Full Day Workshop: PV Grid-Tied/Battery Backup, AC Coupling

EARN 8 NABCEP CE Credits

(6 hours Technical/JTA, 1 hour NEC and 1 hour Other/Non-Technical)

MAREA and East Penn Manufacturing will sponsor a one-day, PV grid-tied/battery backup, AC coupling workshop on Friday, Feb. 28, at the Deka Battery manufacturing plant in Lyon Station, PA. The class will look at the nuts and volts of how batteries can be added to existing grid-tied systems, with the resultant system that offers energy independence, stabilization of the grid and opens the door to a sustainable low-carbon distributed energy future.

The advanced workshop is open to solar installers, electricians and PV system owners and enthusiasts. It will offer three hours of battery class by Chris McFarland of MK Battery and three hours of showing how a battery backup Magnum inverter can be integrated with a grid-tied system into an AC-coupled system. The workshop will be based on the MAREA dvd, Saving Sunshine and will feature master electrician Bruce Hankins and MAREA education director Bill Hennessy, who will present a cost analysis of the different inverters and grid-tied battery backup systems.

MAREA president Vera Cole, author of the Pennsylvania Homeowner’s Guide to Solar Electricity, and lead faculty for the Energy and Sustainability Policy program at Penn State will open the workshop with a brief discussion of the challenges facing residential solar and what can be done to increase its presence. MAREA is a nonprofit, volunteer group working to expand small-scale solar.

Cost of the workshop is $150 for the general public and $125 for MAREA members. Included in the cost is a light breakfast and lunch and a copy of the DVD, “Saving Sunshine.” To register, visit https://www.themarea.org.