Reset for Solar Breaker

So, the relay would reset that breaker after a delay? I think I would probably energize the relay from the batteries or inverter. Previously, the breaker in the main panel and the secondary PV breaker were tripped. Thanks.

No. The breaker being reset by hand re-energises the relay.

There is the problem. I am looking for something that would automatically reset the breaker in the event that I am not here to reset it myself. Is there anything that would do that? Thanks.

If the breaker had opened on a fault downstream, then closing it again automatically wouldn't achieve anything, 'cos it would open again.

What I have suggested would save the food whyever the breaker opened.

So,at.night it switches to mains, then back to solar at sun up?

Lyn..........The main and solar breakers stay on all the time. The power is directed to 6 different circuits when the PV is producing power. At night the system draws strictly from the grid. If there is a power failure, with no power from the grid, the battery backup kicks in.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. It looks like the best option is for me to install a monitoring system that will advise me of the status of the system. Any suggestions on what type of monitoring system will be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Don

Actually, does this not require at least two relays? One is a NC relay, and the other a NO relay? This device should at least prevent a direct short between the PV inverter and the mains. Perhaps I missed something in what you stated, Margaret.

That is the answer, a simple 2 pole changeover relay with mains supply on the "de-activated" side and solar "mains" on the active side.

Relay coil to be supplied from the solar "mains".

This could even be via a full wave rectifier and a suitable transformer if the relay is not a mains AC voltage one. It could even then be a DC relay, with full wave rectification and smoothing...

Contacts must be rated for mains AC of course at the current needed or more.

But do not use the DC solar battery power directly as this does not tell you if the inverter is running or not.

The losses involved with a big freezer with no power are such that it might even be a better idea to supply mostly from the mains, unless a power cut, then supply from solar.....but if the freezer is well insulated, then it can survive several days of no power without problem. Do you have power cuts that last that long?

A battery powered alarm and get someone to check the house daily.....

How much of a (stinky) financial loss did you have? Balance one against the other.....we used to try and use up the expensive cuts before a holiday for such reasons, stock up again after our return, though we never lost mains.....

Your PV circuit breaker tripped because it sensed an overcurrent fault. This is what it was designed to do. Before you reset the breaker you must confirm that there is no longer a fault. You must be present to do this.

If you were to have some automatic method of resetting a circuit breaker, you wouldn't have any way of knowing what the fault was or if the fault still exists. If the fault was still there, the breaker would only trip again. Repeatedly trying this could be dangerous to the occupants of the house and potentially destructive to your equipment.

The best solution for this problem is to get a neighbor or friend to check the breakers after a storm and reset them if necessary.

You can't find such a device because what you want to do is a bad idea. Let's say the breaker tripped and automatically reclosed after a preset time period; if the reason it tripped was still there you would be constantly reclosing on the fault and sooner or later you might cause a fire.

Basically this has nothing to do with how you power your refrigerator, anyone with a mains-fed system faces the same problem. Your only workaround is a web-enabled monitoring system that reports a loss of voltage, high refrigerator temp, water in the basement, etc. and notifies your cell phone.

My retirement plan, should I live that long, is to move to a small town in the woods, one with numerous vacation homes owned by rich people, and provide a monitoring service wherein I install web based telemetry systems and if there is an issue, I go out and deal with it for the homeowners. I don't want to be an electrician (again) or a plumber or a carpenter, I don't want to work that hard. I just want to go out and look for problems, reset the breakers if there are none (for example), or call a real electrician for them if there is one.

The flaw is, there may not be any rich people left by then...

What you NEED is a device, which alerts you via text, and or email, or even a prerecorded message to your phone, which would at least give you a heads up, in order for you to make timely arrangements to have someone check on the problem, and fix it if they can.

I wouldn't doubt that there is already a device on the market for your situation. If not, that would make a great project, which marries a few sensors, and a Raspberry PI to a piece of cellular technology, to make desired result happen.

What you seem to want is fail-safe reporters for temperature in your refrigerator and freezer that constantly monitor conditions and send "OK right now" messages to a separately-powered cell phone transmitter. When they fail to do so, you invoke your personal neighborhood watch person to find out what happened.

If the temp has fallen, it may already be too late to save some foods that may be toxic in a few hours, if not rescued from the heat.

I would think that a UPS, which reports being activated would be more along the line of what is needed here.

The solution supplied originally by Mr Crabtree is easily achievable and practical. A simple auto-changeover setup that any competent electrician could achieve.

Maybe a more efficient way to deal with this is a paid, trained assistant also referred to as a house-sitter. They come in many varieties, perhaps you could find one to your liking? At least that way, if the power goes out, they could invite all their friends over for the backyard BBQ that must start immediately if not sooner.

Yes, James, that is a simple practical solution. I'm not sure if I will have a house sitter for up to two weeks but I will be sure to leave keys with a couple of trusted neighbors.

Part of the problem was self-inflicted. I do have a web accessed PV solar monitoring service. When I left on vacation I turned off/unplugged all electronic "stuff". I did this to save a little electricity and, in the event of a power surge, to protect the electronics. Unfortunately, one of the devices unplugged was the router which services my home computer, and the PV solar system. If I would have left the router plugged in I could have seen the problem with the PV system, if I logged in to my account.

Lesson learned.

Resetting the breaker will some time restore power to your home, first find the breaker in your home and turn off every breaker, without touching the meter, open the panel and reset the main breaker by turning the switch off and on two times, the load on the circuit is thrown out and just start drawing a huge current at the same moment the line of the voltage is high due to surge condition.

So that huge current surge while flipping the mains off/on will result in what again precisely? A call to the local electrician who will gladly (for a fee) repair all the damages caused by this? Not to mention one would also have to make the trip to one of the local home supply centers to purchase a new refrigerator, and various light "bulbs". No thinks. No thanks.

I would however, like to have a battery bank that charges itself while operating (that uses heat and (maybe) light, at a moderate temperature, even reclaiming waste heat from the home AC unit, then drive a compressor to store heat (and cold) in different vessels, then use that heat later when it is cool to keep charging up the battery bank, while at the same time powering all that is needed in my home. Let me know when come up with that.