micro invertors

Re: micro invertors

For the most part, people with grid tied power use a lot more power than 6x 200 Watt solar panels can really supply:

6 * 200 Watt * 0.77 panel+controller derating * 5 hours of average sun * 30 days per month = 110,880 WH = 111 kWH per month

That is not very much power... The average North American home uses close to 1,000 kWH per month.

If you work really hard at conservation, you can get down towards 200 kWH per month (natural gas for heating/cooking/etc.) with a family.

In many areas, the amount of work/money for building permits is either the same or has a minimum requirement regardless of system size. Larger systems are more "cost effective" regarding permitting costs many times.

Sometimes billing plans have an impact too... In California, for years (may still be true--not sure) they made us get a Time of Use plan for billing. Summer afternoon power cost 3x off peak power. If you have heavy afternoon/evening loads (A/C, cooking, clothes washing, etc.) and cannot shift power usage to off peak usage, a "small" GT system will not reduce the afternoon peak usage. And some people found their power bill actually increased when a smaller solar power array was installed (some folks wanted to get their feet wet a decade ago--And see if the system really worked).

Another billing problem is that some utilities have a metering/net metering charge of $40 or more just to connect a GT solar array. A small system will not even generate enough power to pay the Solar GT connection charges.

There is a fair amount of research required before you install a GT solar power system. While they work well and as expected, other issues can sink a project economically.

-Bill