S Claus wrote:
Hi all

I wanted to ask a question about something that has lightly perplexed
me for a while.

Sometimes we read about some person building e.g. a wind turbine (or
something else) and connecting the electricity derived from this to
their home power grid.

My question is about how this sort of thing is accomplished.

I mean, I do not expect it to be as simple as plugging a power supply
to a wall outlet and then the power from it automatically becomes
available to all outlets in the house.

Or is this basically how it is done - in other words can a standard
wall outlet function both as 'input' and 'output'?

Yes it can.
That's basically how all grid-tie inverters work. They are basically just
connected across your house mains supply (usually out in your power box for
various reasons).
You can now get smaller ones like this that plug directly into any outlet:
http://www.gogreensolar.com/products...olar-power-kit
Often called plug-in or micro inverters.

And a second question derived from this, is it possible to also be
plugged into the communal power grid at the same time or will there be
some sort of a interference? If there is interference, how can that be
reduced?

Grid-tie inverters are designed to supplement your existing community mains
connection and are simply connected in parallel, they are designed to sync
with the existing mains connection. So technically, when you are not using
the power, someone else nearby gets the benefit instead. In many countries
and states you can get a "feed-in" credit for the power you put into the
grid in this way.

Dave.
--
================================================
Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast:
http://www.alternatezone.com/eevblog/