8 D batteries

System

planning a grid tie with batteries and can get plenty of 8D batteries free that are less than two years old from the big generators i service that are always hooked to a battery charger and equalized monthly i can also get the wall mounted chargers for 120 vac input can i charge these batteries with 110 from the breaker box or do i need to invest in one to go between the solar panels and the inverter? I am planning on building a box outside the house with plenty of vents to allow gasses to escape with a flip up top for easy access to check/add water.

the grid tie inverters shut down electrical output when the grid fails can i install a transfer switch for a genset but have it transfer and turn on another inverter instead of a generator during a power outage and use my batteries and/or tie in my panels for power like an off grid system until the grid comes back online and transfer back to the main inverter and grid power when the grid comes back online?

crewzer

Re: 8 D batteries

kg,

One solution you might want to consider would be based on OutBack products. Their MX60 charge controller would be used to to charge the batteries from a PV array. Their grid-intertie inverters (like all of their inverters) require batteries to operate, and they can sell to the grid, power load from the grid, and charge batteries from the grid. When the grid fails, the inverter will use energy from the batteries to power downstream loads. The inverter and the MX controller can be networked together to coordinate their operations.

Then only major potential problem with the OutBack grid-intertie inverters is that they don't seem to work well (if at all) from generators. However, some folks seemed to have figured out a solution: http://www.outbackpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=313

Here's a link to OutBack's grid-intertie inverter products: http://www.outbackpower.com/GT_Inverters.htm

HTH,
Jim / crewzer