Difference Between Solar Panels And Inverters

Check it out if you are considering buying batteries with your solar power system.

Difference between solar panels and inverters.

Most homes use alternating current ac energy not dc so the energy produced by your solar panels isn t useful on its own. Solar panels are installed in rows each on a string for example if you have 25 panels you may have 5 rows of 5 panels. In case of grid connected the dc power is from the solar panels and ac power is given to the grid. They send the power produced by solar panels to a central inverter that changes it from dc to usable ac power for your home.

If you want to retrofit batteries to your solar power system or simply keep your battery system separate from your solar panels i e. This allows the solar system to get maximum electricity generation in partial shading situations. Although modern solar technology allows individual panels to continue producing power even if a part of the panel is shaded without module level power electronics string inverters can only optimize power output at the string level not at the individual panel level. While a conventional string inverter might have 1 to 3 internal mppt units with a power optimizer system there is one mppt per solar panel.

A home ups or home inverter take the dc power from the batteries and convert it to ac power used by appliances. A solar inverter also does the same if it is an off grid solar power system. Multiple strings are connected to one string inverter. The big difference is that a solar panel installation with microinverters will have the same number of microinverters as there are solar panels.

Not going through the same inverter then a separate battery inverter is a good but expensive choice. String inverters inverters power optimizers and microinverters. Inverters are a very important component of any solar panel system. When your solar panels collect sunlight and turn it into energy it gets sent to the inverter which takes the dc energy and turns it into ac energy.

Micro inverters on the other hand convert dc to ac power at each individual panel and allow for monitoring and power regulation at the panel level.