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EcoFlow’s $200 PowerStream is so clever, you might buy a $4,000 solar generator (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Title reads like at ad, but this is a new way to reach energy independence. I actually have a small EcoFlow device and it’s pretty good for the price.

I hope this tech can be made available in the US soon.

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[–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Also, emergency service hazard. The PV won't turn off if firefighters take out the mains, which makes a house potentially inaccessible during an emergency.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Surprisingly, no. Most inverters in the EU must come with island protection. Meaning that if there is no AC from the grid it immediatly switches off the inverter or the battery, there is no stand alone operation.

    There are some systems that allow it but they are rare here and require the mains side to be fed trough the inverter itsself ensuring it's never back feeding into the grid when there is no power with the same island protection, or less commonly there is a transfer switch of some kind also eliminating the issue. And either should obviously have a main kill switch on the breaker board for emergencies that also switches off the in home power with 1 action.

    But most importantly, either of those options is not plug and play and will require an electrician that hopefully does know what he's doing.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Does the island protection with if you have two inverters running independently? (legally or not)

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Yep, I'm not exactly sure on the technical details but it works with multiple inverters. Otherwise having a street full with solar panels on every roof would still be a hazard if the power went out at a distribution junction for said street and repairs would have to be made.

    If there is no powerplant feeding some energy, all inverters should shut off. Fixed installs and plug and play variants alike. I'm actually amazed that there are parts in the world where this isn't common.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Yes, because the frequency of the grid is also a trigger for shutting off the inverter. Inverters generate a frequency which indicates a "non healthy grid" that trigger the shutoff of connected inverters.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    I looked into these before and believe the inverters shut off if the mains shuts off. The DC side of the circuit would still be potentially dangerous though.

    The inverters need there to be power in the mains circuit because they convert DC to AC and match the phase of the AC power they are generating to the mains supply.

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