I'm in a snowy area that frequently faces multi-day power outages during winter. My heating system is a ground source heat pump, and I have a solar panel setup that generates enough power for my needs. Currently, I have a 15-year-old solar array that provides 11.5 KW, and it still performs well.
I'm looking to upgrade and plan to install an SMA smart inverter (once the 11.5 KW version is available) because I heard it can manage batteries. I'm considering getting a house battery system to handle short outages. For longer outages, I want to set up a diesel generator to charge these batteries. I need advice on what hardware would be best for this setup and any insights on the capabilities of the SMA smart inverters would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
If you're using a 48V battery system and the diesel generator is for emergency use, a straightforward option would be to get an AC charger that connects directly to your batteries, bypassing the inverter. This simplifies the setup since the generator can charge the batteries directly without needing to go through complex inverter systems. Just make sure the charger is compatible with your battery's voltage.
What about using higher voltage batteries? Will that change things up?