I’m interested in solar. And I know I need a inverter to convert the DC power form panels/battery into AC so my appliances can use them. But I’ve heard this grid forming inverter in the news. How is it different to ones installed in homes? Do I even want one or is it only for power plants?
In: Engineering
When you connect a generator to an AC grid, you have to synchronize and match the phase of the two power sources.
The kind of inverter you’d use while camping can’t do this at all. The ones you’d use for net metering will listen to the grid to see what the timing is, and connect appropriately, but require the grid to be up and running before it will start sending power to the grid, and will disconnect from the grid when the power goes out.
Grid forming inverters would be capable of jumpstarting a grid that isn’t currently running. You’d need to be able to synchronize them without the benefit of the power already being on. It’s not something to worry about if you aren’t running a power grid.
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