The grid tie inverter as the name suggests ties your power producing setup with the grid. This device is a power inverter which converts the DC power produced by the solar power shingles or panels, wind turbine and other renewable energy sources into power which can be integrated with the national grid which runs AC.
Therefore this is the device that will help you convert DC into AC and supply and sell to the electric company; according to the 1978 Federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) private citizens have the right to sell renewable energy to the local utilities company. This act was passed in the bid to achieve self sufficiency in energy sector during the 1973 petroleum embargo; anyone can sell excess energy to the electric company.
The grid tie inverter takes the direct current from the power sources like solar shingles and panels or wind turbine and converts it into alternating current which is the usual electric current you receive in your homes. This current is safe for to use for the appliances as AC is recommended to use in both of them.
The inverter turns 12 – 24 volts electricity which it gathers from the solar panels and wind generators and collected in the batteries into 120 volts, 60 cycles per second. This is the standard form of electricity that flows through the grid. Most wind and solar power systems come with the inverter which runs the appliances with this renewable energy.
However before you plug the grid tie inverter into the national power supply there are a few modifications required. The two systems have to be synchronized to cycle in the same phase, if the electricity from your inverter is going phasing up and that of the grid is phasing down then a grid tie inverter synchronizes them.
Just like water, electricity too flows from a higher level to a lower level or from a higher voltage to a lower voltage. Therefore when the high voltage power source is connected to a lower voltage battery a flow of current is setup and the battery begins to accumulate power. This is necessary to bring the voltage in your system higher than that of the grid so that the electricity begins to flow towards the grid.
A gird tie inverter monitors the flow of voltage in the grid and your system and then outputs slightly higher voltage than the grid. This causes current to flow into the grid and your electric meter runs backwards than forward you don’t owe money you make money from the electric company.
The reason why a grid tie inverter is costly is because it does so much work of matching cycles and controlling the output besides just converting the DC into AC. But in the long run the machine which seems costly now might turn out to be a money making machine which allows you to put the extra electricity made by your system onto the national grid and make money off it.
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