Subjective listening impressions of alternate power (solar, generator, battery)

[Jud]

The very best inverters have harmonic distortion and power factor approximately equivalent to what the utility is usually required by law to provide you.  Do not expect an SQ improvement from being off-grid.

 

Also don't forget that generators can be noisy, so I wouldn't go that route.

 

The other factor in all this is that the greatest effect on power quality does not come from the utility, since as noted, by law they are required to provide you with relatively clean power.  Rather, the largest effect comes from other electrical usage *in* the house: Motors (refrigerator and AC/heat pump), digital controllers (appliances, lighting), etc.  So isolation and good grounding practice is probably the most important thing you can do to provide the cleanest power to your system.

[Jud]

2 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

If I go the generator route, I would not be looking to run audio on generated power. In this scenario, my main concern would be the audio degradation of the transfer switch.

 

On the other hand, if you used solar panels and batteries, you could enjoy listening to music when the grid went down.  🙂

[Jud]

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

Anyway, let's not digress: I want to keep the focus on SQ benefit or degradation.

 

If you don't plan to run audio on generated power, then you are essentially just asking about the audio effect of a transfer switch.  Then perhaps the simplest solution would be to exempt a separate audio circuit from the transfer switch, if things can be wired that way.

[Jud]

9 hours ago, austinpop said:

Indeed.

 

But I do want to hear about solar and battery installations. 
 

A couple of friends who have solar PV installs without battery sent me their experiences. Both have Sunpower panels with micro inverters. Two experiments were reported:

 

- friend 1 compared SQ during the day, when the panels were supplying power, to the night, when power was from the grid. They observed no noticeable difference.

 

- friend 2 ran an experiment during the day. First with panels providing power. He then disabled the panels via a switch, and compared SQ to grid power. He felt the grid SQ was a tick better, but not night and day (pun intended)!

 

Same setup as I have. My electric bills are $8/month, all taxes and fees, nothing for grid electrical usage because I don't have any.  The house is very well insulated thus quiet.  I haven't noticed a difference between night and day except that I personally feel more quiet and attentive during the evening, so for me that's a better time for listening.

[Jud]

9 hours ago, acg said:

@austinpop

 

I will be moving soon to off-grid for my office which also includes my playback system.  Different country and different mains issues but it will be solar into LiFePO4 batteries which feed voltage into the system via a 240V Victron inverter (Victron simply because Living Voice use them in their battery power systems, and because they are very good quality).  Following that inverter I have had a very knowledgeable and experienced fellow in this field wind an enormous balanced isolation transformer with an inductive AC filtering system which should improve sound quality above and beyond the already decent mains system I have here.

 

The first bits have been picked up by the courier today and if you like I can update you with what I end up with.

 

Location of the transformer is an interesting problem.  The closer to your system (wiring length) the more effective, but you also have to account for possible acoustic hum from large transformers.

[Jud]

3 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

The house is isolated to perfection, however, the MVHR system was never applied (I did not like it and was familiar with noise (of air) it could make. But sure, that would increase the efficiency. On some other hand, when I just never open the windows etc., you could say we are suffocating in here (but we are not) but at least the heat won't go out. So that was my idea about this house. It is fine as it is (as long as there is sufficient air).

 

Anyway moral : I don't think that such a system can be applied (made) afterwards. It requires all the piping etc. ...

 

3 hours ago, semente said:

 

I agree that it is near-impossible.

 

I think actually it is possible (if you would want it).

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.althoffind.com/blog/is-a-hrv-retrofit-the-right-solution-for-my-building%3fhs_amp=true

[Jud]

2 hours ago, JoeWhip said:

We have a 27 kw whole generator from Generac. Special attention was made to properly grounding the system. There is no difference in SQ pre and post install and while the generator is running.

 

Gasoline, natural gas, or propane?

[Jud]

Note the quieter standby generators put out something in the range of 60+ decibels.  If you want one to run your audio system, you'll need a home or room that is well insulated from outside noise.