Grid Supply Issues

2 Posts

Oct 4, 2008 02:53 pm

Hi all! I am looking into purchasing some Kaneka 60w panels for a small installation at home. I am planning on having a grid tied system with battery banks and have a query about the unusual power supply we have here, Barbados. Our grid supplies 110V at 50HZ. Pretty much all appliances in our country come from the US, so are more often than not suited to a 60HZ supply. Whilst most equipment can work on our power set-up, it does cause a few issues with overheating motors, poorly functioning microwaves etc.

Is it possible to convert both the power from the panels and from the grid to 60HZ, so as to have appliances run more efficiently and what would be required to do this. I am self schooling on solar cells and systems, so please forgive if the question is a little novice ... I am! Much appreciate any help.

Ken Hall

351 Posts

Oct 5, 2008 12:27 pm

Re: Grid Supply Issues

Grid tied means you want the inverter to synch the power with the grid, usually so that you can sell power back to the utility.
You cannot grid tie a 110V 60hz system to a 50hz utility.

I am not aware of any inverter that will invert the incoming 50hz power to 60hz power. (Anyone else ??)

I would consider a stand-alone system and use a real good battery charger as the grid connection.

The big question is whether you attempt to put the entire house on 60hz, or whether you have 60Hz circuits just for the "problem appliances". Putting the entire house (or a large portion of it) on 60hz might get real expensive, depending on how many kWh you use each month.

George Mackintosh

2 Posts

Oct 5, 2008 01:58 pm

Re: Grid Supply Issues

Thanks for getting back to me. I will have a look into the stand-alone idea with a battery charger. The problems with running 60hz devices on our 50hz grid supply are not significant .. we have all been doing it for decades without any big problems. I was just hoping to come up with a set-up that would eliminate the need to run the household at 50hz and reduce some of the associated inefficiencies.

If it is not too much trouble, what set-up would your recommend for a 3,000 Watt (50 Kaneka 60w 48vdc panels) as far as inverters go. Our grid supplies 110v at 50hz. I will likely be starting with less than 50 panels (maybe 25), but would like to invest in an inverter/panel set-up that can handle expansion to 50 such panels or more.

Outback inverters seem to come in two main flavours - 120v 60hz or 230v 50hz. Is it correct that I would have to go with the European flavour and use a transformer to bring it down to local voltage levels for the grid and house? Would it make sense to go with another type of inverter? I would have really liked to just go with a standard package, but nothing seems to fit with our grid. Any advise much appreciated, even if it is a point towards a good resource to better understand the options out there. Thanks.

Jim D

4 Posts

Oct 8, 2008 08:53 pm

Re: Grid Supply Issues

Most 50hz to 60hz conversions involve going to from the 50hz AC to DC, then back to a 60hz -- often a modified sine wave, but you can certainly do a sine wave for higher cost.

For a true sine wave, I'll bet you could also use an UPS system like a Tripp Lite SU1000RTXL2UA, which accepts either 50hz or 60hz as input but outputs only 60hz.

Disclaimer and Disclosure

The Alternative Energy Store, Inc reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse or delete any posting or portion thereof, or terminate or block the access to this forum.

The opinions and statements posted on this forum are the opinions and statements of the person posting same, and do not constitute the opinion or act of the Alternative Energy Store, Inc (AltE). The Alternative Energy Store, Inc does not endorse or subscribe to any particular posting. No posting shall be construed as the act or opinion of the Alternative Energy Store, Inc.

Grid Supply Issues

altE®

MORE INFORMATION

Share

Feedback