All your questions answered about installing solar inverters at your home or business.
A solar inverter is an electrical converter that changes direct current (DC) which is the energy made by your solar panels, into alternating current (AC) which can be used to power appliances within your home.
As the electricity your solar panels collect comes in as direct current (DC) you are unable to use this type of current safely to power any appliances in the house, so a solar inverter is needed to convert DC to a useable alternating current (AC).
A solar inverter can typically cost between £500-£1000, the cost can vary depending on the type of inverter you need for your solar panel array.
Usually, Solar Inverters will need changing every 10-15 years due to the expiration of their warranty, although we can offer a 20-year warranty on many of our Inverters.
There are three main types of solar inverters, these are string inverters, micro inverters and power optimizers.
A string inverter is a proven technology that has been in use for decades. They can be used when solar panels are arranged in groups or rows installed in a ‘string’. All these strings can be connected to the inverter for it to transform the DC electricity produced by the solar panels into usable AC electricity for use in your home.
Micro inverters are becoming more popular in domestic solar panel installs. These inverters are fitted to each individual solar panel to convert DC to AC. This type of inverter allows you to install panels in areas that might not always get sun without affecting the rest of the array.
Similar to micro inverters but slightly less expensive, they are also located on each individual panel. They do not convert DC to AC though they help to move DC to a string inverter.