Crossy

We’re about 15 minutes out from landing. The Pilot tells us to look down and that we are passing over the co-pilots house. the copilot was happy to be coming home and to see his wife and kids. If we looked carefully, we could see the house and amazingly enough the blue van in the driveway. A minute or so passes and the Pilot comes back on, “I am told he does NOT have a blue van.”

I'm in two minds here. The gallant-knight in shining armour on a big white charger (pun intended) in me would immediately gallop to her assistance. The sceptic in me says "honey trap", get me out of my vehicle then bop!! In a temple parking with lots of people about the knight wins hands down, on a dark country road ... This is what Roadside-Assistance is for.

Depending upon the installed firmware and settings the meters can monitor and record many parameters. Common settings would include: - Import and Export energy Time of Use (on/off peak) usage Pressing the blue(?) button switches between at least two display modes.

Latest list from PEA 04 Inverter List Update 2024-05-08.pdf

And then ...

Latest PEA approval list. 04 Inverter List Update 2024-05-08.pdf

For information, this is the latest list of PEA approved inverters. It's good to see an increasing number of hybrids being approved including my intended Deye 5kW units. 04 Inverter List Update 2024-05-08.pdf

If he's grid-tied and exporting the meter is quite capable of recording the energy exported. There have been other reports of the second meter channel recording solar export by default, and even a couple of reports of customers being billed for that exported energy!

Thanks for this, this is the first report we've had of actual serious consequences from spinning the meter backwards. I'm not sure about the legality of the PEA actually damaging private property but the home owner permitted it so ... I would certainly not recommend the owners of large systems relying upon simply not getting caught which is the main reason we are in the process of upgrading to hybrid inverters with energy storage, if it were grid-tie our system would be well outside the allowable system parameters. I suspect he's well above the 5kWp permitted for single-phase grid tie, maybe that's what upset PEA, looks like two arrays of 18 panels each. By the way, it's not exactly difficult to replace those cut off cables and bring the array back into service. He would need a new hybrid inverter and energy storage of course.

It is important to understand the difference between exporting to a live grid (no hazard) and back-feeding a dead grid (hazard to linemen). All domestic-level grid-tie inverters implement anti-islanding which will kill the inverter should the grid go down. I'm not aware of any instances where a correctly installed grid-tie inverter has caused a hazard to linemen. There are documented instances of inverters that are not intended to grid-tie and domestic generators being incorrectly wired to back-feed and worker deaths have been reported. It is vital to use the correct type of inverter and connect in the approved manner.

With no cash how to I buy the nice Thai policeman his "tea"?? Seriously, I'm >90% digital payments of various flavours, even the local Mom-n-Pop shop and food shed have PromptPay QR codes displayed. But I always carry enough cash for a tank of diesel, just in case.

Yeah, even AmEx who were the stalwarts in the TC world no longer issue new ones.

You do realise you are in a sub-forum here? The forum Home is here: https://aseannow.com/ There have been some adjustments to the layout recently which may have confused your bookmarks.

You would need a hybrid inverter and batteries to provide UPS functionality.

You could use a generator transfer switch and a timer for automatic money-saving. Would that then be an automatic switchover switch switch? Note that while safe if done correctly, switching between your supplies may not be 100% legal.

We all know that electricity and water don't mix

1. Possibly, 2. Probably not. But you would have to do the sums particularly the relative consumption between peak and off-peak times. BUT PEA have (or at least had) a policy whereby if you had an EV you could get a second meter (which could be TOU) so you could charge on cheap energy during the off-peak times, this definitely would save you $$$ because your normal consumption would remain on your existing meter. You should talk to your local PEA office to check what deals are available.

When I was working in India our place in Delhi had 3-phase. By the TV were 3 outlets, one on each phase. Plug the TV into the "best" phase.

At the sort of power levels we are talking about you just connect the inverter as if it was a regular appliance, you could even (temporarily) put a plug on it and plug it in to an outlet. Purely for testing of course Important Note: A domestic grid-tie inverter will not output anything unless it is connected to a live grid (island-protection) so even if you put a plug on it there's no danger of electric shock, unlike a generator which will happily kill you!

@Bosscat Do you have any actual 3-phase appliances? You could consider using 3 x single-phase regulators like @carlyai suggests (not a single 3-phase one) to regulate your supply or maybe go for 3 x single-phase protectors and retain the 3-phase one for any 3-phase appliances.

By PM please, not on the open forum.

There are certainly solar power / solar assist A/Cs about, but they are not cheap and not very available here. Your best bet would be to install a grid-tie solar inverter which would offset daytime usage whether A/C or not. If you have an old type spinning-disc meter it would go backwards if you made excess power (not permitted of course) A 24kBTU unit will suck about 800W on average when down to temperature so adding a 1kW grid-tie solar inverter and 3 x 340W panels would get you in the right ball-park and not break the bank. Maybe go a bit larger and offset all your daytime consumption. Personally, I'd go for a mid-range grid-tie inverter of about 3kW (have a look at Sofar units) starting with 5 or 6 x 340W panels and see if the "free" energy bug bites. Are you going to DIY or use an installer??

If you believe your contactor is faulty you should replace it with exactly the same type (all the numbers and letters specify coil voltage, contact form etc.). What does your contactor actually do in your system? If it's an under/over voltage protection there should be a controller too where you can set the trip voltage.

In an EV you (or your dog) can sit in the cool for as long as you like without upsetting anyone with fumes