This is kind of a poll: what is preferred residential main panel *without meter* when doing higher amp solar installs.
Trying to come up with a design scheme for something that I hope to replicate when in need of a main panel replacement or new construction. The goal is to support a solar inverter/battery such as Sol-ark 15k which has 200 amp bypass ability. In this situation the inverter would need to be man-in-the-middle between the meter and the main panel (panel without integrated meter), and the inverter has both an AC input (from meter) and AC output (to panel), it might be configured as grid-tied with back feed, or as "self-consumption only" with no back feed. In this situation I would have a separate meter box that goes in to a manual transfer switch, then to the inverter, and the transfer switch can be set to direct feed the main panel from the grid, or switch over to the inverter for it's main feed.
In some installs where the owner does not care so much about battery backup or high PV generation, inverter would simply feed in on a breaker on a 200-225 amp main panel, with 30-40 amps max PV input depending on the consumption needs. In other situations where PV needs are higher (or become higher at a later date), the inverter would become the main feed via transfer switch to the panel and could fully control all power sources whether it be from battery/solar/grid. The goal is to try to keep the option to upgrade in to the 2nd scenario - people's needs change over time ie they buy an EV. By feeding the inverter in to the main breaker connection we are not exceeding the busbar capacity and can more easily deploy/upgrade these higher capacity PV installs.
What are preferred panels that might be easier to work with in the situations?
Trying to come up with a design scheme for something that I hope to replicate when in need of a main panel replacement or new construction. The goal is to support a solar inverter/battery such as Sol-ark 15k which has 200 amp bypass ability. In this situation the inverter would need to be man-in-the-middle between the meter and the main panel (panel without integrated meter), and the inverter has both an AC input (from meter) and AC output (to panel), it might be configured as grid-tied with back feed, or as "self-consumption only" with no back feed. In this situation I would have a separate meter box that goes in to a manual transfer switch, then to the inverter, and the transfer switch can be set to direct feed the main panel from the grid, or switch over to the inverter for it's main feed.
In some installs where the owner does not care so much about battery backup or high PV generation, inverter would simply feed in on a breaker on a 200-225 amp main panel, with 30-40 amps max PV input depending on the consumption needs. In other situations where PV needs are higher (or become higher at a later date), the inverter would become the main feed via transfer switch to the panel and could fully control all power sources whether it be from battery/solar/grid. The goal is to try to keep the option to upgrade in to the 2nd scenario - people's needs change over time ie they buy an EV. By feeding the inverter in to the main breaker connection we are not exceeding the busbar capacity and can more easily deploy/upgrade these higher capacity PV installs.
What are preferred panels that might be easier to work with in the situations?
