Comment on Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them

• BT_7274@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨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.

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  • artyom@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨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

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    • BT_7274@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨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.

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      • BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I think the warning you might be thinking of is that a breaker can fail to pop if an inverter/generator is on the same circuit as a high wattage device. Since some energy would go directly from generation to device, the breaker will only see the “net” energy consumption. So if the generator puts out 1500W and the device decides to draw 3000W, a 15A breaker only sees 1500, and won’t trip even though the device is pulling way too much. If the breaker was sized for the wiring, then the wiring to that outlet could catch fire due to the breaker not tripping. That’s the main reason I know of why a generator or inverter should be on a dedicated circuit, to force the energy out one breaker and in another, so that the breaker can see an accurate measure of energy and trip when necessary.

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      • artyom@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I do know, man.

        even if it gets used before getting to the breaker

        It would be both added and consumed after the breaker. Like if you had a 10A solar system connected to a dual outlet, and a 10A space heater on the other outlet, there would only be 10A flowing through the outlet, and nowhere else in the system

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• user28282912@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  1200 incoming + 1 hairdryer at the same time equals overloaded circuit though.

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  • artyom@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨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.

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    • roguelazer@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨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.

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      • artyom@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Ah, that is a good point. I wonder how they’re mitigating that.

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      • roguelazer@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        (this is the same reason that big solar systems require an oversized busbar on your main panel)

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    • user28282912@piefed.social ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      breaker masking

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