How Does An Automatic Transfer Switch Work And How Do You Wire It In With An Inverter

Question:

I have a solar inverter system that is completly separate from coach system. Has own battery for back up which will run inverter if solar is not available, this will also charge batteries of the unit. Question, run line from the 3000 watt, solar inverter, where would I hook up the wire to ats I have shorepower cord and onboard gen. Would I need cutoff switch to prevent loop,or would the ats automatically cut power to solar inverter, and vice versa? if I use shore power or gen I have a 12v 200ah for coach.

asked by: Craig C

Helpful Expert Reply:

You can manually turn off power from your inverter before switching on your shore power, but most people find this tedious and you'll have a delay in power while you switch over. With an automatic transfer switch like the Go Power # 342GPTS all the work is done for you so that when you hook up to shore power it will automatically cut the power from your inverter and when you disconnect from shore power the it will switch back over to the inverter.

There's also a time delay built into this system so that you don't immediately lose power when switching over. Typically it takes a little bit for a generator to fully power up and provide a steady feed for your appliances so that's where this time delay will come in handy.

I've attached the wiring diagram for the # 342GPTS below to help show you exactly how to wire in your inverter, converter, AC distribution panel, and generator/shore power. If you're not used to doing to electrical work this can seem daunting but this is honestly just a really simple 2-wire (positive & neutral) per component installation. You'll also need some wire strippers # PT43ZR if you don't already have them to complete the install.

expert reply by: Kevin C