Not sure where to ask this, but we are looking into building a small cabin for our permanent living space.

We are looking for an inverter/generator that we can hook up batteries and future solar panels to and it also be connected to the grid while we are setting everything up/building.

Does anybody have any experience and want to give me suggestions on the type of equipment to do this?

The types of generators I'm seeing ATM output AC power (have their own inverter) and I'm not sure how I would use something like this in the system.

Something like this schematic shows an inverter that can take both AC and DC power, but I'm not finding anything that seems to fit that bill.

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I would imagine we want to spend the most on the inverter to future-proof our needs, and a good enough generator to supply the surge/max-wattage of the inverter if the power of our city goes out (or at least enough to run a fridge and/or power tools while we are building)

Edit: Something in the 5000-8000W range would be enough for our needs. If you have any battery-bank suggestions (I can only find a max of 100Ah batteries) that would be great too.

  • Barx [none/use name]
    ·
    4 days ago

    I don't know much about legit installed inverters. I do know that portable LiFePO4 power stations (battery + inverter) are starting to get commodity priced (3000W output for around $1k) if that is at all useful info. They are popular among glampers and traveling off-gridderd, like people that live in sturdy tents or out of vans. They usually have solar input ports and often have battery extension options.

    Something to weigh against your other, probably better options!

    Edit: here is an example that comes with a solar panel and can be attached to more batteries (possibly only Bluetti ones?): https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-Portable-AC200L-Generator-Emergency/dp/B0CR9WBHXS/