Whole house generator with solar.

[eljefetaco]

I have little to no experience in solar. I am concerned with installing a automatic transfer switch on a house with solar. I would expect the solar to only work with utility power. Is that connection done at meter? Typically I install a service rated ats next to meter then feed former main and treat as a sub panel. What should I be concerned with?

 

[texie]

I have little to no experience in solar. I am concerned with installing a automatic transfer switch on a house with solar. I would expect the solar to only work with utility power. Is that connection done at meter? Typically I install a service rated ats next to meter then feed former main and treat as a sub panel. What should I be concerned with?

Not a problem as long as you put the ATS down stream of the grid tie. That way when the POCO fails, the invertor will disconnect as usual in that event, and the AtS will see the failure and supply the load, and the invertor will not "see" the generator power.

 

[jaggedben]

Is that connection [for the solar] done at meter?

Not necessarily. Usually it is done on the load side of the service disconnecting means. Which means most likely you will need to reconfigure the solar connection as part of installing the ATS. That's unless you get lucky and find that the solar has a supply side connection (and it isn't in your way).

 

[tallgirl]

I have little to no experience in solar. I am concerned with installing a automatic transfer switch on a house with solar. I would expect the solar to only work with utility power. Is that connection done at meter? Typically I install a service rated ats next to meter then feed former main and treat as a sub panel. What should I be concerned with?

That depends on the inverters and the generator. I've powered my inverters from a Honda 2000i during one of my many famous fights with the PoCo. The inverters were a pair of OutBack GVFX 3648's with the charger setting dialed down to avoid overloading the gennie. For a system WITHOUT batteries, you cannot have the gennie and the inverters on at the same time -- the inverters will try to export power to the generator windings and that may not go so well.

(As for the fight, after telling the nice lady at the PoCo that they were stealing electricity from an electric utility (all DRGs count as "electric utilities" under Texas PUC regs) things started improving and they back credited me for a ton of energy)