Your inverter should at a minimum be able to cope with the maximum power output of your array. They must show a Certificate of Suitability number and a date of testing which is no more than 5 years old. Grid connected inverters sold in Australia need to be tested and compliant with Australian Standard AS 4777. There are a few things you should look for when choosing an inverter: Since most solar kits will be installed for you, this isn't likely to be too big a problem. Even if you’re only connecting your inverter to a battery, it's a good idea to get a licensed installer or electrician in to make sure everything's the way it should be. If you're connecting to the mains like most people, you will need a licensed electrician to do the job. The inverter will need to be connected up to both the array and either the mains power or a battery storage system. The inverter will need to be installed under cover - usually in a garage or carport - although it can be installed in the house if there's no other safe place to put it. with a modified sine wave, as mentioned earlier) which can be fine for appliances which don’t use a lot of power, but can be problematic for more heavy duty appliances, especially for anything motorised. Lesser quality inverters mimic the sine wave in steps rather than straight lines (i.e. The better quality the inverter, the more closely it will mimic the wave and the more efficiently it will regulate power. Inverters use a sample of the power supplied by the grid to ensure that the output is exactly in phase with the power supplied from the grid. In Australia the supply current switches at 50Hz, so the current is switched 50 times a second. The inverter uses either transistors or an oscillator to switch the voltage back and forth. For it to be usable, it needs to mimic the wave form of the AC power coming in from the grid (a sine wave). In simple terms, the DC electricity produced by a solar or turbine array has no wave to it it's a basic, direct flow of current. All of household appliances are designed to be used with an AC current, and this is where an inverter comes in. The reason for this is that AC current is considered to be slightly less likely to kill you if you happen to get an electric shock from the mains. The power that comes from your powerpoints is supplied in AC form, which means that the current alternates back and forth in a wave. A 'pure' sine wave is a smooth wave, whereas a modified sine wave is closer to a square wave (see image).Ī pure sine wave inverter will identically mimic the wave produced by the mains power grid, which will result in a much more efficient energy conversion - a little like the difference between looking at an extremely high resolution picture and an extremely low one. The difference between a pure sine wave inverter and one which produces a modified sine wave is the shape of the wave for the output current. They can also make a fairly loud humming noise, which can be irritating if the inverter's installed near a living area. Inverters with transformers are generally bigger and heavier, and are normally slightly less efficient than the more modern transformerless types that are appearing on the market. Most inverters sold in Australia include transformers, although inverters without transformers are becoming increasingly popular for a few reasons. If your inverter doesn't have a transformer, you'll need an external one. Inverters have two main variation points: whether or not they have a transformer, and the type of sine wave they produce (pure or modified).Ī transformer is the part which bumps up the voltage to 240V, which is required by all of your appliances, and which is the voltage at which power is supplied from the grid. What are DC to AC inverters?Ī DC to AC inverter (normally just called an 'inverter') takes the direct current (DC) power generated by a solar panel or wind turbine array and converts it to alternating current (AC) power, which can be used around the home or fed back into the grid to offset electricity consumption. The technology used in your inverter will affect its efficiency.
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