If you use anything else on the circuit the power from the solar will just go directly into that device and bypass the wall wiring entirely.
Comment on Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
user28282912@piefed.social 9 hours agoIt is more than just the concern around back-feeding the grid. These simple balcony setups connect to your home grid via a single outlet. Most US outlets/circuits are 15 AMP or roughly 1500 watts max capacity. These single circuits can only carry that much current total at any one time so if you have it loaded up with incoming power AND use anything else on the circuit at the same time … no bueno. To make this setup work best/safely you would ideally want a dedicated circuit for it which is basically non-existent today.
The safety issues really do need to be addressed because the folks most likely to use these systems are apartment dwellers and I don’t think anyone wants to increase fire risk in these scenarios.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
There are a lot of circuits in the US that power multiple duplex outlets around a room. You could plug in a solar panel into one outlet and a load into another and they would be connected by a length of Romex in the walls.
BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
Generally that’s fine and I agree, but one edge case that people overlook that I think is worth mentioning (and maybe what gp heard about and is trying to articulate) is that having an inverter or generator on the same circuit as a big energy consumer means that the breaker wouldn’t see the total energy being used by the consumer, and so it might not trip even if the consumer pulls too much wattage. That’s the main reason I know of why power sources should be on their own breaker - so it doesn’t hide power from the breaker but forces it to go out the generator circuit breaker and back in the consumer breaker so it can be protected properly.
eleitl@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
This is why balkonkraftwerk is limited to 800 W feed-in.
artyom@piefed.social 9 hours ago
That’s why they’re limited to 1200 watts.
BT_7274@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
His point was that if you’ve got 1200w incoming from the panel then you only have 300w of overhead on that circuit before the circuit breaker blows.
Sure, it’s within the limit on its own, but without a dedicated circuit for it you’ll be blowing a fuse pretty frequently when trying to use nearby plugs and lights.
artyom@piefed.social 8 hours ago
As I said, that’s not how that works. If you have 1200w incoming to the circuit and 300W outgoing, then the circuit load is actually decreased to 900w
BT_7274@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Idk man. It’s probably over my head but I still don’t think the wires themselves could take it. In my thought process you’ve got more electricity flowing around on the circuit and even if it gets used before getting to the breaker things are going to be heating up pretty quick.
To me it sounds like trying to hook up a power plant to a data center via an indoor extension cord. It’s gonna melt.
user28282912@piefed.social 8 hours ago
1200 incoming + 1 hairdryer at the same time equals overloaded circuit though.
artyom@piefed.social 8 hours ago
That’s now how that works. You got 1200 coming in and 1200 going out, so the solar would just power the dryer directly.
roguelazer@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
I think the risk is more that someone has a 15A-rated outlet on a 15A circuit breaker, plugs a solar panel into one socket and then a power strip with 30A of space heaters into the other socket. Breaker doesn’t trip because the main panel is only providing 15A, but the outlet lights on fire.
Not sure why that isn’t a problem in places these are more common.
user28282912@piefed.social 8 hours ago
breaker masking