Electricity back to grid?

[eem2am]

Hello,

i wish to put electrical energy from solar panels back into the UK electricity grid.

does any reader know of an IC (chip) that can act as controller for this?

i am realizing that it will be some kind of current sensing inverter.

 

[svhb]

be aware of a number of the fact that you will probably need some certification before you can actual use it. If you just build your own, I think you can afford the costs that go with tha certicication process. If you do this for professional reasons, inform yourself properly, because in different countries, the rules can be different.

Also, you need to foresee a system that disconnects the inverter from the mains if the mains voltage disappears (for safety of the workers on the grid).

Stefaan

 

[FvM]

be aware of a number of the fact that you will probably need some certification before you can actual use it

I can't confirm this. For the operation of grid connected inverters, you have to keep the regulations of the local power utility company. For larger installations, they may require remote control to adjust the power production to the demand.

But the electrical instrumentation isn't basically different from electronic power consuming devices. Some are alreayd using active front ends, four quadrant inverters that can also feed energy to the grid. Power quality requirements must be taken into account, of course.

Regarding the orginal question, I'm not aware of simple controller ICs for grid connected inverters. Because the need for monitoring functions is comparable e.g. to VFD inverters, a single chip processor or DSP solution should be possibly preferred.

 

[snafflekid]

That's quite a task. I have seen inverter systems to do this and they are about the size of a furnace. And they are complex with many power semiconductor devices. I have read some articles on this and the power grids need to get smarter before such systems can be used on a large scale. All the inverters need to slave to the prime mover but might get unsynchronized and begin to follow one another and create some grid havoc or create "power islands". A low bit rate "heartbeat" signal may be applied to the power line for signaling and timing purposes of these inverters.