Solar Power Inverter

One of the fundamental components of your solar power home system is the solar power inverter. This box handles a lot of functions, but primarily, it converts the power generated by the solar panels or stored in the batteries to something that your house understands.

In a nutshell, your solar panels are like a big battery. In fact, they output the same type of power; direct current electricity. But the problem is your house and appliances use alternating current electricity.

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Now, when you go hunting for a solar power converter, you have to make sure that you purchase a unit that will properly handle your power requirements. Second, you’ll probably have a choice between a 12, 24 and 48 volt inverters.

First off, the 12, 24 and 48 volts stipulates the input you will be getting from your battery bank. If you purchase a higher voltage number, the current will be less. The end effect is you can use lower gauge wiring to do the same job.

I won’t go deeper in this, as it can get a bit hairy and there are some great guides that deal with topics like this very well.

Second, I mentioned that you will be buying a unit based upon your power requirements. This is the wattage of the solar power inverter unit. This can vary. You can purchase a unit that is only 2,000 watts to a unit that can convert up to about 6,000 watts.

Your solar power inverter can only supply only what
your batteries and/or solar panels can provide

But you must remember, your solar power inverter can only supply only what your batteries and/or solar panels can provide.

To give you some idea of how much a 2,000 watt or 6,000 watt inverter can do, let me give you some numbers for common household electrical devices to give you some comparison.

So, as you can see, depending on the appliance you use, you can have various wattage requirements.

Your wattage requirements are additive

Now, your wattage requirements are additive. The more appliances you use, the more wattage you need. So, if you consider disconnecting from the electrical company, then you need to plan for this accordingly.

Solar Power Inverter – Choosing the Right Type

Solar power inverters can be found for very cheap, but you need to know that in this case, you really do get what you pay for.

The two types you can find are true sine wave and modified sine wave inverters.

True sine wave inverters create power that looks identical to the power your electrical company supplies. This is also the more expensive of the two technologies.

Some electronic appliances can be fussy when working with a modified sine wave inverter but for most standard appliances, like toasters, lights and the such, there should be no issues.

If you are interested in learning more from an expert in the field of solar power inverters, please click here.