[thinkthenpost]

I have a question about going through a converter straight into the house, or the electricity web if you house does not use the electricity. The question, is it feasible, or are the batteries and the loss associated with the power going into and out of the batteries still a requirement?

[Robert A Cook PE]

Think of running directly from a converter as hooking your sink up to a tee from a 1" firehose that somebody else keeps turning on and off. (Clouds cover the sun for a few minutes, for example. Your oven and the AC start at the same time, etc.)

IF (big if) you're using more power than the cell is providing all the time, then you're more or less balanced: both the grid and the solar cells (via the AC converter) are providing power.

But the random nature of the loads, and the power available from the converter really make it much better to have a battery charger and 2-4 batteries on-line constantly to balance and stabilize the system. Less surges, less up-and-down in current. The charge controller charges the battery when AC loads go down, or pulls power from the battery when AC loads go up, or when available solar power reduces suddenly.

But there's nothing to balance the system if there's no battery.

[hoosierham]

So-called grid intertie systems are way cheaper because of no batteries.
You can also sell or share power but if the grid goes down,your converter shuts off (or at least disconnects from the grid).Big problem if the sun isn't shining on your panels right then!
Grid intertie systems MUST stop sending power to the utility wires in case of any problem lest the line repairman be killied by your power.And it takes less electricity than you might think to kill a person.
I prefer a system with storage or at least alternate generator capabilty.

[UB355]

http://www.homepower.org

Look through this publication for a lot of information