Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?

Its a three phase 240v (with 208v high leg) meter only enclosure thats feeding my families agg pump. If I just do a service change to allow for a breaker for the solar system can I then use a standard single Phase inverter? Or do I have to use a three phase inverter since the supply is three phase? What are the differences between single and three phase when it comes to solar systems?

Comments

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?
    James40 wrote: »
    What are the differences between single and three phase when it comes to solar systems?

    2 phases.

    It all depends on if the electric company cares if you only feed a single phase, and un-balance their system. If you feed 5KW on phase A, and your 6 neighbors all feed 5KW onto phase A, there is a problem. They can deal with some imbalance, but what their threshold is, only they can tell you.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?
    mike90045 wrote: »
    2 phases.

    It all depends on if the electric company cares if you only feed a single phase, and un-balance their system. If you feed 5KW on phase A, and your 6 neighbors all feed 5KW onto phase A, there is a problem. They can deal with some imbalance, but what their threshold is, only they can tell you.
    thanks that makes sense. How much more will it cost to do it all three phase?
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?
    James40 wrote: »
    thanks that makes sense. How much more will it cost to do it all three phase?

    You need either a 3 phase Grid-Tie inverter (desired) or 3 single phase, 208V inverters (awkward), and panels. How much power do you want to feed onto the grid? I don't have any idea of the priceing for this stuff, I'd figure it's about 3x the cost of single phase, as there is not much that can be shared.

    (somebody stop me if I'm making wrong assumptions here)
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    Re: Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?
    James40 wrote: »
    Its a three phase 240v (with 208v high leg) meter only enclosure thats feeding my families agg pump.

    Does that pump have a 3-phase motor?
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Can I put a system on a 3ph 240v ag panel?

    Yes it does. 3phase 240v 25hp.