Hi folks, If anyone has the patience to try and explain some electrical/solar matters to me I would be deeply grateful. I'm very confused. I have an off grid home with a 24 volt system. Xantrex SW4024 inverter,Outback controller, a Xantrex ...something or other - it allows me to make 240 power cheaply (without a second inverter -is it a transformer??) and 12 170 watt Kyocera modules. I live off grid in the mountains above San Diego so we get plenty of sun here - except when it snows like it did a couple times this winter for several days and I wind up housebound! I have a 500' deep well which needs 240 to run the well pump. I've been using a portable DeWalt generator for that, and it works fine, but I will be giving the DeWalt away soon to a friend. I also have a propane Briggs and Stratton 7 KW dual mode backup generator (model 040248) which I would like to hook up to my inverter as an automatic start, and which I thought I could also use to pump the well. (The well has a great yield so I don't need to pump it often or very long.) I also have 16 L-16 batteries. Oh, and I also have a three story house which needs a 240 booster pump in the basement to get the water up to the top floor. The Briggs has actual outlets on the front of it. 4 regular 15 amp outlets and 1 110/240 30 amp outlet. Could I just run a heavy duty extension cord to the Briggs for 1 of the 15 amp outlets, and also run a cord from my well pump to the 240 outlet? The well pump has a switch which shuts it off if the tank is in danger of overflowing. I think I can do 240 and 110 at the same time from this generator (can't I?) . Assuming I can, what would happen if the booster pump and well pump started at the same time, and also the house needed current - I turned on the microwave for example? Man, if I were building this house again it would be a lot smaller and a lot simpler. Live and learn, hmm? Sorry to be so longwinded. Thanks for any guidance. Kavade

Not to knock this site, but I would cut and paste this post over on Wind & Sun. They answer this kind of questions all the time.

The short and dirty answer is, it depends.