Plug And Play Solar System

[nikodean1]

Hi, i'm Nicholas. 

I just joined this forum this evening, and was pleased to see that it's active, so I can bother you for help with my projects!  (joking, I won't be a nuisance)

I work on a variety of electronics projects, but most of them pertain to alternative energy and energy efficiency. Today i'm posting about a project I constructed a couple of years ago, which aims to make solar system installation easy and cheap. I'll just call it a plug and play solar system for now (although it isn't quite as close to 'plug and play' as i'd like it to be). I think/hope it can be factory-produced at a lower cost than a traditional solar installation done by hand. I've been using it all this time, and it has been working ok, however, I really want to take this concept as far as I can (i.e. make it as close to a truly 'plug and play' system as possible).

Currently, you can just connect the two leads of a 12 or 24 volt solar panel to the solar input on the side, flip the power switch, and it will start supplying power to the built-in 120 volt outlets shown. It contains a 12-volt 144 Wh (12Ah) lead-acid UPS battery, inverter, charge controller, the solar input, and (soon), an MCU.



The internal electronics keep everything running smoothly, however, like any other generator, it would need to be connected to a building equipped with a transfer switch (unless it is being used as an off-grid system). Transfer switches aren't terribly cheap, and have to be installed by an electrician. I intend to integrate a transfer switch in this eventually with my TI RM57 MCU development kit (as well as the necessary relay, etc), so it can be connected to a house more quickly and easily, and maybe even respond to electricity demand/supply issues on the grid by selling power whenever needed or buying it during off-peak hours to charge an EV.

In addition to the transfer switch, I want to make it easy to expand, so owners can easily just pop in a battery using the colour-coded terminals, with little to no effort or installation fees. It has room for a second battery, but I am in the process of implementing extra battery plugs and the necessary circuit, so a battery can simply be thrown in with little effort.

I really want everyone to be able to just drop by a hardware store, pick up a system like this, and just plug it in one day, but that will take some time and effort. Hopefully that goal will be realized in my lifetime.

Bear in mind that this is a small-scale demo of the concept. So when I refer to things like powering buildings, i'm not referring to this particular unit, but the concept. 

Do any of you have any knowledge to share on possible issues with regulations regarding the transfer switch idea, or any other part of this project?

I hope to learn a lot from you people, as i'm still learning about microcontrollers and test equipment like oscilloscopes.

Thank you for your time!