alt Hacker News> They come with small inverters to convert the DC output of the solar panels into AC power, which plug straight into an existing home power socket.
Hopefully these inverters are smart enough to cut the feed if the AC mains power goes out, to avoid backfeeding utility lines that may be under repair.
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Fortunately they do, and in fact the article makes that clear. +1 for reading to the end of the paragraph that was quoted.
I think this is why they're supposed to be limited to 800 W, but is that enough to avoid serious danger to utility workers when a whole apartment building or neighborhood is full of these?
Yes. Any system that’s UL 3700 (or more generally IEEE 1547 / UL 1741) compliant mandates anti-islanding by shutting off the power within two seconds of grid loss.
You can't buy an inverter that is certified that doesn't do this. As well as a whole raft of other safety measures and grid quality measures besides.
See for instance:
https://www.netbeheernederland.nl/sites/default/files/2024-0...
Every region has their own set of rules which requires inverter manufacturers to have a bunch of different settings depending on where the inverter is installed.