“Battery-ready” inverters – who needs them?
There is quite a bit of h
ype being spread about battery-ready solar inverters. To make it clear from the outset: most inverters carrying this title are anything but!
What does it actually mean?
Any Hybrid Solar system (grid-connected solar battery systems) needs a few electronic components to do the following jobs:
- Convert the DC voltage from the panels into 240AC
- Charge the battery with solar generated DC; Or:
- Charge the battery from the grid (with cheap off-peak power)
- Provide electricity from solar panels directly or the battery IF and WHEN the grid is down (Emergency Power Supply or EPS)
There are only very few hybrid inverters with EPS function on the market. Brands as per September 2016 include SunVerge and Solax with others like SMA or GROWATT to become available in the coming months.
A word of caution about SOLAX: The Solax-X Hybrid inverter is an INDOOR inverter only. It has an IP rating of 20 and should not be mounted on an outside wall, even if rain-protected. It is not protected at all from critters getting inside and destroying the electronics over time!
It can be expected that battery storage solutions will more and more include the inverter technology required to use them. In our opinion, for someone having PV Solar now or installing it now, there is no need to think about battery-ready or not UNLESS you are planning to install batteries very soon.
With battery costs expected to go down significantly once the POST 60 cent FIT boom has passed, we suggest to sit still and wait for another year before rushing into any battery installation.
Beware of fly-by-nighters
We certainly don’t recommend anyone to get panicked by some vendors of battery technology with a big advertising budget that try to sell out-dated technology now at inflated prices and without doing careful scrutiny in regards to the actual needs of the client.
As with any new technology entering the market, it always attracts some fly-by-nighters trying to capitalise on the boom – often leaving customers high and dry when warranty issues arise!
The best buys are always around technology that has been proven reliable for some time, with vendors that have a track record of delivering quality and honour warranties and with products from well-respected companies.