Grid tie inverters to boost genset or PSW inverter output?

msiminoff wrote:
a grid tie inverter doesn't really help me with my issue which is starting the air-conditioner compressor when the generator is in "Eco mode".

My inverter does that.

KD4UPL wrote:
Outback does offer a GFX1312 but it is for international sales only. It is not UL listed and not interned for use in the U.S.

That's the one I was looking at. I didn't realize it was an export model.I wonder if it's fundamentally different from the non-export models or is it only a UL labeling issue (i.e. it costs a lot of money to get a UL label)? It's got to better than a $22 eBay model.

Bruce

bdosborn wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
I don't know of any that use a 12v battery bank. They all run on 24v or 48v battery banks since this is standard in the home solar business that usually uses this equipment.

The Outback GFX Series is pretty well known and available in 12V. It's a UL Listed, grid tie, stack-able inverter with battery backup. 1300VA Continuous rating with a 4600VA surge capability. It's NOT cheap and very picky about connecting to generators...
Bruce

The GFX series is not available in 12v, only 24v and 48v. The FX series does include 12v models but, of course, is not grid-selling, hence no G in the model number.
Outback does offer a GFX1312 but it is for international sales only. It is not UL listed and not interned for use in the U.S.

Victron inverters offer generator support, are able to be stacked (use more than one) and come in 12v models

IIRC there is a new magnum model do out soon with generator boost

KD4UPL wrote:
I don't know of any that use a 12v battery bank. They all run on 24v or 48v battery banks since this is standard in the home solar business that usually uses this equipment.

The Outback GFX Series is pretty well known and available in 12V. It's a UL Listed, grid tie, stack-able inverter with battery backup. 1300VA Continuous rating with a 4600VA surge capability. It's NOT cheap and very picky about connecting to generators...
Bruce

I install grid tied and off grid solar systems for a living. I don't know exactly what that inverter is but I don't like it.
A grid tie inverter that is UL listed (this one is not) won't sync to most generators. Good inverter generators yes, but others, no.
Grid tie inverters are typically designed to make maximum power and "shove" it into the grid. A generator is not designed to have something "shove" power into it. There are battery based inverters that have a function called gen. support; which is what you want. I don't know of any that use a 12v battery bank. They all run on 24v or 48v battery banks since this is standard in the home solar business that usually uses this equipment.
The Xantrex XW series is one model that will do this.
I wouldn't risk my gen. trying what you propose. I would also tend to shy away from electrical equipment that isn't UL listed.

This is very interesting indeed !! I think that a grid tie inverter would play nicely with the inverter in a Honda EUx000i generator. If I owned one of these inverters I wouldn't be afraid to test it out (hmmm, I guess maybe I should buy one).

That said, a grid tie inverter doesn't really help me with my issue which is starting the air-conditioner compressor when the generator is in "Eco mode". In this case I'd probably need 1000-1500 Watts of assistance from solar and I only have 320W.

Anyway, neat idea! For extended boondockers (me) it could definitely help to reduce fuel consumption and that's valuable.

Cheers
-Mark

There is a company, the names that come to mind (Foggy) are Victron and Victor, that makes a "Boost" for use with generators, This is a battery/inverter system and it's much like the inverter in the Honda EU-2000i's.. It monitors power usage and when it senses an increase in load it kicks in to "Boost" what the generator can supply.... Then it drops out and when it senses that the generator has the additional capacity recharges it's battery till the next cycle.

As I said the memory is foggy and I did not bookmark it.

Wow, that's the cheapest I've seen these. A few thoughts in addition to the previous post:

1. The listings for these inverters caution against hooking to a battery. From that I conclude that their design relies on being able to pull down the input power easily.
2. If the GT inverter is designed correctly there's no hope for it syncing to a non-inverter generator.
3. There's always the risk of frying the other inverter. If the other inverter is parallel capable, IMO it should tolerate this ok. I haven't heard of anybody (including myself) willing to test the theory. This exact scheme is starting to be used with residential PV systems. Outback and SunnyBoy say it's ok with their off-grid inverters.
4. If designed correctly the GT inverter won't kick in until the other power source has been stable for a few minutes.

I've been toying with trying one of these inverters at home. I have to assume they're junk, but the $ risk is pretty low here.

Edit: Did you notice that when you select an actual model the price goes up "kind of" significantly (about 10x for most models)?

I don't think the GT inverter is designed to feed a source that may not absorb full power.
Best to check with a manufacturer.