Good Afternoon Everyone!!!

I am a novice when it comes to electrical circuits much less adding a solar panel with battery back up for metering purposes. But it seems interesting. First off thanks in advance for letting me use your expertise for my hobby.

The type of Batteries I have are Ni-Cd 1.2v quick charge & discharge. 30 total.
The problem I am running into is finding a charge controller for these types of batteries. I do not want to overcharge them using the solar panels.

I have combined the batteries into a battery bank but I have not wanted to tie in the solar panels until I have acquired the charge controller.

In simple terms heres the "circuit" I am working on.
(solar panels) -> (charge controller) -> (battery bank) -> (Inverter) -> (breaker box)

Any ideas on how to have a seamless transition to and from the battery bank?

Thanks again, P

 

Start with the loads from that breaker box and work backwards to what you need to make that work. What's your budget for this enthusiasm?

 

By "breaker box" I hope you don't mean your house's electrical service entrance panel...

Your local building inspector and electric utility have something to say about that: Dont do it!

 

By "breaker box" I hope you don't mean your house's electrical service entrance panel...

Your local building inspector and electric utility have something to say about that: Dont do it!

They were my first concern. They said there was nothing wrong with net metering I just had to have it inspected.

 

They were my first concern. They said there was nothing wrong with net metering I just had to have it inspected.

And they will be looking for an "approved" grid-tie inverter, and other safety equipment which you likely cannot homebrew...

 

Start with the loads from that breaker box and work backwards to what you need to make that work. What's your budget for this enthusiasm?

Well im starting small just to see if I can get it to work. Then I may expand the size of the system in the future. I have a panel, batteries, and inverter. I just dont have the knowledge you guys do.

 

[QUOT="MikeML, post: 887369, member: 62047"]And they will be looking for an "approved" grid-tie inverter, and other safety equipment which you likely cannot homebrew...[/QUOTE]
Good information! This is why im coming to you guys. Anything else or any other resources you may know of would be greatly appreciated during this learning process?

 

Well im starting small just to see if I can get it to work. Then I may expand the size of the system in the future. I have a panel, batteries, and inverter. I just dont have the knowledge you guys do.

Give us all the details of the existing equipment, my clairvoyant mode is disabled.