i was just reading about micro inverters the other day. one possible advantage is that smaller systems (less than 1KW?) may not be subject to the certified elec

i was just reading about micro inverters the other day. one possible advantage is that smaller systems (less than 1KW?) may not be subject to the certified electrician, plan reviews, mains interconnect shutoff for solar on the outside of the house, etc. read up on it a little, and doing a micro install may really save some money. read through this[1], and you get an idea the panels and inverter is the easy part. the hard part is compliance with local ordinances. i just started reading about the micro inverters[2] and these are very different than a 12vdc to 110vac inverter you plug into your car. they track the mains power to dump your solar power back into the line at the correct phase to the grid, and if the mains shuts off, these have to shut off (called island mode? ) and not back feed. from what i can tell, these little inverters are around $1/W so for a 230W PV panel, plan on spending at least $500 total to get the matching micro inverter. really a pretty good deal. [1] http://www.rctlma.org/building/content/docs/284_79_photovoltaic_power_system_permits_reqs.pdf http://www.rctlma.org/building/content/docs/284_79_photovolt... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_micro-inverter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_micro-inverter