[Racing Ron]

So I've been researching this but getting increasingly confused.

For my home I'd like to do the following:

1) Install Solar panels
2) Install Wind Turbine
3) Possibly hook up a generator to my bike for the kids to use to create power
4) Install an electric meter to sell excess back to the grid and collect ROC's (renewable Offset Certificates - cash for home generation)


I understand how to install all of these and I've contacted my electricity supplier (in the UK) to get a meter installed.

My question is can I hook all my different generation devices into a single inverter? Are there any inverters on the market which will take varying amounts of current and still be efficient? The only way I've found so far is to have a separate inverter for each bit of kit - is there a simpler way?

[KISS]

Check out the following resources:

Xantrex Technology Inc. and Home Power Magazine: Solar | Wind | Water | Design | Build

There are systems that can handle wind, solar, generator, utility and batteries.

Being able to sell back to the utility and the ability to use batteries for backup power might require some doing.

I haven't researched the issue fully, but the difficulty would be that the wind generator and solar panels can have different incoming voltages, so it might be that charing a battery pack is the best choice.

Say that the Windmill puts out 0-200 V and the solar panles put out 0- 70 V. Now say you convert to 60 V and then you can sum the currents at the same voltage.

You can now either charge the battery or sell voltage back to the grid, but in order to have backup power, you need a separate inverter.