AMac

Thanks again to Coulomb & others. Once again however the definite answer eludes! I'd suggest it can only come from the inverter maker - having gone through a design, development & testing process. They may not be willing to do this as they don't supply generators so go the safe route saying 2 x or 1.5 times etc. gen output. That said why do they give "utility or generator input" on the inverter? They should give a specification or minimum requirements for power quality input. I'd avoid cheap generators regardless. Always go for established quality makers where support & spares should not be a problem. Finally, I wonder if I'm the only person looking for an answer to this question? I doubt it!

Thanks everyone! I asked for comments as I am skeptical of Mecer's "must be double the inverter size or 12kVA would do". Why? Odd comment. A generator around 6/7kVA would be very adequate for our household- and larger than the 12 x 455W PV panels installed. Note! I am only considering quality generator sets and established makers with decent support. I am not looking to do this on the cheap! I asked two generator suppliers for their opinion on Mecer's answer to my question. Both were surprised & had not encountered this before. Food for thought! In any event 16kVA or even 12kVA is not a practical solution; machine size, noise (silent type essential) and then of course the cost. For the cost of 12 or 16 kVAa machine I could double the size of the solar system - which would solve the problem - at unjustifiable cost.

On June 18 I asked a question iro generator sizing for Mecer Axpert SOL-I-AX-8M 8kW inverter with utility or generator input. I asked Mecer the same question & they eventually responded: "The generator must be double the capacity of the inverter. A 12kva and above with a frequency stabiliser should do". Comments?

Hi Thanks to Steve87 & Coulomb for their comments! I'll try to change the menu option 3 to APL and not UPS. See what happens. I never considered the generator as a utility first in this context. I've had it for quite a few years and its given great service all through the Eskom load shedding years. As an aside 2kW was quite adequate most of the time. All electricals in the house are low energy/latest technology so we coped well - barring boiling a kettle. It can still be used in this way as the wiring arrangement has not been changed- just have to swop the power cable over from the generator to the house & flick a changeover switch on the DB. I have contemplated a bigger generator (along with its much bigger budget!!). its accommodation could be a problem however. I assumed that the Yamaha with AVR would supply clean power and would be capable of supplying some battery charging power. Equipment supplier did not comment adversely to this idea!

Looking for some advice please! I have a Mecer Axpert SOL-I-AX-8M 8kW inverter with utility or generator input. I've chosen to go off grid so we connected the Yamaha generator 2kW (with AVR) to the inverter. The inverter doesn't like it and hiccups every 5 or so seconds - as it would iwhen a biggish load is added. Looking at the Mecer manual trouble shooting section it suggests "insufficient quality of AC power". Or! Maybe I need to "change output source priority to utility (generator) first". Then run the generator until it has provided some top up power before change back to solar first.