I just came across this interesting set-up for lowering electricity bills - hook up solar panels to a device (an inverter it seems) that generates 110V AC which you then plug into your standard plug outlet in your home. This has the potential of also running your electricity meter backwards if you are using very little power (i.e. when out for work during the day).

What’s interesting here is that it’s so simple with no (I would believe) problems with battery systems, charge controllers, connections to your home’s mains… just point the panels to the sun and plug the device and you should be saving energy every day… what’s simpler than that?

Some things I noticed though that kindof disturbed me (although this may not really a big issue for others):

  1. It specifically stated that it isn’t UL-certified.  Not sure if it’s certified for other electrical codes as it doesn’t say.  This may or may not be a big issue depending on your needs.
  2. The device handles only up to 250 watts - or about 1Kwh per day on average.  When I last looked at my electricity bill, we used up about 300Kwh for that last month! That translates to an average of about 10Kwh used per day. Seems like at this rate, I would only “save” about 10% of my electricity bill with this set-up.  Seems like it would a long time to recoup the initial investment…

What do you think about this system?  Is it worth trying?

Actually, the solar panels can be easily reused in another setup with batteries and chargers so it’s really only the inverter device that makes this investment a bit questionable.  It may be worth it just to give it a go .. or maybe if you already have solar panels, maybe just getting the device itself would be a good idea?…

Would be great if anyone had any comments on this or if anyone has purchased or can recommend a similar setup for saving electricity.  See you next time!