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0 pointsmikestew1y ago0 comments

Surely it is something safer than a suicide cord,[0] especially if used inside where things like children live.

[0]https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/generators/why-s...

0 comments

It's a male end on the PV side, but every of these plug-in inverters I've seen only start outputting when they get the 220V 50Hz input, so they are inert as long as they are not plugged in. As far as I know they always rely on the grid frequency.

jeeeb1y ago

This is necessary to prevent islanding.

If the inverter outputs when the grid has lost frequency then other inverters can respond by also starting to output. This creates a chain reaction and can generate serious currents in sections of the grid that are expected to be on outage, which is a safety hazard.

marshray1y ago

"children-like things" :-D

ssl-31y ago

Grid-tied solar inverters, as a general rule, do not (cannot) output any power at all in the absence of grid power.

The act of plugging in a normal grid-tied solar inverter with a regular ass-plug[0] is just exactly as safe as plugging in any other electrical appliance is.

(There are other concerns, but the physical plug is not amongst them.)

0: https://xkcd.com/37/

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