billduck said:
The Level 1 charger will not work if a 110 Vac plug is ungrounded.
My family's 2013 LEAF accepts a non-grounding electricity supply, it works just fine. I've tested it four ways: two different EVSEs, plugging-in to 120 and 240 volt outlets, and our LEAF never failed to charge while "floating"/non-grounding.
However, its Nissan/Panasonic EVSE (model 29690-3NF0A), DOES require EGC/PE (equipment grounding conductor/protective earthing), as it implements G.M.I.: Ground Monitor/Interrupter. Or maybe it is G.C.M., Ground Continuity Monitoring.
> Since the electrical service has the neutral and ground connected in
> the breaker box, is the answer, on the solar inverter, to electrically
> connect neutral and ground?
If you must use the Nissan "Zero Emission" cordset/EVSE, then you can create a
bootleg ground immediately upstream of it, or inside of it. It should go without saying, a bootleg ground is dangerous. Like a NEMA 6-15P to 5-15C plug converter, it should be kept away from any body who could mis-use it.
Nubo said:
Since nobody's mentioned it, why not install a grounding rod in Earth and run a line from it to the ground lug of the receptacle to provide a reliable ground that doesn't require any tricks?
That won't work: the generated AC electricity line/circuit will be
still floating with respect to Earth/mass, and the
(edit: was 'EVSE CCID') EVSE ICCB which implements GCM/GMI will not be tricked.
billduck said:
I did short ground and neutral together, and it worked. Did not charge for long because the battery wire gauge was too small for 62 amps.
That was a good test, proof of concept. Now, I recommend un-doing your
bootleg ground. For your use case, I suggest you get a cheap "China brand" EVSE, with adjustable current. These adjustable EVSE's typically lack GMI/GCM, so you'll only need to run two wires (non-grounding) from your inverter. Your existing energy storage equipment (battery, wiring, inverter) might be "happier" working less hard, generating six or eight ampere rather than 12 amps.
2020-09-29: This post was edited to replace a mistaken term. I used 'CCID', standing for 'Charge Circuit Interrupting Device', which basically refers to a RCD/GFI/GFCI applied to an EVSE. Corrected term is 'ICCB', In-Cable Control Box. Or alternatively
'IC-CPD', In Cable Control and Protecting Device.