Solar Power and X10

[JeffVolp]

About a year ago I purchased several 100W solar panels for emergency power in case the fan got dirty.  With the semi-lockdown here I finally got around to connecting them up.

We already have a bank of 4 deep discharge batteries for the UPS that powers our Electronics Circuit, so I decided to configure the four panels in series.  Then I could either use them to charge the battery bank if power goes away or feed a line-tie inverter to supplement our normal electrical consumption.

I had been concerned that the line-tie inverter would cause a problem for X10 operation, but I was surprised to find the XTBM-Pro registered absolutely no noise from it.

Since fees associated with net metering are more than I spent on the panels and inverter, I decided to set the solar angle to produce maximum output during the warmer months when our A/C is running most of the day.  But even at the present sub-optimum angle, the panels are delivering between 200W and 320W most of the day.  And X10 devices continue to operate perfectly.

Jeff

[Tuicemen]

Most pure sine wave inverters are very good with X10 creating noise free power the grid tie inverters I would susspect would have even stricter power quality control. I get no noise from my magnum pure sine wave inverter, wish that I could say the same for my Generac backup generator.  However the noise from it is minimal.
I have found a couple of things that do produce enough noise that cause issues. These are my Keurig coffee maker and an old Laptop power supply. My coffee maker turns off my X10 controled radiant floor my laptop prevents my outdoor furnace from coming on ( if it is off)

[JeffVolp]

Follow-up:  I noticed that our "lawn" (20 x 40 foot patch of grass) was dry.  So the morning irrigation was not working. I checked signals with the XTBM-Pro, and found the XTBR only delivering about 3V instead of pegging the meter at 9.99V.  The solar inverter connects to the same circuit the XTBR is plugged into.  Isolating it with my prototype XTB-F15 has everything working again.  So while the inverter was not a noise source, it turned out to be a VERY serious signal sucker.

Jeff

[Brian H]

Thank you for the information. That was a serious signal sucker.
I am glad you got it working.