I'm considering a small solar system for my home since the area experiences regular blackouts. My house relies on electric heat, but I'm not keen on installing a large system to power the entire place. As an industrial programmer, I envision a modular setup that offers extra redundancy and dedicated backup for essential circuits. My idea is to use a common battery bank combined with about 3 or 4 automatic changeover inverters to supply power to specific circuits like pumps and lighting, while keeping 15 electric radiators offline during outages. Any recommendations or insights?
2 Answers
I think the Schneider XW Pro could be what you need. It’s a solid inverter providing 6.8kW continuous and a peak of 12kW for about $1,000. Pair it with at least two DIY 15kWh batteries, each costing around $1,300, and you’ll have a robust system. Even though the software can be a bit lacking, you can enable modbus TCP for more customization. With your background, playing with Node-RED could take this setup further!
You could go for a 6000XP inverter with a critical loads subpanel. Check out diagrams 2 and 2a on the EG4 Electronics website to see how to wire it up. Alternatively, consider a pro/tran setup or just an interlock to disable the floor heating while it’s operating. Keep in mind that using a larger inverter for multiple circuits generally helps with load balancing, which is important in your situation.
Thanks for the tip! I work a lot with CanBus, so I’ll definitely look into that.