A grid tie inverter is a specific type of inverter that will allow you to take the power you generate with things like solar panels or wind turbines and sell it back to the utility company.
As outlined in the 1978 Federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), private citizens have the right to sell renewable energy back to their local power company. With the return of outrageous oil prices, this law is perhaps even more relevant today than it was back then.
The job of a standard power inverter is to convert DC electricity to AC so that it can be used in the home. Inverters also convert the 12 or 24 volt electricity your panels or turbines are generating to 120 volts. Although inverters are a common part of any system using renewable energy, you can’t use just any inverter to sell energy back to the power company. The AC power that comes from an inverter, at 120 volts and 60 cycles per second, is essentially the same as that which comes directly from the grid. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that both sorts of electricity are cycling in phase with each other. You won’t be able to send your electricity to the grid if this is the case. A grid tie inverter will make sure that your inverter stays in sync with the grid.
A grid tie inverter is handy in other ways as well. In a way, electricity always goes downhill: it flows from higher voltage to lower voltage. This is the principle under which battery charging, for example, operates. The battery is connected to a source that outputs at higher voltage, and the electricity flows to the device of lower voltage: the battery. This is why battery chargers have a higher voltage count than the batteries they’re used to charge.
Therefore, moving electricity back to the grid requires electricity which is of a higher voltage than the grid’s electricity. This is another way in which a grid tie inverter comes in handy, as it keeps track of voltage levels as well. With the proper voltage level, you can send your excess electricity back to the grid, and when you do this, your power meter will actually run in reverse.
Grid tie inverters are more expensive than standard inverters because of their expanded functionality. However, the investment is made worthwhile by the profits that can be gained with the use of a grid tie inverter. Since they also provide AC power for household use, grid tie inverters are a catch-all solution for your energy needs.
The idea of off grid living appeals to many people. You can get more information by checking out Off Grid Living.
To know more about how the solar power system works, you can check out Solar How To.
If you want to build your own DIY solar charger instead of using a plug-in charge, read DIY Solar Charger.
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