On 4/17/2011 7:19 PM Jim Wilkins spake thus:

On Apr 17, 9:15 pm, Smitty Two wrote:

...
Where is my thinking flawed?

It makes more sense if you think of the inverter as forcing a constant
CURRENT and let the voltages be whatever the source (wire etc)
resistance makes them at that current.

The grid may or may not act like an infinite sink. The continual load
variations will probably swamp out any voltage measurement you might
make, so it's reasonable to consider it an infinite sink unless you
have a very large inverter. The GTI wants to dump all the current from
the array onto the line and will adapt itself to the line voltage,
whatever it may be.

If you connect a PV panel to a 12V battery the panel will source as
much current as the sunlight produces, at the voltage of the battery
even if the panel's open circuit voltage is above 20V. The battery
voltage will rise a little because of the IR drop in its internal
resistance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_source

It *sounds*--and I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong--as if you're
agreeing with me, and with Smitty, and others when we say that it is
*not* required that the photovoltaic inverter supply a higher voltage in
order to transfer current to the grid. (I take this from the last
sentence in the next-to-last paragraph, where you say " ... will adapt
itself to the line voltage, whatever it may be".)

The arguments against this, with all the pseudo-science being thrown
around (most of it by the ones who are also slinging insults) are
getting quite tiresome here.


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