If you’re like most of our customers you purchased a grid-tie solar panel system.”Let the utility company pay for your system with money you are already paying for your power bill”. Plus, “get Federal tax credits to help pay for your system”. That’s true...
Most people mistakenly believe “going solar” and generating your own electricity from the sun means you’ll have power even when the utility grid is down or turned off. That is not true.
The problem is, most people don’t realize until it’s too late that you only have power as long as the grid is operating. When the utility company pulls the plug the power stops flowing…
That’s why Advanced Solar Power Systems was created – to fill the vacuum left by the solar industry in their rush to sell as many solar panel systems as possible.
Our aim is to fill that vacuum of unmet needs and unfulfilled expectations by providing a solution that helps unhappy solar panel owners get what they thought they were getting when they bought their solar power system – Power for their home regardless of the utility grid.
AC Coupled Diagram With Outback Radian Series Inverter/Charger
What is AC Coupling?
Like DC Coupling, AC Coupling is retrofitting a grid-tie solar power system to include battery back-up without changing your existing PV solar panel array configuration.
When there is a grid outage, the Radian AC Coupling system employs a frequency shifting technique to prevent the grid tie inverter in your existing PV system, from overcharging the battery bank when it’s putting out more power than can be used by the loads. Excess power from a grid tied inverter can damage battery banks with an unregulated charge exceeding the safe charging limits of the batteries. When safe charging limits are exceeded, the OutBack Radian inverter will shift the frequency upwards from 60 Hz to as much as 64.5 Hz to make the grid tie inverter incrementally reduce its output or disconnect itself from the AC coupled circuit.
During a power outage, when the sun is shining, and the grid tie inverter goes offline, the Radian will power the loads in the critical sub-panel, while it’s in the backup mode of operation. This allows the PV power to flow to the backup panel’s connected loads, as well as charge the batteries, if the grid tie inverter is generating more power than can be absorbed by the loads.
Recommended Retrofit System
Radian AC Coupled Bundle (batteries quoted separately)
Advanced Solar Power System’s Bundle Price $5008.67
List Price $6830.00
Add to Cart
Each Radian AC Coupled Bundle Includes
1) Radian Series Inverter/Charger
1) GSLC175-120/240 Load Center
1) Mate 3s and mounting bracket
1) Generator Protection Kit – Protects connected generators from incidental current backfeed using standard transfer relay.
1) 30A Dual Pole Breaker (for connecting the grid-tie inverter inside the GS load center)
DOES NOT INCLUDE BATTERIES (will be quoted and sized based on your specific system’s configuration)
NOTE: The Radian inverter is limited to a maximum of 25A load current at 240 Vac, from the grid tie inverter, which means a 6kW grid tie inverter is the maximum that can be connected. However, the Radian Frequency Shift solution does support stacking up to three Radian inverters in parallel – so this solution can now support larger grid-tie systems over 10kW!
Works with most grid-tied inverters on the market (anything listed to UL 1741 SA)
Two other options that provide power for a grid-tie system when the grid is down are: 1) DC Coupling which is easier and costs much less than AC Coupling and 2) A generator which requires a fuel source, is noisy, needs maintenance, periodic cycling and it’s not environmentally friendly –it pollutes.
Advanced Solar Power System’s Bundle Price $5008.67
List Price $6830.00