@sheddi OK, but where's the breaker that guarantees that?

@pfriedma @f4grx @balkonsolar

@BalooUriza
The inverter itself has afi/gfi and a breaker. Someone mentioned the limit is < 5a so it's supplemental to the circuit breaker on the panel.
@derdo @f4grx @balkonsolar

@pfriedma That's considerably less terrifying but everybody is seeing why this just screams unsafe to me right?

@f4grx @balkonsolar @derdo

@TechConnectify Finally got to watch it (okay, half way in but still) - this is a brilliant rundown of the facts. Very, very well done!

/e: Okay, I did not expect that ending. That part was no less brilliant than the techical part. Stay strong over there and take care!

@BalooUriza
Yes and no. If it was just a dumb device spitting out voltage yes but the tech to do fancy safety operations has existed for quite some time. Like, I've seen systems that push kVs through a cable but the instant the supply defects capacitance changes (like from your hand approaching it) the voltage is cut. So a lot less terrifying when you realize what controls are in place. You *can* do these things safely, there are just more factors to consider.

We have a back feed generator interconnect system at home. It has a hardware interlock for the mains breaker to prevent it from energizing the lines feeding the house because its purpose is to run when grid power fails. Within the house, the breakers do their thing, but realistically the inverter is much more sensitive to faults. The last power outage was how we found out there was a current leak in the kitchen, because the inverter alarmed when that circuit was enabled (fixed now) even through the GFCI outlets appeared to be fine on mains power.


@f4grx @balkonsolar @derdo

@pfriedma Yeah, the system my neighbor used was similar but the back feed generator interconnect was to select the locally generated solar and wind resources, fall back to the grid power as a source, or use grid power as a sink, and that was *mostly* automatic, and using contactors. Knowing how that system worked is why I'm looking at this plugin PV and thinking the only saving grace in terms of fire safety is that it's 5A.

@BalooUriza @pfriedma @f4grx @balkonsolar @derdo The entire balcony solar ecosystem seems to run on "trust me, bro": https://akkoma.pikaböl.se/notice/B0R5fpXelwpqdMCPKa
Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm not letting any equipment designed with an energised male power plug into my home. If you want local generation, you have a professional wire it into the breaker panel with lots of warning labels.

Then again, my balconies face east and west and the sun hasn't been above the tree tops since October, so I'm not exactly in the target market anyway.

@BalooUriza
Yeah the constraint of "at least half as much current as the smallest likely breaker" is doing heavy lifting for fire safety... In the US it would have to be either like 500w or the "plug" would likely want to be a 5-20 to prevent you from e.g plugging a 20a supply into a 10a circuit (though even in this case the inverter could detect a overheat condition based on change in resistance and trip...I don't know that I'd trust just that if I had particularly flammable wires like knob and tube in walls with blown insulation)

@creideiki OK, good, so it's not just me and my NEMA-style wiring idea of electricity that's making me squeamish to this idea, since I need a little more than "trust me bro" on "things that'll kill me faster than an Oklahoma ambulance shows up"

@f4grx @balkonsolar @pfriedma @derdo

@BalooUriza
I think the thing to remember is that the plug isn't actually energized the way you're thinking. It plugs in as a consuming device *first* then "negotiates" then pushes power back. When unplugged it's not still live, it's like you unplugged a TV.
@creideiki @f4grx @balkonsolar @derdo

@creideiki That said, solar's been good enough for long enough now that you might be able to at least cover vampire power with solar with an east-west exposure. I mean, look at the tropical paradise of Portland, Oregon: The light rail trains, rail/foot/road traffic signaling systems and the street lighting on the central transit mall (several kilometers long and two blocks wide, a couplet) is powered exclusively by a single SW-into-a-hill solar array and battery station.

@creideiki Realistically that thing's never going to ever see direct sunlight before 10 AM or after 7PM in the middle of summer, and in the winter it's only gonna get thick overcast light from about 8AM to 4PM, and it's still powering all that. And this isn't a new install, that's like, 2006.

@pfriedma Yeah that's still coming back around to "trust me bro" on something that's getting plugged in downstream of all circuit protection and provides an energized male plug.

@creideiki @f4grx @balkonsolar @derdo

@techindepth27 @TechConnectify some previous videos were on peertube though a mirror :

@BalooUriza Portland is still 15 degrees south of me. The southernmost part of Sweden is pretty much at the same latitude as the southernmost part of Alaska, and my latitude is within easy driving distance south from Anchorage.

@TechConnectify If you put some sheep on the solar farm, you don't even have to mow the grass.

@TechConnectify I was curious how a one-and-a-half hour video about solar panels is on track to hit a million views within the first day.

Now I know.

@TechConnectify I just finished watching all the way to the very end of this video. I have a lot of thoughts, but at least the instance I am on has a character limit.

TLDR: I think this is a great video that is very informative and brings up a lot of good points especially at the end.

About the partisan political section in my experience there is a lot of dehumanization and not trying to have empathy for other people going on. I will do my best to get the people I know to think about others.

@TechConnectify this is your best video yet. The most important, too. Good job, Alec! Nay, brilliant job!

@BalooUriza
If your question is "where is the device that guarantees the inverter cuts off if it loses connection to the grid", it's internal to the inverter. All grid tie inverters should have this function.

I don't know the detailed German spec for these things but the British one is Engineering Recommendation G98.

https://dcode.org.uk/assets/250307ena-erec-g98-issue-2-(2025).pdf

@pfriedma @f4grx @balkonsolar