Hooterville Co Op noticed my EG4 Solar A/C with 2700W ground mount panels - need advice on response?

Hi all. I have an EG4 24K Solar Air Conditioner connected to 240v AC Power and 2700W of ground mount panels. See pics. Recently received the following letter from my PoCo (edited identifiable info).

So in other words, we noticed the 50% reduction in your usage and sent someone to investigate. This is muddled somewhat as *I* talked to them about net metering and interconnect of a full blown Solar Instl, but they had a wait list so I blew that off. They have me confused with someone who DID submit an application and likely called and emailed wrong guy.

Unlike an Inverter, the EG4 Air Conditioner of course does not have the capability of converting DC to AC so I assume the anti islanding stds and so forth are irrelevant?? Of course it DOES invert AC to DC..

What is your response?? As I say, they think I've run an end around on them on a full blown Solar Instl - not just the EG4 A/C.

Plum Crazy Rob said:

Hi all. I have an EG4 24K Solar Air Conditioner connected to 240v AC Power and 2700W of ground mount panels. See pics. Recently received the following letter from my PoCo (edited identifiable info).

So in other words, we noticed the 50% reduction in your usage and sent someone to investigate. This is muddled somewhat as *I* talked to them about net metering and interconnect of a full blown Solar Instl, but they had a wait list so I blew that off. They have me confused with someone who DID submit an application and likely called and emailed wrong guy.

Unlike an Inverter, the EG4 Air Conditioner of course does not have the capability of converting DC to AC so I assume the anti islanding stds and so forth are irrelevant?? Of course it DOES invert AC to DC..

What is your response?? As I say, they think I've run an end around on them on a full blown Solar Instl - not just the EG4 A/C.View attachment 161628View attachment 161631View attachment 161632

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That seems pretty straightforward. Just tell them it is hooked to an EG4 24K Solar Air Conditioner and there is absolutely no connection to their grid. Then give them a link to the product.

Part of me would want to be a bit more private and just tell them it independently powers an appliance and does not connect to the grid. Even that is more than they have a right to know. They are assuming you have to prove you are not doing something wrong. It seems to me that they have to prove you are doing something wrong. However, not being cooperative with them will just piss them off and in the long run they can make your life difficult so tell them what it is powering and give them the link.

Just tell them what you have. So that they will leave you alone. lol

Respond with the second half of the first sentence of the third paragraph. Give them a diagram of your system showing nothing connected to the grid.

You could rub in that you would be happy to apply for interconnection when they have worked through the waitlist.

How litigious do you like to be?

Tell them to pound sand with their question. Or better have your lawyer do it. Sit back and make some popcorn ?‍?

PreppenWolf said:

Sit back and make some popcorn ?‍?

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Be sure to make the popcorn before they turn your power off!!!

You guys are funny, I knew you would be. Seriously though I think the critical question is, do I let on it IS connected to 240V AC power..

I'm in Kansas, not California FWIW. Really blown away we are even having to have this conversation. Big Brother is watching ?. Everywhere!

That sounds really big-brotherish to me and don't understand how it is any of their business why you are using less power. I don't understand the issue though. You installed a device that is much more efficient than what you used before. If you really feel you must respond isn't that enough?

Plum Crazy Rob said:

You guys are funny, I knew you would be. Seriously though I think the critical question is, do I let on it IS connected to 240V AC power..

I'm in Kansas, not California FWIW. Really blown away we are even having to have this conversation. Big Brother is watching ?. Everywhere!

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Ok Just tell them it is connected to a solar-powered Air conditioner and not connected to the grid. That is all true and they don't really need to know more.

Their letter is quite reasonably open to this in fact being a standalone system.

Given their reasonableness, I would be upfront and provide them an exact diagram of the install, with the details of the unit. The unit is designed not to be able to backfeed, but there is always the chance that they will become unreasonable about the definition of "grid interactive" as there is quite arguably a power interface there.

Plum Crazy Rob said:

You guys are funny, I knew you would be. Seriously though I think the critical question is, do I let on it IS connected to 240V AC power..

I'm in Kansas, not California FWIW. Really blown away we are even having to have this conversation. Big Brother is watching ?. Everywhere!

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240v is irrelevant. Connected to grid is.

Plum Crazy Rob said:

You guys are funny, I knew you would be. Seriously though I think the critical question is, do I let on it IS connected to 240V AC power..

I'm in Kansas, not California FWIW. Really blown away we are even having to have this conversation. Big Brother is watching ?. Everywhere!

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This isn't big brother if you think about it. If you were some newbie that went ahead and grid tied without getting with them you could easily be back feeding in a power outage and that WILL kill a lineman in the right situation. Remember the line to your house is supposed to be safe when they disconnect the grid going to its section. If they give you grief after explaining what you did then you can go the big brother route since they would be causing problems when there isn't one.

I have what I'm sure is considered a weird stance on feeding power to the grid to probably 99% of this site and probably the world. I don't think we have the right to feed anything to the grid and I don't think we have the right to expect to be paid if we do feed to the grid.

The reason I look at it this way is if I take gas to the gas station they are not going to allow me to pump it back into their tanks and they are sure not going to pay me for it.

The water company isn't going to allow me to feed water back into the water system and they sure wouldn't pay me if I did.

So why should the power company be any different?

I enjoy saving power with my solar setup and I enjoy the lower bills and wouldn't mind making all of my power but I like remaining hooked to the grid in case something goes wrong or if I can't make enough for my needs. Expecting a business to support my efforts in savings or my hobby doesn't make much sense from a business stand point.


Also as for the connected to the grid. If the unit runs off dc completely and the ac is just converted to dc with no dc to ac ability then you are not grid connected. The dc side has no connection to the grid so the solar panels are not "connected" to the grid.

With an inverter it uses the dc to make ac so if it can make ac and has a ac to the grid connection then your connected to the grid.

But as someone mentioned above just tell them what you have. They are going to find out eventually anyways so nip it in the bud

Crowz said:

This isn't big brother if you think about it.

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My interpretation from what was stated was that they were trying to figure out why he was using 50% less power.

I'd probably comply with as little info as possible

Crowz said:

I have what I'm sure is considered a weird stance on feeding power to the grid to probably 99% of this site and probably the world.

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I'm with you and there are a higher percentage of us here than in the broader solar community at least. Understanding off grid systems leads to a lot more clarity on what's valuable, and someone dumping their daytime export indiscriminately and intermittently onto your system ain't it.

hwy17 said:

I'm with you and there are a higher percentage of us here than in the broader solar community at least. Understanding off grid systems leads to a lot more clarity on what's valuable, and someone dumping their daytime export indiscriminately and intermittently onto your system ain't it.

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I made a poll just not will be interesting to see the results.

Crowz said:

you could easily be back feeding in a power outage and that WILL kill a lineman in the right situation

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I keep hearing this tired excuse trotted out all the time and you all know it's really not that possible right, there is no way that your shitty little inverter is going to power the whole neighborhood it will just shut down from overload.

Plum Crazy Rob said:

Hi all. I have an EG4 24K Solar Air Conditioner connected to 240v AC Power and 2700W of ground mount panels. See pics. Recently received the following letter from my PoCo (edited identifiable info).

So in other words, we noticed the 50% reduction in your usage and sent someone to investigate. This is muddled somewhat as *I* talked to them about net metering and interconnect of a full blown Solar Instl, but they had a wait list so I blew that off. They have me confused with someone who DID submit an application and likely called and emailed wrong guy.

Unlike an Inverter, the EG4 Air Conditioner of course does not have the capability of converting DC to AC so I assume the anti islanding stds and so forth are irrelevant?? Of course it DOES invert AC to DC..

What is your response?? As I say, they think I've run an end around on them on a full blown Solar Instl - not just the EG4 A/C.

Click to expand...

I think you are jumping to the wrong conclusion regarding the notice from your utility. No where does it state anything about a reduction in your use leading to their investigation. It seems rather straightforward and politely worded. Simply provide a simple response back of your direct drive A/C solar setup.

Nor did I see they had you confused with someone else since you did talk to them about a net metering arrangement. The fact you decide not to is irrelevant since you did not follow up with informing them of that fact.

My response when I get approached politely is to politely respond. I only go nuclear on their ass if they prove difficult. So I suggest you do the same.

"This is a standalone solar installation that runs an air conditioner (model # ___________ ), and does not have the abilty to backfeed into the grid."

Quattrohead said:

I keep hearing this tired excuse trotted out all the time and you all know it's really not that possible right, there is no way that your shitty little inverter is going to power the whole neighborhood it will just shut down from overload.

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If your line to the pole become disconnected ...