Solar-Inverters

solar Inverter

Solar-Inverters are necessary components for you’re your home solar energy solution.

Simply put, they convert DC current from your photo voltaic (PV) cells i.e., solar panels and solar arrays into AC current for your electrical devices, storage batteries or your local power grid

…sounds great already and guess what… You may be able to sell power to the utility! He-he…! Let’s just call it Payback!

Two key categories of Solar-Inverters are used in solar energy systems.

Off Grid Inverter

In this case, you do not sell power to the utility. This system converts DC to AC then stores that power in the batteries which in turn supply the building.

Grid Tie inverter

A grid tie Inverter …does, guess what… ties into the utility grid, again converting DC to AC, but this time you use the power that you need and you sell the rest. That’s right, the electrical utility pays you for the rest as surplus!

The first time I heard that I was suspicious…thinking, surely this must be impossible….

at When selecting a unit for your system you'll need to take into account how much power you want to generate, the size of the building, energy use changes through time and the type of solar panels used in the system.

So, keep on doing the great homework that you are doing now. Determine your electrical requirement. Decide if you will use your own home-generated power as a source of income. Let’s begin this exploration by determining your electrical requirements and when you come back, have a look at the alternative to the typical inverter... the Microinverter!

Microinverter

A typical Solar-Inverter centralizes your DC to AC power conversion. In other words all solar power is delivered to the unit as DC, then converted at on central location.

Now, solar inverters are small enough…smaller than a laptop computer in many cases, but you may need an even smaller system.

Well Enphase Energy a California-based company has a different idea. Their product attaches to the underside of each panel and converts your solar-generated DC power into AC on the roof top before delivering it to the home.

Microinverters for maximum control

The Microinverter system is designed to maintain the optimum conversion efficiency of each panel, unlike the typical Solar-Inverter systems which monitor the entire system as if they were a single panel regardless of the number of panels on the roof.

In fact, Enphase says we should expect between a 5% to 25% increase in power "harvest", as they say on their website.

Microinverter

If you had been considering an inverter system and if you find this revelation to be a little confusing …relax. You know that someone always invents a better system.

It doesn’t mean the typical system is out of date nor does it mean that you must re-budget for a more expensive system. It just means that once again someone has invented a better mouse trap, so to speak.

My philosophy …and yours may be the same… is to get the best that I can afford or the most practical for the situation. Just keep doing the great homework that you are doing and I will continue to fill these pages for you.