The hybrid inverter interfaces with the battery using a technique called ‘ DC coupling‘, and its electronics coordinate the charging and discharging of the battery. e) Hybrid InvertersĪlso known as multi-mode inverters, a hybrid inverter enables you to add batteries into your solar power system. The Tigo option is particularly handy if you only have a couple of panels impacted by shade.

Huawei and SolarEdge optimisers require you to optimise every panel in an array, but Tigo brand optimisers don’t (and are inverter agnostic), which keeps costs down. An optimiser system requires a string inverter, but you then attach optimisers on the back of the solar panels, optimising each panel’s output under a variety of conditions. Optimiser based systems provide similar performance benefits to microinverters, but by using a slightly difference technology. In my humble opinion, the best microinverter brand is Enphase. Microinverters can be useful if you have partial shade conditions, although some of the more recent and better quality string inverters are proving to be handling these conditions better than they used to. You can read about the advantages of microinverters here – the main one being is they optimise each panel individually, delivering more energy. Microinverters are tiny solar inverters about the size of a paperback book. You won’t find these as part of home installs they are only used for large commercial installations or utility scale solar farms. They look like big metal cabinets and can handle up to megawatts of capacity per enclosure. These are massive inverters used for solar systems in the hundreds of kilowatts or even megawatts of capacity. You can compare inverters side-by-side here. These are wall-mounted, usually close to your meter box – but depending on the installation scenario it may be some distance away. It is called a string inverter because you connect strings of solar panels to it. On a residential solar power system you generally have one per installation. All the solar inverters above (apart from Enphase) are string inverters. This is the most common type of inverter for residential use. The following describes each type: a) String Inverters Towards the end of this page is a chart containing all the solar inverter brands currently available in Australia I recommend in 2023. You can read more about the above brands (and many others), along with feedback from Australians who have had them installed in our solar inverter reviews section. If you’re in a hurry and you don’t want to “geek out” over the technicalities – this chart I created will teach you enough to be dangerous when talking to shonky sales people or evaluating quotes: The simplest, quickest way I can think of how to describe how each brand stacks up is to compare them to cars – because I’m also guessing most of you will know the difference between a Mercedes, a Ford and a Hyundai. I’m guessing you don’t know one brand of solar inverter from another – you certainly aren’t alone. The device also contains important safety shutdown electronics such as Anti-Islanding Protection.įor this and other reasons, it very important you choose a solar inverter up to the job and one that offers the best performance for your money. It really is the workhorse of the system. A solar inverter is a box of electronics through which all the all the solar power produced by your panels will pass through before being transported to your home for use by your appliances or in the case of surplus energy generated, to the mains grid.

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