Once your battery is fully charged, very little current is needed to keep it topped up. Most of the available power from your solar panels is wasted as the charge controller is mostly switched off. Enter the 12 volt grid tie inverter which can export all that solar power to your mains electricity grid, saving you money.
But how do you keep your battery topped up and send surplus power to the grid at the same time? The PWM5 Solar Charge Controler from www.256.co.uk is the only charge controller with 12 volt grid tie inverter compatibility built-in.
Make your solar panels really work for you.

By Julian

Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado

16 thoughts on “Charge a battery with solar power and feed electricity into the grid”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MakerMike2020 says:

    Is there a device that can automatically do this function?

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vw Trike says:

    Julian i know this was a lot of years ago but can you tell me if there were any drawbacks to using the charge controller and the grid tie inverter on the same panels as shown.This is the only reference i can find on the internet using this method.But it seems an ideal solution to the excess watts problem.I can not figure for the life of me why the charge controller is taking precedence over the grid tie inverter? Until the batteries are charged.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars terrytrooper2 says:

    my god that was film so long ago. but still pretty interesting

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Scribe Line says:

    Doctor Teeth what does being green mean what is the definition of being green mean I'm just curious nobody can ever really give me a actual definition of what that means?

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars DrTeeth says:

    Before declairing something to be green, you need to take into account ALL the energy used to make all the components used.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mervin Martinez says:

    I'm looking to do the same with my solar array so when my batteries are topped off most of the energy will go to the grid, the problem with this set up is that the inverter will constantly take energy out of the system even when you're trying to put all the energy into the batteries during charging periods

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Luis Cosme says:

    Thanks for the informaive video.
    Question: Will the volts of the panels be divided by # of inverters ?
    Ex: 30v = 1 Inverter For 2 inverters, volts = 15.
    Thanks.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Salim Hossain says:

    Hello! Have you ever tried – Maxim Earth 4 Energy (just google it)? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my cousin got big returns with it.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jeromeT1020 says:

    cant you wire them in parallel and charge the battery and power the house at the same time

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian Ilett says:

    No it's a one way trip into the batteries from the solar panels. I don't take power from the batteries to feed the grid.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian Ilett says:

    Rooftop solar systems don't use batteries. Off grid systems rely on batteries. This is a hybrid system.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian Ilett says:

    Yes

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David Sercombe says:

    Very clear and informative presentation.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Kenji Fuse says:

    Why can't you use any controller as you are? Seems to me any cheapo charge controller would function similarly, i.e., only draw the current necessary to charge the battery, with the rest of the current going to the GTI.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ed Strike says:

    Nice one exactly what I needed to know. I have both grid tie inverter / charge controller and battery. Was manually switching between battery and tie inverter but see I can now do it this way.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Subroto Chatterjee says:

    Nice one, can you please show connection that goes to your home? Also if you produce more power than consumed what will happen to the meter?

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