Plug in solar

born_again

Reed_Richards said:

The alternative is to get something like one of these "Solar generators" https://uk.growattpower.com/pages/solar-generators and plug your appliances into the generator.

Good idea for a garage that is not connected to a power supply.

Would even be good for your favoured method of charging a EV 👍

mmmmikey

On the subject of "why are things different in Germany?" I wonder if there's a case for standardising technical and health and safety standards with neighbouring countries so we could all benefit from the cost savings associated with only maintaining one set of rules between us, and lower product costs because manufacturers don't have to produce special versions of products for individual markets. Maybe we could form some kind of union with our European neighbours which we would all benefit from?

BarelySentientAI

Nobody is stopping them using British standards

Qyburn

I seem to remember some discussion about these quite a while ago. The issue in the UK is that the wiring regulations don't allow connection of a generation source on a circuit where loads are or may be connected. 

Grizzlebeard

Baldytyke88 said:

....... you just plug it into your 13amp socket and it gets used by your appliances. Have I got that wrong, is it legal in the UK?

.......

This is not legal practice in the UK or the equivalent consumer plug/socket in any EU country for safety reasons.

****POTENTIALLY LETHAL****

the exposed L pin on the "plug" from the solar is potentially live at 250Vac and can electrocute anyone who accidently touches it or conductive surface in contact with it.

Specialist plug/sockets with no exposed pins are always used when either connector can be live (as in EV charging).

pete-20-11

I believe they call them suicide leads when you plug a generator into a mains socket in a similar fashion. 

chris_n

Grizzlebeard said:

Baldytyke88 said:

....... you just plug it into your 13amp socket and it gets used by your appliances. Have I got that wrong, is it legal in the UK?

.......

This is not legal practice in the UK or the equivalent consumer plug/socket in any EU country for safety reasons.

****POTENTIALLY LETHAL****

the exposed L pin on the "plug" from the solar is potentially live at 250Vac and can electrocute anyone who accidently touches it or conductive surface in contact with it.

Specialist plug/sockets with no exposed pins are always used when either connector can be live (as in EV charging).

This is totally incorrect, do you really think Germany would expose their citizens to such risks. In order to be certified for grid connection all inverters must synchronise to the grid and if the grid voltage / frequency is outside of parameters it switches off.
The real reason these systems are not compatible with UK is the widespread use of ring mains which are not allowed in Europe. The problem with plug in occurs if there is a break in the ring (think things like wire pulled out when lossened off to decorate)  which would be undetected as all sockets still work. In this scenario you have potentially nearly the whole circuit wired in 2.5mm cable potentially carrying 32A through the breaker (which is already an overload which could melt wiring) now add some solar which hasn't come through the breaker and you now have even more of an overload.
I know the German systems are limited to 600W currently (under review) here in Austria and many other places you are allowed 800W which doesn't significantly increase the current but I can see where people would put 3kW systems on a plug without understanding the risks. Then you could have 45A in a 2.5mm cable, in Europe the circuit you would be plugging into would have a 20A breaker with 4mm cable so much better to take the overload. 

Qyburn

chris_n said:

The real reason these systems are not compatible with UK is the widespread use of ring mains which are not allowed in Europe. 

The same applies with a radial. If you have a mix of loads and power sources on the same final circuit, the MCB/RCBO/fuse can't necessarily detect and protect from an overload. 

Ectophile

Grizzlebeard said:

Baldytyke88 said:

....... you just plug it into your 13amp socket and it gets used by your appliances. Have I got that wrong, is it legal in the UK?

.......

This is not legal practice in the UK or the equivalent consumer plug/socket in any EU country for safety reasons.

****POTENTIALLY LETHAL****

the exposed L pin on the "plug" from the solar is potentially live at 250Vac and can electrocute anyone who accidently touches it or conductive surface in contact with it.

Specialist plug/sockets with no exposed pins are always used when either connector can be live (as in EV charging).

All grid-tied inverters are required to monitor whether or not mains is present, and switch themselves off if it isn't.  So if the inverter is working correctly, there will be no voltage on the pins.

When you plug it in, the inverter monitors the mains supply for a bit, then turns itself on.

Unplug it, and the inverter will rapidly shut itself down again.

Grizzlebeard

Many thanks to everyone who corrected me.

I'm old school, and not up to date on modern practices.

My experience comes from petrol/diesel generators of 20-30 years ago where no such safety measures existed on the equipment I used.