One more question - my house uses solar power from batteries, wondering if the regenerator will still drive as much of an improvement in sound as those drawing power off a grid. Anyone off grid out there own a PS Audio regenerator?
Good question, maybe PSA staff can chime in. To a large degree it will depend on how noisy your inverter is as well as if the installer provided for an effective ground.
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It’s my understanding that with solarpanels a power regenerator is even more important because the dc to ac converters of your solar grid aren’t supplying a nice sine wave. Perhaps the newer ones do.
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Mine too. I haven’t experimented with it but my understanding is also that it’s just as important (maybe more so) to have a regenerator if running from a battery/inverter system. Batteries supposedly have a higher output impedance than grid power and, even though you’re not competing with your neighbours for optimal power delivery, you’re system will still be competing with other household appliances, particularly when they’re switched on. I’d presume domestic inverters are designed for a specific number and mix of household appliances and probably not optimized for sustaining good power delivery for the possible high transient demands of some hifi gear.
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Solar will not work off grid without a battery backup. If you have a battery back up you would be relying completely on the inverter output for power and even the best inverters like the Fronious ones still put out significant harmonic distortion. As in the previous reply the impedance of the inverter will not be very low. A regenerator would provide much cleaner waveforms and far lower impedance.
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I finally figured out ‘when’ my system sounds magical… when it is cloudy.
Not cloudy often here, but when the sun isn’t shining, my system opens up - noticably. Same as in the evening, after the suns begins to set, I always get this ‘aha’ moment and it all just became clear today. So electricity from my power-walls, without sun, is the best - am sure it will be better when I am able to put a regenerator into the system. Am all in on PS Audio (Amp and DAC) so pretty sure a PS15 will enhance the performance of my main components and entire system. Mahalos for your input.
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I know a guy who has a PS Audio P20 for sale.
me too 
am saving… and live on an island in the pacific…so shipping might be an issue
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I do want to clarify one thing. I have a 10,000 watt solar system that is grid connected. It is now 10 years old. I do not have a backup battery system as when my system was installed that was not allowed. What I am saying about the Total Harmonic Distortion that I see when the solar system is active as opposed to night when it is down is not significantly different. The worst I have seen is about 4.5% normally arount 3%. If anything the worst has been observed at night. This still is far more the the .1% I see with the P 15 feeding my whole system. That and the very low impedance of the P 15 both result in dramatic sonic improvements. I have no need of a P 20 as even when playing loudly my average demang is only 30% of the capability of the P 15. Besides I in no way would be capable of moving the weight of the P 20. I can barely handle the P 15 or my BHK 250 amp.
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South African here. Many of us have had to invest in solar systems, with panels, batteries and inverters. I run a 12kW inverter. There are two reasons why I have kept my P12 (not that I would have sold it anyway!):
- When the system is running from the grid, the inverter passes through the grid power as received. So the P12 is still having to clear up high THD, and even though the incoming voltage sometimes exceeds 230V, the peaks are truncated. The P12 does its job (as before) to send clean power to the rest of the system.
- When there is no power and it runs from the batteries, the inverter sends 219V, so the P12 does its job to raise the voltages to the full 230V.
So I have seen no hifi benefit from the solar installation, other than the benefit of being able to listen to music when we have no power. But the P12 is not going anywhere.
In your case, where you experience different system performance during different weather conditions, a power plant will make a lot of sense, as you will enjoy consistent performance regardless of weather. And based on my experience, I wonder if the inverter doesn’t output lower voltage when powered by the sun, which would explain why you have better sound when running from grid power.
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thanks - can’t wait to get it in my syatem!
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