Automatic Transfer Switch for Small DIY Solar Systems: How it works, Applications, and Installation
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
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Link to this transfer switch: www.mobile-solarpower.com/automatic-transfer-switches.html
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I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com
Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar
FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers:
Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :)
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
I like this so I bought one. First thing I will do is add a breaker or fuse between the ATS and INVERTER in case the ATS switch inside "fails" because if it does then AC could flow to CONVERTOR and boom.!!
I might even put a fuse on the AC inlet wires as well. FIRE and SAFETY are critical for my home.
When testing the ATS make sure that your Lower Voltage and High Voltage settings are Not too close because the ATS will flicker or switch several times between the inverter power and the grid power. Once the power is transferred to grid the voltage of your batteries will go right back up because the load is not longer on the inverter side and the ATS may transfer power back to the inverter This may happen several times in a few seconds and inverters that don't have a good protection board will fry! This will not happen if you voltage settings are far apart as for example LV set to 12v and HV to 14
Good point. Too bad this device doesn't have programmable delay for switching over to prevent this. Guess I could integrate an external time delay relay for switching back-n-fourth.
Would that not also cause arcing?
@@vaq137 Absolutely however I believe the unit has internal/built-in delays to minimize this alleged short cycling.
Wish I knew what you said. Lol. Still doing research and learning.
@@danemmerich6775dudes... I thought that's the purpose of the "ATS" functioning... shouldn't it separate (cutoff/cutoff) inverter long enough to rectify voltage so the inverter still recognizes the batteries voltages connected to it? Otherwise it will send grid voltage to the batteries!!!
I'm hoping you can send generator AC OUTPUT to GRID INPUT??? Then setup auto start generator circuit at a set battery voltage, a GREAT OPTION ON CLOUDY DAYS WHEN NO GRID AC IS AVAILABLE TO AUTO RECHARGE BATTERIES FROM AUTO STARTED GENERATOR!!!😅😅😅😅😅😮😮😅😅😅
I haved installed this ATS going on two years and it's working flawless.
Got a link where you bought it?
Thanks.
Did you put any protection device on your appliances? So it will be protected during switching?
This is an excellent solution for those of us that have our small solar systems mostly for grid-down and power outages and just need a few basic appliances hooked up. Good idea. Thanks.
Actually, it acts backwards from that. You would want the grid to power everything unless the grid goes down.
I'm not understanding the Appliances being hooked up. Is the appliance hook up for DC or AC? I thought the purpose of the Inverter was to power appliances. Is his inverter converting back down to DC?
@@jeremiahbowles5388
The DC terminals are to monitor the battery voltage.
This video was very helpful for concept for me. I have 4 100 watt panels with 4 122 amp hour lead acid batteries on my garage. My garage has a sub panel from my house for grid power. I wired this device directly through my 3 breaker sub panel box for power to my entire garage. Works like a charm. I will mention that I have never worked inside breaker boxes before. With the proper amount of research and safety measures, I was able to do this without an electrician.
That is encouraging......
The new ATS from them will be even better. It's going to have a manual switch as well that doesn't require you to mess with the cut off voltage. So if you notice your batteries are going down and you want to charge them already you could manually trigger the switch. Very useful for vanlifer's
So many superb components that can provide maximum flexibility. Even as the system upgrades, if the initial components were chosen correctly, incremental upgrades do not need to be painful. As always Will, thanks!!!
Is there a device where it can combine both the inverter and the grid when the inverter is not giving enough power? For example, the ATS switches between the two, and this makes sense for when the battery is low... but what about when the battery is high, but the inverter/solar panels/batteries cannot provide enough power to your load? Shouldn't there be a device which combines 2 different power sources?
I got 2 for $60.99 each on AliExpress. So basically got 2 for 1. Already got the first one and it works perfect. Thanks to this video
Can you send me a link of the aliexpress store?
Been running mine for a year and it made my hybrid solar system 100% standalone
This video, as with your other videos, conveys such positive energy that it motivates and excites my brain. I find myself smiling and laughing along with your contagious enthusiasm. I'd say you have great "preaching" skills, but I know that may offend your sensibilities. Damn Will, would it be so bad when what you preach is truth and touches people in a positive and helpful way. I'm not trying to offend, but you ARE the REAL DEAL!
I’ve been trying to work out what I’m going to do with my off grid system when batteries get low, thanks to your video on this device, I’ve now ordered one and am excited and relieved that I won’t have to worry about having to switch everything over manually in the middle of the night. Thankyou! Liked and subscribed
Ok, hooked it all up this morning to test. Although I connected the battery input to a variable voltage power supply so that I could test its reactions quicker than having to wait for the batteries to charge or discharge. It worked like a charm. I monitored the power output reading of the inverter to confirm the switching, along with the mechanical relay sound that the switch makes. Pretty cool.
I don't think I'd ever seen anyone get so excited about an automatic transfer switch 😄 You gotta admire the kid's enthusiasm.
True!
It's a new and especially useful affordable solution.
This is amazing piece of work. I have no more words to describe the awesomeness of this. Hopefully, a day will come in my life, when my electrical appliances will be powered on solar energy. Those bills will no more be a headache. Keep posting the amazing content.
Hi Will, I can break down my questions in the previous post below to something much easier. Hopefully my post will be helpful other interested users as well. After my post yesterday, I've done a ton of research and pretty much answered my own questions. Realizing I can use the EG4 Inverter as an "ATS" to use grid power if no solar or low batteries, I decided to go with an external ATS setup utilizing this Chinese MOES ATS as a "control" only to activate the coils to my ABB Forward/reversing contactor connecting my house loads to either utility or Inverter. I just feel this is much safer to protect the inverter and keep my 30A-40A house loads out of this ATS device and the EG4 Inverter. BTW I received this MOES ATS in the mail today and did an open inspection. It appears to be well built, all screws were tight preventing failure/heat however it is not UL listed and the load wires insulation don't appear to be rated for 600V like it should. The internal switching relays although fairly robust and i'm sure can handle 50A current, are not your typical 3pdt "beefy" contactor typically used in industry to switch large loads. The major flaw with this is they are using two separate relays connected to a common output. Should one of the two relays ever fail (And they eventually will) you will have the utility and Inverter outputs online simultaneously which you know can cause major issues including a potential fire.This is why I'll be using it as a control device and not for house loads directly. In my setup even if the ATS fails, my output contactor unit will never allow the house loads to be online simultaneously. Much safer! So this brings me to my one simple question for you:
1. Since I will be using the EG4 LifePower4 48V 100ah battery module in conjunction with my EG4 3K Inverter, what should I set the MOES ATS LV & HV DC voltage settings to switch from Inverter to Utility power? Someone suggested 44.8vdc switch to Utility and 58.4vdc switch back to Inverter. Please advise 🙂
Thanks!
How big is the risk for ... and in witch case would it be ?
"failing on the ATS where both utility and inverter online simultaneously back-feeding the inverter from the utility. Potential results being taking out the inverter creating a potential fire hazard."
You wrote a really good question and provided excellent context. Wish someone would reply or at this point would you just share your observations and experience. Thanks in advance.
@@NeoVdV You are exactly right, this is why I ended up returning this Chinese MOES transfer switch as it is prone to failure using two separate internal relays. If either of the two relays fail, it could be catastrophic resulting in phase to phase direct shorting and potential fire! The EG4 internally transfers the load to the utility should there be insufficient sunlight for PV power or battery power automatically. I ended up buying a manual transfer switch for in case the EG4 inverter failure so I can manually transfer my house loads to the utility bypassing the inverter. I can sleep much better at night now and it has worked flawlessly!
@@aljam99 I ordered one but canceled it after reading some previous remarks. Now happy I didn't buy it.
@@NeoVdV Good move! As you can see I messaged Will regarding this with some pretty technical questions but he never responded. I installed Electrical Industrial control systems and worked in Automation for most of my career. I honestly believe my question was a bit out of his realm of expertise. Good luck with your installation!
I bought this based off of your video, seems good with the exception of one painful issue. If your inverter errors or something it will not switch back to grid. That would have been the perfect missing feature.
You mean, if I turn off the inverter, it won't change to grid power? It only change when battery reached cutoff voltage?
@@ruchirahasaranga8076 If the inverter is running and was shut off it will not switch back to AC automatically, its all going dead. It will only switch in the opposite, if the AC goes down it switches to battery / inverter.
My solar/battery system is running my house ring main and lights, and right now the battery level has fallen off because the excessive cloud cover we have had this week, for the first in 10 months the system is not running. This device is just the ticket for sorting my problem out, even though I am adding more solar to the roof to help over come this problem, this device is just what I need, thanks Wil ! Update, Will, have now ordered one of these units £100 off eBay, that’s about 80 in your money!
Cool. This is more applicable to my situation than I expected it would be.
Unless I'm missing something, these cells seem perfect for my use case. I want to build a portable power system for low wattage 12V DC, maximum load maybe 100-200W, and that's including a safety factor, typical load
You probably built this system long ago, but the alternative is adding an AC-DC power supply set to a low voltage, so it will only supply power once your solar and batteries aren't.
Couldn't have hooked mine up without your video. Thanks so much. The instructions they provide with the unit are very poor. How you figured it out is beyond me. But mine is up and running and it is incredible. I don't have to worry about switching from public to solar anymore. It does it for me!
exactly what I was thinking of today friend. thanks for sharing it with us. I set up my small solar system to power 4 freezers in the garage. my current two 12V deep cycles will only provide about 6 -8 hours of power. I'll get that up with additional batteries as this is still in testing mode but the auto transfer switch BACK to the grid is so common sense when 99% of the time the grid is up!. I'll can't believe there are not several options. thanks again for your fine work
Hi Will, First of all thank you very much for your clear and concise videos on DIY solar. It was your videos that finally made me move forward on my DIY project! Been doing a ton of research and finally decided to buy one of these to automatically switch over to utility if the batteries get low while I wait for them to charge. I am an Electrician specializing in AC/DC controls & relay logic. That being said there were a small % of negative reviews on Amazon, mostly related to the output relays failing on the ATS where both utility and inverter online simultaneously back-feeding the inverter from the utility. Potential results being taking out the inverter creating a potential fire hazard. I found a way around this and am planning to use this device to control a forward/reversing contactor with mechanical interlock so it's physically impossible for both inputs to common outputs to home loads to be online simultaneously. I can sleep better at night knowing that this non-UL device won't burn down my house. Although the chances of failure are minimal, it is still possible. I'm providing all this background information which will lead to my questions for you..... I ordered this ATS, One EG4 3KW off grid 120v inverter, One EG4 Lifepower 100ah 48v battery unit and an ABB forward/reversing 120v coil contactor with mech interlock, still waiting on delivery. In the meantime I was drawing out a diagram on how I will be wiring everything and something occurred to me. The EG4 inverter has an AC grid bypass which can automatically switch over to grid if my batteries get low. The grid power can also charge the batteries if there is not enough solar. My house has grid power available as i'm in the suburbs. Apparently the EG4 has a built-in ATS. It also has a dry contact output form C relay in case the batteries get low to signal/operate an external device like the forward reversing contactor I purchased. Also to note I will not be permitting this installation and laying the panels in my backyard which can be removed anytime. I was planning on not using the AC input on my inverter leaving either solar or battery power. My questions are:
1. Do I even need this ATS device at all?
2. Does the EG4 have a built-in "ATS" per se as it has a bypass? (discovered this while reading the EG4 manual).
3. Would it be best to just use this ATS with my forward/reverse contactor setup or just use the EG4 internal bypass/ATS?
4. If I use the EG4 as an ATS to bypass solar, is it safe with respect to the load simultaneously being online with the grid power?
Sorry for the long winded post, hope i'm making sense. I have a feeling I purchased this contactor & ATS for nothing. Any advice as always would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Alex
Whats the Max output Load Power from this device ?
If your solar system is with 12V battery, 1500W Inverter
Grid power system is 220V
I am VERY interested in your post here please keep asking questions I for one read your post and find it very very interesting!!
Excellent information Will, I love the seamless transfer.
Just bought one off of Amazon. I should have it in a couple of days. Excellent video, thank you Will, you rock.
Here in Florida the state has a law that states FP&L has to pay net metered people the retail price of any electric sent back to the grid so getting a large full house system would be awesome but you have to have some way to still use your solar system when the grid is down so you can power your house but not feed back to the grid while the grid is down to prevent injury to anyone working of the grid. I think some sort of auto transfer switch could work if set up properly. That's the kind of system I would like to see on Will's chanel. If we can get enough comments or requests for something like that maybe Will Prowse will take up the challenge. Who's with me????
Excellent video and this looks to be just the gizmo I've been looking for (and the Amazon store ships to the UK, proper job :) )
Yes the EG4 3k unit I purchased automatically will switch to grid power if there is no solar or if your 48v batteries get too low without back feeding. The EG4 can you be programmed to do all this automatically. The power you produce is never online with the grid power completely separate. I’ve been using this for a year and a half and it works great. I also installed a manual transfer switch in case to e.g., four had an issue so my refrigerators don’t go dead. This was just a back up just in case best of luck!
In Texas, having a hard time keeping power on reliably with grid :/ Your videos are really motivating me to put something together for backup! Thanxs for sharing :)
Great video, very informative! Now I just need to figure out how to make this charge my Tesla...
Oh that's totally possible. Just need a large inverter. And hopefully a lot of solar power
Will Prowse
Does the transfer switch automatically revert to battery power if the grid goes down? I like the idea of having it cut out at 20% normally, to preserve the battery, but in a power outage situation I could use that extra 20% for backup. (Assuming that there is a low-voltage disconnect also built into the system, of course)
That's the problem with it. If grid had no power, the switch will automatically switch to grid regardless. Same with the inverter. If the inverter is off, the switch will still switch the inverter. It doesn't know if the grid or inverter is live, it just switches between the two depending on the voltage of the battery. Works great for that purpose. If you want to switch between the grid and solar depending on if one is live, you will need a standard grid tie transfer switch that is made for generators. They will switch to generator or inverter power the moment the grid goes down. The ATS in this video is mainly for solar power systems that expect the inverter and grid to be on 24/7.
Will Prowse
Bummer, in that case it might be better for me to make something to fool a standard transfer switch by making it think the grid is down. Those probably take more that 10ms to switch though...
Thanks for answering!
Well actually you can switch it over manually if the grid does go down. You can program the disconnect low voltage to a high number and it will stay connected to only solar. This switch is really useful for solar. And usually the grid isn't down. But if it is, you can manually switch over to solar if you have to. 99% of the time my system is running on solar only not rarely needs to switch to the grid.
Hi Will - wouldn’t the ground already be connected via the shore/grid power? Connecting it again to the inverter when you’re already plugged into the outlet seems unnecessary. Also if this switch works in reverse (ie grid power down, automatically switches to battery) which I believe it does, does it island properly? Assume it does?
I checked Amazon and read the negative comments. These were posted by electricians and engineers. Apparently there are two relays inside this unit and if one of them fails , it can feed grid voltage to your inverter and fry your inverter. They should be ganged together making it impossible to feed grid power back to the inverter. They said it was a dangerous device.
When you have a dual system in your house , you usually have to manually switch between grid and solar. There is a safety lock making it impossible to accidently turn on grid power and inverter power at the same time.
This auto switch can fail and there is nothing preventing the grid current from feeding backwards to your inverter.
What about a breaker on tbe inverter side so it would trip if grid power came through? Would that work?
@@daveyboy8907 I don't know how that would work. Since the inverter is supplying AC you can't use directional diodes. What kind of switch would sense the direction of power flow ?
I see another video to protects inverters from over currents.
You would us a 100% duty cycle breaker. or a fast acting fuse.
This is assuming that if the grid power got shunted to your inverter it would create a high current , the same as if you shorted the inverter output like the guy in the video.
You can also use a quick acting fuse. Or two fuses one on each line.
Don't really know if that would work without testing it out and frying an inverter.
Maybe you can find out about this somewhere on line ? I would be interested to know.
@@daveyboy8907Might also want a breaker/fuse on the grid leg in case grid goes down while sun is powering inverter and somehow an internal malfunction causes that power to backfeed the grid
@@jeffbguarino I will do some testing I have a old cheap inverter I could sacrifice .lol
I purchased one. The ATS fed 240V mains directly into my Giant 3000W pure sine wave inverter, the first tell were the capacitors exploding. Want an inverter that sounds like a shoot out with .22LR rounds? Need the excitement of smoke, sparks and flames, then this little baby, made strictly to comply with the Chinese electrical standards 'U Like Explosions' (ULE), is the one for you.
I bought this unit works great, smooth switch over, but it does not monitor the inverter out put, because if the inverter goes down it stay with the battery side, shame it can’t detect ac voltage has failed on the inverter side! Ar well maybe they include this in their mk2!
I had the same question. I think to COMPLETELY protect things like a running fridge, it’s best to connect a wall wart to the inverter which will give you something like 14vdc output and connect THAT to the battery monitor plug rather than your battery bank. If your inverter happens to pop a fuse or blow a mosfet if your away for a day or two and it crashes…the batts will stay high since there is no load…the ATS stays on the inverter which is putting out nothing…and you come back to spoiled food. if the batteries get low, the inverter will shut down on low voltage anyway and then switch to grid. Why not just monitor the inverter output via a dc converter? That way…if the batteries lose enough voltage, the inverter shuts down on low voltage and ATS sees 0 and it switches to grid. If the batteries are fine but the inverter blows up, the ATS will see 0 from the wart and switch to grid. Make sense? Win win.
@@Msquared299 Because by the time many inverters shut down the batteries are well below 12/24volts. We want it to switch at whatever voltage we choose.
Mr Prowse. I'm a huge fan, I got your book on Amazon. Love it! I want to ask you a question please. I'm in the information gathering phase pre solar plunge. I have everything lined out with the exception of one thing that puzzles me... I'm trying to figure out how to tie my solar system In to my fuse panel to power my rv? Please answer when you are able, and great job keep up the great work !
If you’re not going to pull huge loads, you can do what I did. I wired an extension cord to a 20A gfci outlet, plugging the extension cord into my inverter. Then I plugged a 30A to 20A adapter into the gfci and plugged the RV cord into that.
Viola! Full 120V service, safe, wicked inexpensive.
You could plug directly to the inverter the same way, but my inverter isn’t near the cabinet where the RV cord is and I liked the added GFCI function inline.
I have the exact same question and I am also in the beginner learning stage.
I've started with a 206 ah SOK lithium battery. After I bought the SOK I realize I must change out my distribution center to accommodate a lithium battery.
I want to create enough power to run an AC unit, cause this travel trailer is my home and I'm in a hot climate.
It's been a year since you posted this comment. If you could slide me any feed back I would appreciate any knowledge you can offer. TKS
This is basically what you call a UPS. Very intricate UPS but still a proper ups with good transfer times
My Victron Multiplus developed an issue recently where the automatic transfer switch in it was tripped the mains power. I ordered one of these devices and just installed one a few days ago - works brilliantly. Thanks so much for the information
Question buddy I noticed you use Victron. Can this device in the video be used in a motorhome as a mains transfer switch so when off grid it uses a inverter to power sockets in the van , but when back on grid power it switches back over ? Or have I got the wrong idea about this
Yes it looks well constructed, handles heavy gauge wires.
BUT has anyone looked inside, the unit has 2 independent relays rated 250vAC 50A / 24vDC 50A there in lies the concern. If a single relay should fail half the circuit will be on the Public Power feed and the other on the Inverter feed with all grounds tied together.
Also no two relays will switch exactly in sync at the same moment.
Not much in the way of instructions, no UL/ETL/CSA certification, just FC CE (China Export) on front. Also no tech support info, address or mfg. contact in the documentation or on the physical unit.
Anyone experience a relay failure or issue with switching operation?
you're making very valid points, also saw someone on amazon voicing similar concerns with this device. Have you run into a better unit for this purpose that does not have the inherent issues you mention? I'm looking for something that will not fry my expensive inverter out of the blue one day.
Can this be used in reverse, can I use grid power and it auto switchs to solar in the event of a power outage?
Yes it can do that.👍🏾
You can also use an inverter-charger for that. I use that for my server's UPS setup. I have 4 hours of battery backup and if power goes out it switches to battery. But this device could work for that too. You could probably even set it up to auto start a generator. That would be kinda fun actually.
DUDE THANKS A MILLION!!!!! THIS IS SOMETHING I BEEN LOOKING FOR A LONG TIME I BE ORDERING ONE NEXT WEEK!! YOU SAVE MY BATTERIES ,I KILL A FEW BECAUSE I DONT HAVE A CUT OFF WHEN THE BATTERIES ARE LOW
That's really neat. You could probably modify this to start a generator too if you were fully off grid. Or use it without a secondary AC source just to save the batteries from over discharge. Been meaning to do something like this with my shed's solar setup since right now if the battery gets too low the only thing that will save the batteries is the inverter itself shutting down, after beeping loudly for a day or two. LOL. I never let it get to that point though. Arduino can be used to do lot of this stuff too and it's fairly simple. I just need to sit down and actually do it.
Did you eventually do this? Because I want to do the same. I am in a position where I have zero power from the grid in the UK. The weather can be tosh for solar panels so having a remote start generator would be a great solution.
Dumb Question: is there something like this, but the reverse, that switches to batteries when the grid is down? (yeah, I know, I'm in the wrong place...this is for mobile, not residential...)
Could you just reverse the "Public Power" and "Inverter" for this device?
@@lowflyte Since it switches based on "battery voltage", you'd need an AC to DC converter that you can measure instead of a battery. Any 12v power brick should work, but a USB charger should also if it can read as low as 5v. However, you'll lose your low battery cutoff, so make sure you have that elsewhere (like the inverter Will mentioned in the video).
@@dividion8102 you shouldn’t lose your low battery cutoff this way. The inverter shuts down on low battery anyway…cutting off the AC/DC converter and ATS switches to grid.
can this be used with a generator set up, or do you have any recommendation for something better
That's what I'm thinking too. Unplug that transfer switch from the grid and plug it into my generator to power my circuits and charge my batteries when grid is down and not enough sun. I wonder how this switch would handle dirty power from a traditional generator?
I enjoy attending Will Prowse University Classes. Great job on this. I NEED something like this to reduce the expense of my AC unit running up my electric bill in the summer.
Yes indeed
A lil late for an electrical consultation, I messed up and stuck the fork in the electrical socket again, other than that great advice!👌
I'll pass. Lol.
whtmikeg30vanlife at least he gives his honest opinion and does not fear losing face. I enjoy watching him getting excited about his new toys. I'd be super proud if he were my son and 2 of my kids have Master degrees. He has really helped me a lot with my solar and is always open to answering my questions. Love this kid. Lol.
This is fantastic, I have the house with 1kw solar that is about to be replaced with 6kw plus 10kwh batteries.
I will take the 1kw system to our shed and use one of these to connect this up with the solar from the house and another battery to run the tools in the shed and the swimming pool pump, it should never have to switch but an excellent option.
Thanks for the review Will.
Every time I think I’ve watched them all, I stumble across another gem!
Hey! Thanks! This video is exactly what I was looking for as I found that transfer switch on WISH. I am building a power wall starting with around 1600 18650s. I will now proceed to watch ALL your videos! Thanks man!
Very informative and to the point with his videos very impressed I recommend highly finding as many as you can if you want to improve your knowledge in this field. 👍
These are an excellent unit Will, have been experimenting with it trying to get it working in reverse will share what i found out. Firstly the device will automatically switch to public power > output when powered down by default. Initial step only needed once - make sure the display shows the left arrow Output output setup and voila. a simple ups. To return to normal energise the unit again using the same relay to feed the unit once again and it should remember preset settings and switch back to the inital position.
Sounds long winded but it does work and well.
Cheers, Steve.
This works as described. But in an RV, it's a different environment than assumed here. The RV has accessories like overhead lights, heater fan, refrigerator that run on 12vdc that all run off the house battery. RVs have a 12 "converter" (12 battery charger) running of either generator or shore power to the battery too. The idea is to charge up your battery and run the lights when you are plugged in to shore power or your generator runs. The source of AC is selected by a Transfer switch. All that works great, but when we add solar the picture changes. Now we have a third source of AC, the inverter. We need a 3 way transfer switch. And we need to rewire the AC into the converter so it can only come from either the generator or shore power, never from the inverter. We can add those functions to this transfer switch but we need access to internal signals telling when it wants to switch, which it decides to do based on battery voltage. If we have that signal, we can run the converter from either shore or generator power but not the inverter, using just a simple additional relay. Now I will go to another topic. That will work, but you may want to rethink whether you need a generator in the RV if you have a big enough solar system. I'm facing that decision right now. My generator needs service, expensive service. I can buy another big 200AH battery and add more solar panels for a price similar to the price of generator service, and not need the 2.8kw generator. In emergencies, I can recharge my battery from my car engine but that is slow and expensive, so again, for emergency only. That's my thinking, remove the 160 pound generator brick. So I would use this switch in place of my existing ac transfer switch, but put my inverter on the old "generator" wiring, and run my converter off the shore power only. I hope this works. I am also considering putting in a high current alternator (mine is 90A, and they make 250A ones) -and DC/DC charger to up the charge current from the engine, maybe. They are expensive and have a bad reliability rep. We'll see....
I just love your video's because of the how to and shown to how to do it step by step. This product you just shared is what I have been searching for for a long time to be grid tied but to not feed back to the grid during a power outage...Love it. I guess the short explanation of how it keeps from back feeding into the grid is the power wirer source of the unit that picks up power FROM your house is shut off during a power outage and the unit will not even try to connect to the grid because there is no power....Hard to believe to keep from back feeding could be so simply Many thanks for all your sharing video's. Getting excited about Solar kind of reminds me when I was a teenager and discovered new found thrill of dating...BIG LOL and they both can hurt or kill you and with both you can end up broke.
I just got one of these today (New Year present to myself). The only downside I can see to using it is... if you are using your solar system as a power backup, you risk the possibility of this being on the low end of the cycle when power goes out. On the upside, you'll get a lot more use out of your system by running it every day instead of just having it sit there all charged up and no power outages.
I have been using this swtch since I wathced your video about a year ago It works great. The only commetnn I have is that it measures the battery voltage about 0.5 volts lower than so I have had to set my min and max switch voltage accordingly.
watch this vid
got this Automatic Transfer Switch
set ATS up
its works a treat
Installed!!! and working great. I like when powered off it goes to grid power. Hope your getting a kick back from the company.
Thank you!!
Isn't it so cool?! I have mine hooked up 24/7 and it rocks!
And yeah I got a kickback. Thank you :)
Charles it do the same thing when the grid is down?
My brother used this switch and it failed to switch over, it turned off the inverter after the inverter detected low battery power. The company did not have an explanation for this problem . My brother ended up returning the switch. If you have a lot of battery power it works well, however if your battery goes lower than your inverter accepts the inverter shuts off. This will drain you battery if you have a small battery system. As always thank you for posting.
That's not an automatic transfer switch problem. Sounds like you need a low voltage cutoff on the inverter. And yes if your system is undersized they will not work with this. No problem :)
@@WillProwse Actually, it sounds like the ATS low voltage transfer point was set lower than the Inverter's Low Voltage disconnect. Setting the ATS LV point higher would solve this, right?
So fun to watch your stuff!
This is just what I need to learn about right now, since I'm scrambling to get a backup system in place for the rolling outages that seem to have started already.
haha, the excitement on your face when the ATS switched supply 😀Thanks for this video
Thank you for the video I was wondering how to set up something like this to my solar system, here in Puerto Rico the lights go almost every day this is a game changer for me, your video really helped me very much, thanks for taking the time and making this educational video.
You can do the same thing with low forward drop Schottky OR'ing diodes for $2 and it is fully analog so BOTH will contribute. IF you are worried about saving money from the grid buy a $5 knife switch and figure out the best time of day to 'throw the switch'
This is so cool! The automatic transfer switch is the answer I’ve been looking for! For all of the reasons you mention in this video. Love it!
This is FANTASTIC. I'm building a solar trailer, mostly for power outages, but it's going to be generating power all the rest of the time too. Been looking for a seamless way to use that power on a daily basis, and this looks like it'll do the job.
you don't end that transfer witch if you already have an inverter charger and solar setup. Inverter charges do the same thing as for auto transfer. juts means if you shore power, it will switch on the DC Power
@@1Martyn1 I did a transfer switch as a solid disconnect between my solar power system and my grid wiring. Keeps the utilities and red tape off my back.
@@om617yota8 very interesting
An FYI. On GFCI ground on using this switch box for an garage on and off grid application. After putting in a solar system. After putting in a power converter. After putting in an 110 breaker box. After putting in an earth ground. My GFCI tester still said not grounded wright. The power converter, the 110 box, the switch box all earth grounded. Still an ground problem. My solar has an 12 volt positive fuse box and a separate negative bar. I took to fix the GFCI problem by taking a wire from the negative 12 volt bar and connecting it to the earth ground. After so, my tester for my GFCI said all works perfectly. If you have the same problem, hope this helps. Be safe.
Good Morning Will…..
I’ve been learning a lot from your videos and have been purchasing components based on your reviews,
I’m needing to purchase a stand alone, auto gen start…..my system is being built on a utility truck. 12 volt, 6 deep cycle lead acid battery bank, will have two solar panels on the roof, possibly going for 250 watts.
I have the DC to DC charger, and the solar controller you mentioned, but my utility bed will have a dedicated 4,500 watt generator built in, and need to be able to top off the battery bank if it gets low
I like the idea of the inverter with built in automatic transfer switch.
New to researching this stuff, but you are a fount of information. My application would be to switch from grid / solar (I have 9.9kW Enphase system on roof) to battery when PGE here in CA decides to cut the power. All I really want to do is keep the fridge running any maybe a few lights. TV would be a bonus. I think 24 hours would be enough based on experience, but if it's a bad outage then maybe keep the fridge running for 2-3 days. It would be great to keep the solar active, but I understand this might get expensive.
I went the easy route as I'm just learning solar and I wanted something duel purpose for my RV. I purchased the Bluetti AC200 and have 600w of panels. Is there a way of connecting something like this using the Bluetti? By the way, I love your channel and am convinced this is something that should be taught in a high school math class(I was a teacher for 27 years and wish I could have told my kids about this stuff)!!!
I just received mine. Need to do some work next weekend to test this. Thanks for the great video mate!
It is not advisable to twist the earth grounds together and tape them after you have twisted them together. What happens when the temperature rises, the adhesive from the electrical tape melts into the wires and the adhesive cause resistant to increase and the grounds do not become very good and if ground is needed it does not work very well. The National Electric Code does not recommend using electrical tape instead of a wire nut.
I was considering using this for an emergency circuit for my home.
At first I bought a 2000w inverter to connect to my Prius charging system via the 12v battery to use as a generator but I thought about just getting a bunch of solar panels to be the primary power. My one concern is I want to add to my array as I can afford it and pull more and more power off the grid. Which probably means, adding multiple inverters. But I also want to pull from the Grid when I need it. The net metering rules for our power company have not been that favorable, they do not want to play nice.
This is exactly what I've been looking for. I actually have a Reliance one for awhile now but just haven't hooked it up yet. Install looks fast with this one. . Enjoy your channel!
Hi Willis there also a switch for solar battery charger to grid-tie inverter when the battery is full. Ps thanks for this tip it helps very much.
Great help! This product was exactly what I was looking for and ended getting it over at amzn. Waited few weeks and finally came today.
- chris (Philippines)
This is exactly what I need for my off grid setup. Thanks again Will. I am planning to use this setup especially for my air conditioning unit over the summer.
This is perfect for me! Why haven't i heard of this when i have been trying to find something similar for years :D
I mean i guess it's not exactly perfect because nothing is :D if it was it would turn off the inverter instead of just keeping it in standby :D
The two relays in this unit arent switched with any delay, i had that exact transfer switch and for a brief moment it connected my inverter to grid power and the bang was deafening, and my inverter was in flames, molten metal flew out of the air vents. Id definitely not recommended this. Use the tomzn breaker style motorised transfer switch, wire your inverter to the "normal" side, and wire mains to the backup power side, and use your inverter shutoff or bms shutoff settings. When inverter power isnt available it will automatically move to grid, and when inverter becomes online again it will prioritise that.
Hi Will, I've found your videos to be extremely helpful in getting me from a novice level with no understanding to feeling semi-confidant while I listen to you discuss topics.
Could you please address if an ATF would function with the Titan system and how that would be setup.
Many thanks!
Alternative would be having an AC-DC power supply with the voltage set to the minimum you want your batteries to discharge to. Won't draw (much) current from the grid until both your solar and battery are depleted.
I didnt have time to watch the whole video but this looks great from what I see. I'll have to come back and take a closer look along with my own research on this product. Thank you
Sounds like something I could use in what I am building. 900 watts of panels in the backyard and a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter that I want to use primarily to run my pool pump. My original plan was to run the pump out of the inverter until the batteries hit a cutoff but this would allow me to auto-switch to house power.
I know I'm 4 years off, but you're the most comprehensive person I've found on the topic:
Would you be able to set this kind of thing up to have it connected to a solar array and a gas generator as well? If not, what would be a better option?
Learning how to do this to save money and do it myself. This is a big help thanks! :)
I think you can do this with a device like an Ecoflow and set it's charge level to like 20-70%. Attach a 12/24 volt battery to it's DC-in port. Charge that battery with solar.
Attach your devices to the EcoFlow and they will be powered from solar when there is enough of that and from AC when SOC goes below charge level.
This is awesome! I was looking for something similar as a back-up on grid for winter months. Thanks!
Is there a transfer switch that could balance surge loads?
Such as when a surge would normally shut down the inverter, the transfer switch could use grid energy to feed the surge, then pass the load back to the inverter.
Maybe a farfetched, high-tech piece of equipment.. or something easy to program in these new cheaper options!
Christ I never noticed that rad hairline. What a performer you are Will. Bravo.
Amazing at this is, every computer UPS does this. I use a UPS connected to the batteries to run my appliances. Lowest cost of any options. Been doing this for years.
Not really - what UPS has solar input?
@@kurtmccann137
Any ups that you connect solar power to... you can even gang a usual battery array to a “dead” ups you’ve pulled the battery out of as long as the load isn’t ever going to exceed the original rating of the ups.
I just did it. Solid.
I don't know if you are monitoring this video, but showing us how a solar generator like the Bluetti AC200 could work with this would be nice.
Thanks
Hey Will, Ran across a neat product you might want to check out. Gardner Bender Liquid Electrical tape, you paint on.... limited applications but maybe gives you flexibility in situations where it is hard to wrap regular electrical tape around a wire, where physical access and space is limited. They have two colors, Black and White. Cheers
Awesome. Great for cloudy periods.
I learnt a lot from you man. Thank God for you!!!! God bless!
Will, what a great informative video! I love your tests, and enjoy the entire video immensely. I will place this one in my inspiration RV folder, which is a high 5 star rating.
Hello Will, Thank you for the explanation and the time you take to make these educational videos for us that are still learning how to connect a solar power system. My question is:
1. Can this ATS be used with a generator, if not what transfer switch can i use to charge my battery if my battery is depleted.
Where I live there is no public utiity electricity. Hope to hear from you soon
Backfeeding the grid was an "Old problem" common sine-matching inverters solved nearly 20 years ago.
That's something I've been waiting for, will build small solar system this summer:)
Just bough this from Amazon on your recommendation....great video
I just got one of these love it so far
Great Video Mate, this device is exactly what I need and appreciate the nice walkthrough!
Please review the newest version of ats: MOES Smart Automatic Transfer Switch for Off Grid Solar Wind System, Dual Power Controller 80A 8Kw Provides Automatic Power Switching Between Inverter and AC 110V, 220V, APP Remote Control with Hub