"Imagine outfitting your house with small, affordable solar panels that plug into a socket and pump power into your electrical system instead of taking it out.
That's the promise of a Seattle, Washington-based start-up that is working to provide renewable energy options -- solar panels and wind turbines -- for homes and small businesses. The panels cost as little as $600 and plug directly into a power outlet."
more here:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/08/17/plug.in.solar.energy/index...
Comments
Nice... Very good price, reasonable ROI, and built in cut-off. I am a little concerned about how they prevent reverse flow into the grid, but they seem to have covered all other issues. Products like this would make home grown electricity practical, I hope it takes off.
They don't, unless the grid fails. The concern isn't about providing power to the grid, that's what your surplus power is intended to do, it gets sold back to the power company. What the concern is is the safety of utility workers. It's called anti-islanding, as it prevents a home from becoming an island of power in a failed grid. Read Evaluation of Islanding Detection Methods for Utility-Interactive Inverters in Photovoltaic Systems for a review of the technology involved.
They don't, unless the grid fails. The concern isn't about providing power to the grid, that's what your surplus power is intended to do, it gets sold back to the power company. What the concern is is the safety of utility workers. It's called anti-islanding, as it prevents a home from becoming an island of power in a failed grid. Read Evaluation of Islanding Detection Methods for Utility-Interactive Inverters in Photovoltaic Systems for a review of the technology involved.
I am already familure with islanding as I am already a solar energy producer. The vendor in the article addresses the solution to islanding, so is not of any concern. Since my coop does not purchase excess power, that is also of little concern.
My concern for bleeding power back into the grid is based on teh quality of my coop. For lack of a better technical term, the coop sucks. Brown-outs are common. Durring a brown-out, electrical power is not actually lost, just reduced. The vendor in the article did not address the situation. During a brown-out, I would prefer to boost my own electricity needs, not my nieghbors.
Then it appears that this solution is not for you. From Clarian Power's Web site:
"Can the Sunfish provide backup power in the event of a power outage? The Sunfish is not intended to provide backup power when there’s a power outage but can provide backup power in conjunction with a certified back-up power system since the safety features built into the Sunfish prevents it from generating power during a complete power outage. "
Which, although they don't spell it out as explicitly as you'd like them to, intimates that droop on the line may cause them to stop producing power above the level of a brown out. Now that you mention your specific use, it would be interesting to find out what brown outs mean to their PVs. My feeling is that they would follow the droop so as not to draw too much current when the outside world fails to hold up its end of the bargain. I've emailed them for this situation and will post it when I get a reply.
My concern for bleeding into the grid is not a show stopper. I still think if this gadget works as advertized, it is a tremendous and practical deal for the price. I would buy the three recommended. I don't mind being a bleeding edge adapter of new technology, but I will probably only buy one to start. Just to make sure it actually works before investing more.
What I have now has cost much more and returned much less. Maybe this new product can clear the sour taste I have towards solar generated power. I look forward to seeing their reply.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I tried my hand at being a union solar installer and was beated up preety bad...The drive to the bottom of the wage rate destroyed a fine and growing business climate in my state and now it is being done by guys working at just over min wage with no benifits..The only thing this is just more jobs being lost...I have to wonder also how safe this will be..There are certain rules how these are installed to have them remain safe and to help prevent mass damage from storms.So what your doing is plugging in a panel that produces nearly no power and backfeeding an outdoor power outlet that is connected in who knows how?