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By Finn Peacock, Chartered Electrical Engineer, Fact Checked By Ronald Brakels
Last Updated: 3rd Jun
So you&#;ve got quotes for a few different solar power systems. Everyone says they sell the best solar inverter &#; no surprises there. So how do you decide what brand and model to select in ?
Our solar inverter consumer reviews can help you choose what&#;s best for you &#; these reviews offer unbiased information based on the feedback of thousands of Australians using different makes and models.
Or you can pick the best inverters from our Installer&#;s Choice Awards, where some of the best installers in Australia reveal which inverters they&#;d put on their own home.
However, it&#;s good to first have some background information on what this important device does, the major manufacturers that produce them and various other aspects to consider. This guide will provide you with all the information you need to pick the best inverter for your requirements.
A solar inverter is a box of electronics that 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. It really is the workhorse of the system.
The device also contains important safety shutdown electronics such as Anti-Islanding Protection.
For this and other reasons, it&#;s very important you choose a solar inverter up to the job and that offers the best performance for your money.
I&#;m guessing you don&#;t know one brand of solar inverter from another &#; you certainly aren&#;t alone. The simplest, quickest way I can think of 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.
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 salespeople or evaluating quotes:
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.
Towards the end of this page is a chart showing all the solar inverter brands I recommend that are currently available in Australia in .
Now let&#;s get technical.
The following describes each type:
This is the most common type of inverter for residential use. All the solar inverters above (apart from Enphase) are string inverters. On a residential solar power system you generally have one per installation. It is called a string inverter because you connect strings of solar panels to it. These are wall-mounted, usually close to your meter box &#; but depending on the installation scenario it may be some distance away.
You can compare inverters side-by-side here.
These are massive inverters used for solar systems in the hundreds of kilowatts or even megawatts of capacity. They look like big metal cabinets and can handle up to megawatts of capacity per enclosure. You won&#;t find these as part of home installs; they are only used for large commercial installations or utility scale solar farms.
Microinverters are tiny solar inverters about the size of a paperback book. You need one per solar panel. You can read about the advantages of microinverters here &#; the main one being is they optimise each panel individually, delivering more energy.
Microinverters can be useful if you have partial shade conditions, although some of the more recent and better quality string inverters are handling these conditions better than they used to.
In my humble opinion, the best microinverter brand is Enphase.
Optimiser based systems provide similar performance benefits to microinverters, but by using a slightly different technology. An optimiser system requires a string inverter, but has optimisers attached to the back of each solar panel. These devices work to maximize each panel&#;s output under a variety of conditions.
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. The Tigo option is particularly handy if you only have a couple of panels affected by shade.
Also known as multi-mode inverters, a hybrid inverter enables you to add batteries to your solar power system. The hybrid inverter interfaces with the battery using a technique called &#;DC coupling&#;, and its electronics coordinate the charging and discharging of the battery.
There is a limited choice of hybrid inverters on the Australian market right now, but the range will grow as battery storage becomes more popular. We&#;ve listed all the makes and models we know about on this hybrid inverter comparison table. Check it out if you are considering buying batteries with your solar power system.
If you want to retrofit batteries to your solar power system or simply keep your battery system separate from your solar panels (i.e. not going through the same inverter), then a separate battery inverter is a good (but expensive) choice. This simply converts your battery power into 230V AC and feeds it into your home switchboard to reduce or potentially eliminate grid power use.
The first thing to look for when choosing a solar inverter is to see if it complies with the relevant Australian Standard (AS). You can quickly do this by checking out the Clean Energy Council&#;s approved products list.
All grid connected solar inverters certified for Australia should be on this list. If one you&#;re considering isn&#;t &#; don&#;t buy it (unless you live for danger!). The other reason for buying a solar inverter on the approved products list in the case of a full solar power system purchase is in order for your system to be eligible for Australia&#;s major solar subsidy, it must be on the list at the time of installation.
It&#;s also worth looking at the company behind the product &#; how long have they been around and what is their expertise?
This is a difficult question to answer, as grid connected inverters are mostly offered as part of a solar power system package. This component can represent around 20% of the cost of a system.
5kW solar inverters start at $1,000 for budget, single-phase models (e.g. Sungrow) and up to $2,000 for the premium single-phase models (e.g. Fronius or SMA). 5kW is the most common size and can accept up to 6.6kW of panels. I explain more about this below.
If you want a 3-phase, 5kW inverter you should add about $400 to those prices.
But whatever you do, never buy the cheapest solar inverter on the market! The really cheap products have no chance of lasting 15+ years in Australia. Trust me on this. It is difficult and expensive to design and manufacture a good solar inverter that will endure; particularly in Australia&#;s often harsh conditions. Never buy a bottom of the range product from a no-name brand. It is false economy as it just won&#;t last (rather like the companies selling them!).
There&#;s often some confusion around this question.
In general, at a minimum, the inverter needs to be able to handle the maximum power that your solar power system can generate. That usually means that if you want a 5kW solar power system, you get 5kW of panels and a 5kW solar inverter to suit. Simple eh? Actually, it can get a little more complicated than that. Let me explain.
Because of system losses in the panels, your solar inverter can actually be rated at up to 25% less (in AC kW) than your panel array. This means the panel capacity can be up to one-third larger than the inverter capacity. Confused? So were a number of installers for some time! The Clean Energy Council guidelines for solar inverter sizing changed a long while back, and I provide a detailed explanation of when &#;undersized&#; inverters are allowed here.
A final word of caution: Be aware that solar inverters are rated in &#;DC input&#; and &#;AC output&#; terms. Make sure yours is also rated to suit the output of your solar panels in DC! (The previous link explains how to check this)
Some retailers will offer you a larger solar inverter so you can add extra panels at a later date. Before making a decision to buy one of these, you need to consider the following:
Solar panel technology is changing so rapidly that your current solar panels may not be available when you want to upgrade. Your inverter may not be able to accommodate the mismatch of solar panels, which may mean you&#;ll need to buy a new one. A way to overcome this potential problem is to perhaps consider a multi-string or a MPPT expandable solar inverter (see below).
In general, the best advice is to install as many solar panels as you can afford (and fit on your roof), and purchase a solar inverter to suit the maximum power of the system. This will be an inverter with 75% or more of the panel capacity.
What about the physical size of the solar inverter?
Grid connected inverters come in a variety of shapes, sizes and weight. The smallest string inverters are around the size of a large briefcase. The larger ones are around the size of a small travel case.
They are generally located as near as practicable to your electricity meter and should always be located in the shade for best performance. Note that this can also be a requirement of the warranty. If you don&#;t have a suitable shady spot, then you should have a simple shade cover made for it.
The best advice is to have a look at the solar inverter (or check out its specification sheet) and see whether it will fit near your electricity meter and what it will look like when installed.
Most grid connected inverters are weather-proof (generally IP65 rated) so they can be located in areas that may have some exposure to the elements. Other solar inverters are not weather-proof and may require the addition of a weather-proof cage (at extra cost to you) if it&#;s to be exposed to weather.
As a general rule, your solar inverter is a box of sensitive electronics and the better it is protected from heat and weather, the better it will perform and the longer it will last. As mentioned, it can also be a condition in the warranty that the unit is not installed where it will be in direct sunlight.
Check these aspects on the specification sheets or ask your retailer where they intend to install your solar inverter.
Typically, grid connected inverters have a lifespan ranging from 10 to 20 years. You should expect most good quality units to last 10 years minimum.
Solar inverters have warranties ranging from 5 to 12 years with an increasing number of manufacturers offering service warranty extensions to those willing to pay for them. Obviously, the longer the warranty the more protection you have.
Some manufacturers (like Fronius) are offering a &#;5 + 5&#; year warranty &#; where parts and labour are covered under warranty for the first 5 years, but only parts are covered for years 6-10. If your inverter conks out in year 7, you&#;ll need to pay around $300 in labour costs to replace the unit.
So check out the unit&#;s warranty and balance this against other features of your system to help you make an informed decision on which is the best solar inverter for you.
This can be an important consideration if you&#;re intending to expand your solar power system in future. But it&#;s usually easier to either install all the panels you want from the start or, down the line, install a second separate solar system.
But if you do want an inverter that can accept additional panels in the future, one solution is to use a multiple MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) inverter. These have multiple MPPT trackers and if one or more are left free it can allow the addition of extra solar panels at a later date. This will enable you to easily add a new string of panels (even if the new panels are not exactly the same as the original modules) to your current system.
Most solar inverters have display lights indicating whether the unit is on, off or in standby. They can also have digital displays (often scrolling displays) that indicate some or all of the following information:
Some of this information (e.g the total amount of energy generated) is also available on your meter.
Nearly all inverters also offer a data-logging feature enabling you to download information to a computer or transmit it over Bluetooth or your Wi-Fi network. This means you can see your power information on your PC, smartphone or on a special in-home display.
I personally don&#;t want to look in the meter box (or wait for the bill) to see if my system is performing properly. I want to have a remote monitor in the house that I can check every day. So I think remote monitoring / data logging is a must and most inverters these days offer it.
Inverter efficiency is a measure of how well a device converts the electricity it receives from the solar panels into power that can be used by your home or exported to the grid. Older grid connected transformer based solar inverters have an efficiency of around 93% or better, while the transformerless devices sold today are typically around 96% or better.
Normally higher efficiency is better, but some inverters &#; such as Fronius &#; have active cooling. This can increase the lifespan of the units but give them a slightly lower efficiency rating than inverters without it. So higher efficiency isn&#;t always better.
Most solar inverters supplied by reputable retailers in Australia are OK. But there are some horrible devices that have somehow managed to pass Australian compliance testing.
Before you consider buying a very cheap solar inverter &#; check out my ever growing list of solar inverter reviews. These reviews are submitted by Australians who have owned the inverter for at least 12 months. If there are lots of 1 and 2 star reviews, this usually means the components are failing in the first 12 months. Not a good sign!
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit oem solar panel tester manufacturer.
Also take a look at my solar inverter comparison table that compares features of lots of popular brands and models available in Australia.
It&#;s also worth checking some of the forums (such as Whirlpool) that discuss such topics.
Note: walk away if there is no written warranty offered on the solar inverter or no specification sheet is supplied. Make sure the organisation issuing the warranty has an Australian office &#; you don&#;t want to be calling Shanghai (or Munich) to get a new one!
The following chart shows solar inverter brands I recommend in , the best in each category ranging from &#;budget&#; models on the left, to top-of-the-line on the right. See the criteria I based these recommendations on.
I also ask installers in the SolarQuotes network their opinion, both in terms of high-end and budget products. Find out what they voted the best solar inverters in . These are products they would be happy to install on their own homes.
>>Next: What about these new fangled Micro Inverters? >>
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An inverter tackles this disparity by increasing the voltage and using transistors or semiconductors to reverse the polarity of the DC input back and forth rapidly, sending it one way through the circuit, then very quickly reversing it and sending it the other way. In most cases, it does this 60 times per second (60 Hz).
The direct current, or DC, power that comes from a battery flows in one direction from the battery's negative terminal, through the completed circuit and back to the positive terminal of the battery. However, typical 12-volt or 24-volt batteries provide only relatively low-voltage power. Depending on your location, appliances need to run on 120-volt or 230-volt AC power.
Simply put, a power inverter delivers AC power when there's no outlet available or plugging into one is impractical. This could be in a car, truck, motorhome or boat, at a construction site, in an ambulance or EMS vehicle, at a campground or on a mobile medical cart in a hospital. Inverters or inverter/chargers can provide power for your home during an outage to keep refrigerators, freezers and sump pumps operating. Inverters also play an essential part in renewable energy systems.
An inverter/charger is a quiet alternative to gas generators, with no fumes, fuel or noise to deal with. During prolonged outages, you may need to run a generator occasionally to recharge the batteries, but the inverter/charger lets you run the generator less often, conserving fuel.
An inverter simply converts DC (battery) power into AC power and then passes it along to connected equipment. An inverter/charger does the same thing, except it is an inverter with batteries attached. It remains connected to an AC power source to continuously charge the attached batteries when AC utility power &#; also known as shore power &#; is available.
A power inverter is a device that converts low-voltage DC (direct current) power from a battery to standard household AC (alternating current) power. An Inverter allows you to operate electronics, household appliances, tools and other electrical equipment using the power produced by a car, truck or boat battery or renewable energy source, such as solar panels or wind turbines. An inverter gives you power when you are "off the grid" so you have portable power, whenever and wherever you need it.
Many devices, such as variable-speed power tools, ATMs, computers with active PFC power supplies, laser printers, networking equipment and audio/video components, require pure sine wave power. Stable, microprocessor-controlled sine wave power enables your equipment to run cooler, last longer and operate without malfunctions or reduced performance caused by substandard power. Eaton features several inverters that provide pure sine wave output .
Special medical-grade inverters provide safe and reliable mobile power for critical on-board ambulance/EMS equipment. Inverters used in medical vehicles should be UL 458 compliant. Eaton offers an inverter with an integrated charging system, designed for installation in ambulances/EMS vehicles. See Eaton's Ambulance/EMS Vehicle Inverter .
A medical-grade inverter can retrofit a mobile medical cart for use in a healthcare environment. The mobile power gives the doctor, nurse or technician freedom to bring treatment, monitoring or diagnostic equipment to the patient. Inverters for mobile medical carts should have hospital-grade outlets and be UL -1 compliant. See Eaton's selection of medical-grade inverters for hospital cart power .
Inverter/chargers designed for off-grid job sites and work trucks with limited access to shore power use batteries separate from a vehicle's main battery or outside the vehicle entirely. Many power tools, appliances and electronics used in industrial applications require brief bursts of power exceeding their continuous wattage ratings, either at startup, during use or both. Heavy-duty inverter/chargers temporarily provide extra output power to handle these peak surge demands without shutting down. See Eaton's PowerVerter APS Inverter/Chargers .
When an AC source like a generator or shore power is available, the inverter/charger passes power to your equipment and simultaneously charges the connected batteries. When disconnected from the power source, the inverter/charger automatically switches to battery power and your electronics and appliances continue to run uninterrupted. See our selection of inverter/chargers designed for RV and marine applications .
Don't leave the (electric) comforts of home behind when you're camping, boating or delivering goods over the road. For trucks, boats and recreational vehicles, a permanent-mount inverter/charger hardwired directly to the battery bank lets you run computers, tablets, TVs, coffee makers, blenders and other plug-in necessities.
The 12V cigarette lighter in a car or truck can be used with a small portable inverter to provide power to charge phones, tablets, laptops, DVD players, light tools and other devices. Portable inverters are an excellent choice for family road trips. These mobile inverters provide one or two AC outlets, plus select models also have two USB charging ports. Eaton's selection of compact portable inverters includes models up to 400W.
Look for an inverter or inverter/charger with a wattage capacity greater than the appliances you need to keep running. Refer to Table 2: Typical Wattage of Common Home Appliances below. Ready to buy your inverter/charger now? See our recommended inverter/chargers for emergency home backup power .
To create an emergency backup system without a vehicle, you can hook up two 12V car batteries to one inverter. That will provide enough power to run the average household refrigerator for up to two days, depending on the size of the batteries, the size of the fridge and how full it is. It's a smart idea to have a spare battery or two on hand in case the power failure exceeds your battery runtime.
Most often, emergency home backup power runs off a standard car battery, essentially turning your car into a generator. The car should be kept running while the inverter is in use to prevent the battery from becoming depleted. The inverter can still be used if the car is off, but this is not recommended for prolonged periods. If you do use the inverter without the engine running continuously, start your car up every hour and let it run for 10 minutes to recharge the battery.
If you need emergency home backup power because your home experiences power loss during thunderstorms, hurricanes or severe winter weather, an inverter/charger helps keep essential appliances running.
Power inverters come in different capacities, measured in wattage. Here are 12 key factors to consider when you buy an inverter:
Inverters and UPS systems both provide power from batteries in the absence of AC power. A UPS typically includes the battery and battery charger in one standalone unit. Batteries for an inverter are generally user-supplied.
A UPS system also can have communication with the equipment that it is powering, letting the equipment know that it is operating on standby, giving it shutdown warnings or communicating with the human in the loop. Inverters typically don't have this capability.
Depending on the inverter, it will respond to a power outage in 4.2 to 16.7 milliseconds. A UPS responds in a fraction of that time, making the UPS a better choice for applications that must remain powered, such as computer networking equipment.
A generator runs on gasoline, diesel fuel or propane to produce electric power. An inverter converts DC power stored in batteries to AC power needed to run tools, electronics, appliances and other devices.
A generator may be a better choice when large amounts of power are needed for prolonged periods. However, an inverter/charger is a cleaner and greener choice. It is quiet and fume-free, making it preferable for residential areas or for use indoors.
An inverter/charger can work along with generator power when the generator is running, allowing you to turn the generator off for periods of time to save fuel without turning off your equipment.
An inverter/charger converts DC (battery) power into AC power and then passes it along to connected equipment. When it is connected to an AC power source, it continuously charges the attached batteries. During a power outage, the inverter/charger will automatically switch to battery power to provide power to connected equipment. The batteries will be recharged when the AC power source becomes available again.
Most often, emergency home backup power runs off a standard car battery, essentially turning your car into a generator. The car should be kept running while the inverter is in use to prevent the battery from becoming depleted. The inverter can still be used if the car is off, but this is not recommended for prolonged periods. If you do use the inverter without the engine running, start your car up every hour and let it run for about 10 minutes to recharge the battery.
To create an emergency backup system without a vehicle, you can hook up two 12V car batteries to one inverter. That will provide enough power to run the average household refrigerator for up to two days, depending on the size of the batteries and the size of your fridge. It's a smart idea to have a spare battery or two on hand in case the duration of the power failure exceeds your battery runtime.
Look for an inverter with a wattage capacity greater than the appliances you need to keep running. Refer to Table 2: Typical Wattage of Common Home Appliances below. Ready to buy? See our recommended inverter/chargers for emergency home backup power.
Absolutely! First, know the total wattage of the appliances you need to keep running using the guidelines given below. This will help you buy the right inverter for your home emergency backup system.
An inverter is not waterproof, so keep it out of the rain, as well as away from dust and direct sunlight. Although you can connect the inverter to the vehicle's battery using jumper cables and alligator clips, the preferred method is with a ring terminal that fits securely over the inverter post. Then connect an extension cord no more than 200 ft. from the inverter to the appliance(s) you want to run. Beyond this distance, you are likely to experience signal loss.
To keep the battery charged, you should run your car for about 10 minutes every hour. The inverter will still work when the car is off, as long as you have not depleted the battery.
Yes. Because an inverter converts DC power to AC power, the AC output is conditioned before it reaches your equipment. The inverter provides stable output voltage and frequency to protect your equipment from power surges and line noise interference, allowing your equipment to perform at its peak.
Yes, but there is an important point to keep in mind. When a refrigerator or freezer cycles on, it will draw a high start-up surge of power, several times the wattage it requires when running continuously. Make sure your inverter can handle the peak surge. As a rule of thumb, ensure your inverter can handle a peak surge of 500-750W for a refrigerator and 500-W for a chest freezer.
Most commonly, 12V batteries like the one in your car are used to power inverters. Heavy-duty inverter/chargers are available that use 24V, 36V or 48V batteries for applications requiring higher wattages. Make sure the batteries you choose match the input voltage capacity of your inverter.
Deep cycle batteries look like ordinary car batteries, but can provide sustained power over a longer period of time and run reliably until discharged up to 80%. They are ideal for inverter applications, especially in RVs, boats and off-the-grid renewable energy because of their ability to be almost completely discharged before they need to be recharged.
Along with batteries, you'll need a fuse and fuse holder. One of the easiest types of fuses to use is an "ANL" fuse that can be spliced into the positive wire coming from your battery pack.
Most inverters are sold without cables so the user can select the cable best for their application. In general, the distance between the battery and the inverter should as short as possible, ideally 10 ft. or less. Cables used for connecting inverters should be type SGX, which is the type of cable typically used to connect a battery to a car's electronic system and ground it.
The below recommended wire gauge table is a general rule of thumb. The actual size wire you need will vary based on the voltage of your battery, the total amps your equipment is drawing and the length of the cable. Our best advice is to stick to what is specified in your inverter's owner's manual.
Depending on what equipment you're using the answer could be a resounding yes. A pure sine wave inverter produces a smooth, sinusoidal AC output with very low harmonic distortion. Sensitive electronics, variable-speed tools, medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, TVs and A/V components, fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts and any appliances with microprocessor control will not run well under modified sine wave power.
To know the right size inverter for your application, you need to total up the wattage of all the appliances, tools or electronics that will run off the inverter at the same time. Many appliances and power tools have their wattage rating indicated on a label on the product itself or in the item's owner's manual. If your devices indicate only amps, the wattage can be arrived at using this simple formula:
Volts x Amps = Watts
Example: You want to run a small mini fridge. You know from the product label it uses 0.7 amps. In the U.S., voltage is 120. Therefore:
120 x 0.7A = 84 Watts
Now factor in how long you want the device to run. This is its runtime. Assuming you are using 12V batteries, divide the total watts by 12.
In our mini fridge example:
84 ÷ 12 = 7 DC amps
This is the DC amp hours required to run the fridge for 1 hour, if it were to run continuously. You'll need to observe the fridge running for a period of time to determine how long it actively runs, so observe it for 15 minutes and record the length of time it runs.
Let's say you want the fridge to run for 12 hours before the batteries need to be recharged. Your observation shows the fridge runs for 5 minutes during the 15-minute observation period. Use this formula:
Active runtime required = Minutes Running ÷ Minutes Observed x Total Runtime Required
12 Hours = 5 Minutes ÷ 15 Minutes x 4 Hours
Next, multiply the DC amps required by the number of hours you estimate you can operate your fridge without charging the batteries.
7 DC Amps x 4 Hours = 28 Amp-Hours
Now you should factor in an adjustment for variable conditions that might affect how frequently the fridge runs, such as warmer weather, opening the fridge, etc. A good rough estimate is a factor of 1.2.
28 Amp-Hours x 1.2 = 33.6 Amp-Hours
This is the minimum amp-hours your batteries must supply.
This table of common appliances, electronics and tools will help you estimate your needs. Be sure to check the product label for the actual wattage requirements, and remember that many tools and appliances have significantly higher peak surge requirements when they start up/cycle on.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website advantages of 3 phase inverter.
Device/Appliance Typical Wattage Desktop Computer with Monitor200 - 400W Laptop Computer20 - 75W Inkjet Printer15 - 75W Laser Printer500 - W Satellite Dish75W Gaming Console125W LCD TV, 32"50 - 70W LCD TV, 42"90 - 250W DVD Player40 - 50W Table Lamp with Incandescent Bulb60W Table Lamp with CFL Bulb13 - 15W Table Lamp with LED Bulb6 - 9W Fluorescent Tube Light40W Blender300 - W Toaster800 - W Coffee Maker, Drip550 - W Coffee Maker, Keurig200 - W Microwave Oven - W Mini Fridge350W Refrigerator, 15 cu ft.240W Chest Freezer 15 cu ft.180 - 500W Vacuum Cleaner300 - W Tabletop or Box Fan50 - 120W CPAP Machine200W Hair Dryer - W Flat Iron800 - W Sump Pump850 - W Space Heater - W Furnace Fan75 - 400W Electric Drill700W Electric Screwdriver60 - 300W Circular SawW Jig Saw350W