[rhacker]

His is more or less temporary.

What's great about him though is he already has a link up to the power company, so as he sees fit he can just reduce his bill by flaying them out in his courtyard. That or just mine btc/etc...

He's still an awesome dude and has helped me set up my own solar in the number of videos. Even better is his forum:

https://diysolarforum.com

[ketralnis]

Generally if you're grid-tied your setup needs to be approved by the power company and they have a surprising amount of say in what specific equipment by what vendors you can use. If you watch his videos on his specific home setup, he has a separate grid-tied system and his testing system and they don't touch. He even remarks that some of them wouldn't have been his choice.

[Dwedit]

I watched a video from the 8-bit guy about tying solar panels to the grid. He said that if you do that, your power fails at the same time as the grid's power, so you don't get any backup electrical power. For that reason, he recommended against tying your solar to the grid.

[gorbypark]

It’s completely possible to have backup power and be grid-tied. The main issue is your panels feeding the grid during a blackout, which can be dangerous for people trying to fix stuff. All that’s required (requirements will vary widely per region) is an automatic disconnect that disconnects your setup from the grid when the grid goes down. For example, Tthe new Enphase EQ8 micro inverters have an optional controller to do this. AFAIK the Enphase systems are the best selling micro inverter systems out there so new installations should have no issues being self sufficient during outages.

[rini17]

Anything that can be legally connected to grid has to be certified to stop supply back to grid in case of blackout. Is there any region where this isn't the case? I doubt it.

[blamazon]

Temporary solar panels are interesting to me - where I live there's a large chunk of the year where weekly solar output plummets. Stacking them in the garage overwinter is appealing, I might try this soon.

[cinntaile]

I would assume the risk of moving them each year is much bigger than any reduction in loss of function?

[blamazon]

Meh. Throw a moving blanket over it and bungee it on. Could weld up a cart to roll them all at once sideways. Could use spring casters like for gates as a suspension. Or hold them in place with low durometer rubber. Or both. Probably want them sideways for footprint in my garage anyhow. It would be fun to optimize the process more each year.

[bushbaba]

Why bother stacking them in the garage during winter. Are you afraid of winter panel damage?

[blamazon]

My property is very small and I currently use that back space to park my nice car during the winter so the daily is in the garage and the front driveway is easier to plow. Sounds weird to me typing it out, but I promise this arrangement makes more sense when living here.

[latchkey]

Definitely love me some Will Prowse. I bought one of the LiPo batteries he recommends for my campervan and have been super happy with it.