Emergency Power Off Switches
G–2 976-0043-01-02
The Purpose of an EPO switch
In the event an emergency situation, the first priority is to remove power
from the house by removing the power meter. However, systems with
battery backups can run in inverter mode (i.e., no utility power) for hours
providing AC output to the household loads. The inverter can also have
several other sources of input power such as AC (generators) or DC
sources from wind turbines or photo voltaic arrays. In these situations, if
the meter was pulled to remove power, the inverter would continue to
provide power to the residence. This can cause a potential hazard to the
emergency response crew and possibly hinder rescue or salvage efforts.
To provide a shutdown solution, the Sine Wave Plus includes a feature
that when utilized with a properly marked switch, can disable and
shutdown the system.
The Sine Wave Plus is one of the first renewable energy inverters that
include this feature. It is designed to provide an emergency power off
function that disables the inverter function, output, and power transfer.
The unit will then require manual intervention to physically turn the unit
back on using the display buttons in the 01 Inverter ON/OFF menu.
This provides a secondary shutdown feature when DC shunt trip circuit
breakers are not available, or the local authority having jurisdiction
requires some form of externally mounted switched shutdown. This is
classified as a shutdown control and does not physically disconnect any
circuit breakers.
Figure G-1
Emergency Power OFF Disconnect Switch
Power
Meter
Emergency
Power OFF
Disconnect
Switch