AC/DC Disconnects

Adding AC/DC disconnects to your home solar power systems adds an element of safety and flexibility to your system. The first thing to note is that the AC disconnect is used on the AC side of your system and the DC disconnect is used on the DC side of your system.

Installing an AC/DC disconnect allows you to isolate the system on either side of the disconnect. Why would you ever want to do this? Well maybe not you, but your installer or maintenance person will eventually have to repair some part of your system over the course of your home solar power systems’ life time.

The disconnects allow him to electrically isolate the part of your system that he/she needs to repair or troubleshoot without getting electrocuted from working on energized equipment.

To think of it another way you never screw a light bulb into a light fixture when the light is one right? Well its the same concept. The disconnect is a switch that stops the electricity flow at that point in the system.

More specifically the disconnect will open the circuit which ensures that no current is flowing past the disconnect from the source (your solar panels) to the load (your home appliances). This can also work when needing to isolate your home solar power systems from the utility grid if you have a grid-tied system installed or from your battery bank if installed.