Grid-tied electrical system

A Grid-tied electrical system, also called Tied to grid or Grid tie system, is a semi-autonomous electrical generation or grid energy storage system which links to the mains to feed excess capacity back to the local mains electrical grid. When insufficient electricity is generated, or the batteries are not fully charged, electricity drawn from the mains grid can make up the short fall.

When batteries are used to store, the system is called battery-to-grid (B2G), which includes vehicle-to-grid (V2G).

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How it works

Direct Current electricity is passed to an inverter which is grid tied. The inverter monitors the alternating current mains supply waveforms and generates electricity that is phase matched. The DC electrical system is attached to the mains via this mechanism.

Because the local system is phase matched, electricity can be drawn from the mains in the situation of a generating shortfall or discharge in batteries.

Quality of Service

A key concept of this system is the possibility of creation of an electrical micro system that is dependent on the grid-tie to provide the high level of service quality which is often delivered by a traditional mains supply.

Conversely if the mains supply of the region is unreliable, the local generation system can be used to power important equipment.

Environmentally Friendly

Local generation can be from an environmentally friendly source such as photovoltaic. Individuals can choose to install their own system if an environmentally friendly mains provider is not available in their location.

B2G also spare the use of fossil fuel power plants and electrical substations to supply energy in peak loads of the public electric grid.

Small scale start

A micro generation facility can be started with a very small system such as a home wind power generation or photovoltaic (solar cells) generation system.

Sell to and Buy from Mains

• Excess electricity can be sold to mains.
• Electrical shortfall can be bought from mains.

List of countries or regions that legally allow grid-tied electrical systems

• Australia^{[citation needed]}
• Japan^{[citation needed]}
• Mexico^[1]
• New Zealand^{[citation needed]}
• Portugal^{[citation needed]}
• Singapore^[2]
• Spain^{[citation needed]}
• USA^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Electric power transmission
• Grid energy storage
• Grid tie inverter
• Inverter
• Power outage
• V2G
• Electranet

References

1. ^ "Official Newspaper of the Federation of Mexico" Contract of Interconnection of Photovoltaic Systems updated 27 June 2007 (Spanish)
2. ^ "Energy Market Authority of Singapore": "Handbook for Photo-voltaic (PV) Systems" updated 10 September 2007