
jaggedben said:
There are truck and trailer mounted solar arrays with batteries and inverter that can deliver a decent amount of power. Some of them fold up for transport. I think of them as a very niche market. Probably the best use is for powering small to medium outdoor performances.
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Like these guys:
http://www.ecofirms.org/ECO-ISSUES/Renewable-Energy/6-55-0-1968-5-0-Sustainable-Waves.html

They used to have a base here in Austin but I haven't seen them around for a while. The San Diego group is very big at Burning Man.
 
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