Nowadays more and more people choose to install solar and battery storage system in their homes, to help reduce fossil fuel consumption, to gain more energy independence from the utility grid. After you make the decision to go to solar, one of the major questions you would come across is – how to choose a most suitable solar hybrid inverters for your solar system.
As you know, there are many solar hybrid inverters brands and models in the market, choosing the right model could be a challenging job for most users. In this review we’ll first recommend several top rated inverters and their unbeatable features. Then we’ll show you how to pick a best suited inverter for your solar installation.
Best Solar Hybrid Inverters
Best Off Grid Solar Inverter: LXP SNA5000WPV
“A perfect combination of high performance and cost — effectiveness. Strong output capability with 5kW max continuous power and 10kW peak power, it can take almost all household appliances easily. For even bigger power starving device? No problem at all! It can be stacked up to 12 units to give you an incredible 60kW max continuous output.”
Solar Hybrid Inverters Features:
- Type: Off-grid
- Switching time:10mS
- Dimension(WxHxD): 330x504x135mm
- Rated/Peak Power: 5kW/10kW
- Display: LED+LCD
- Weight: 14kg
Solar Hybrid Inverters Other Features:
Intelligent off-grid and hybrid working modes, the hybrid mode allows you to use solar, battery and grid power to supply load together, maximizing your saving to the most extent;
- Wide PV input voltage range from 100-480V;
- Free monitoring&remote firmware update, solving most after-sales problem with just a click of mouse in your office;
- Support single phase and three phase parallel configuration, maximum output power can be 60kW;
- Separate generator port and dry contact enables easy integration of generator to your solar and storage hybrid system;
- Host inverter automatically generated in a parallel system. Unlike other parallel solution where there must be a dedicated master inverter to manage the other inverters in the parallel system, host inverter in LXP SNA5000 inverter parallel system is generated automatically, even the host inverter is down, a new host inverter will come up automatically from the remaining inverters, greatly enhance reliability of your power supply.
Best Solar Hybrid Inverter: LXP 4K
“An amazing product that can work perfectly in both on-grid and off-grid application. It has IP65 protection degree and all major grid-connection certificates. It’s a very popular inverter in the UK market.
Solar Hybrid Inverters Features:
- Type: On and Off grid hybrid inverter
- Switching time:10mS
- Dimension(WxHxD): 455x476x181mm
- Rated/Peak Power: 5kW/10kW
- Display: LED+LCD
- Weight: 20kg
Solar Hybrid Inverters Other Outstanding Features:
- Intelligent working modes including self-consumption mode, forced time charge/discharge mode, utility first mode, off-grid mode to suit all common application scenarios;
- Strong EPS power to ensure the uninterrupted supply of your critical loads;
- Compatibility with a variety of battery brands to give you full flexibility in system design;
- Single phase and three phase parallel configuration allow a maximum output of 60kW;
- IP65 protection degree, suitable for both indoor and outdoor use;
Best AC couple Inverter: LXP ACS3600
“A battery inverter specially designed to retrofit existing grid-tied solar system into solar plus storage system to help you make the most of your self-generated solar power.”
Solar Hybrid Inverters Features:
- Type: AC coupled battery inverter
- Switching time:10mS
- Dimension(WxHxD): 650x440x220mm
- Max AC power to/from grid: 3.6kW/6kW
- Display: LED+LCD
- Weight: 15.6kg
Solar Hybrid Inverters Other Features:
- Intelligent working modes such as off-grid mode, self-consumption mode, etc to maximize your savings, and in the mean time to backup your critical loads as well;
- Strong EPS power to ensure the uninterrupted power supply of your critical loads;
- Can retrofit any brands of existing grid-tied solar system to solar storage system, even with micro inverters!
- Single phase and three phase parallel;
- Compatible with almost all leading battery brands;
- Free monitoring and remote firmware update allows you to solve most after-sales issue with just a click of mouse in office without time-consuming and expensive site visit;
Best High Power Inverter: LXP-LB-US-12kW
“A very powerful high power inverter for whole home backup application. With the built-in 200A bypass relay, and the robust 12kW output, you no longer need to worry about how to prepare your family for load-shedding or unplanned power outages.
Solar Hybrid Inverters Features:
- Type: On and Off grid hybrid inverter
- Switching time:10mS
- Dimension(WxHxD): 455x476x181mm
- Rated/Peak Power: 5kW/10kW
- Display: LED+LCD
- Weight: 20kg
Solar Hybrid Inverters Other Features:
An incredible 12kW EPS output make the whole-home backup an easy job;
- Support parallel up to 10 units, up to 120kW on and off grid output make it suitable for both residential and commercial usage;
- AC coupling function with existing grid-tied solar system, the existing grid-tied system can continue working even in power outage condition;
- 3 MPPT inputs to allow for a maximum PV input of 18kW;
- Dedicated generator input port, supports up to 24kW standby generator and without the need of external transfer switch;
- Built-in 200A pass-through relay to further simplify the installation of whole home backup system;
- PV module level shutdown with the built-in RSD module;
- Robust peak-shaving function to support weak grid and small generator, and help you to avoid expensive capacity charge fee;
- Touch panel, more user friendly interface for user to view inverter status and change inverter settings.
Things to Consider when choosing solar hybrid inverters
Now that you have seen the top rated solar hybrid inverters in the market, it’s better and useful to do some learning about the factors to consider when choosing a inverter for your rooftop system, this will help you to make wise decisions and won’t be fooled by the blandishments of sales persons.
There are a lot of different factors to consider when choosing a most suitable inverter, including product type, power level, output voltage, efficiency, cooling system, noise level, dimensions, weight, as well as price. Now we’ll explore them one by one in detail,
Solar Hybrid Inverter Type:
There are mainly 2 types of solar hybrid inverters in the market – On-grid and Off-grid inverter. On-grid inverter can also be categorized into solar inverter, battery inverter and hybrid inverter.The most distinct difference between on-grid and off-grid inverter is if they have grid connection certificate.
On-grid inverter is always connected to public grid during normal operation, to ensure their output won’t cause adverse effect to the grid, different countries or grid companies have set different grid-connection standards to stipulate requirements on inverter’s output power quality, inverter behavior when abnormal condition is detected on the grid or the solar hybrid inverters itself.
Such as VDE-N4105 in Germany, EN50549 in most European countries, IEEE1547 in the US, NRS-097 in South Africa, AS/NZS4777.2 in Australia and New Zealand, etc. Grid company only approves inverter’s connection application when the solar hybrid inverters has certificate showing compliance with the corresponding standards.
Off grid solar inverter doesn’t need grid-connection certificate, they are disconnected from the grid when there is sufficient solar and battery power to supply house loads. The inverter only connects to the grid when the house loads need more than solar and battery can supply. So basically they only consume grid power, and never output power to the grid, grid companies don’t require grid-connection certificate for these type of hybrid solar inverter.
As mentioned above, on-grid inverter can be classified into solar inverter, battery inverter and hybrid inverter. Solar inverter only has solar input port, battery inverter only has battery input port, while hybrid solar inverter has both solar and battery input port and can convert DC power from both sources to grid-compliant AC power.
Parameters to consider when purchasing an solar hybrid inverter
Power output
Residential solar hybrid inverters normally come with power range from 3kW to 6kW. In some market, like US, bigger model such as 8kW-12kW is also very common. Apart from rated power, surge power is also a very important factor to consider. Motor type appliances, such as pump, fridge, air conditioner needs considerably more power than their rated power during starting.
So to choose a proper inverter, first you need to ensure the inverter’s rated power match the total rated power of devices that need to be backed-up by the solar hybrid inverter when grid is down. The inverter also need to have sufficient peak power capability to handle the surge power requirement of motor type loads. Normally the inverter need to have peak power of 2 times of rated power to accommodate more types of household loads.
Output voltage
Output voltage is also a very important factor to consider. Different countries have different nominal grid voltage. In some markets, such as US, there are more than one voltage level in the home. Commonly seen is 120/240V or 120/208V, if you connect a 240V output inverter to a 120V load, the load will be damaged by the unmatched voltage. So you need to choose inverter’s output voltage according to the nominal voltage of the loads.
Efficiency
Efficiency is another notable parameter you’ll want to pay close attention to. It reflects the power loss incurred when the inverter’s converting PV or battery power to AC power. Efficiency is always the higher, the better.On inverter’s data sheet, you may see different efficiency parameters, e.g. Europe Efficiency, Max Efficiency, Battery to Grid Efficiency, CEC Efficiency, etc.
Europe Efficiency and CEC Efficiency is a weighted efficiency calculated by inverter’s efficiency value measured at different power level. They are designed to better assess the inverter’s PV to Grid efficiency in Central Europe and California, respectively.
Max Efficiency is the peak PV to Grid efficiency. Battery to Grid Efficiency tells you how much power will be lost when battery is supplying power to loads or charging from the grid.
Cooling system
Power conversion always comes along with heat generation. The solar hybrid inverters will generate heat when it’s generating power. There are generally two ways for inverter to dissipate the heat.
The first is through internal fans, which is also known as forced cooling. The fans in the solar hybrid inverter generate airflow and help to cool the inverter down.Inverters can also cool through convection. Convection cooling is a natural heat dissipation method that you can often find in these devices.
Noise level
The solar hybrid inverter’s noise level is generally quite low. But the low buzzing or humming sound they produce when working may still be annoying or distracting if the inverter is installed near a bedroom or living room. So it’s better to keep the inverter away from these rooms in the house.
However, if you hear your inverter making louder sounds than the normal humming, you might need to inspect it as there could be issues with it, or the cooling fans need replacing.
Dimensions and Weight
Dimensions and weight also need to be considered when choosing hybrid solar inverters. You need to check if the inverter can fit in the space where you want the inverter to be installed, and the mounting surface can bear the weight of the inverter.
Prices
You can find an inverter for almost any price in the market. But low price always equals low quality. So it’s better to choose inverters from leading brands. Their price might not be cheap enough, but product quality and after-sales service can always be guaranteed. Considering the solar and battery storage system can lower your bills, using the leading brand’s product is still a worthy investment.
Conclusion
We hope that this guide could help you find the best solar hybrid inverter for your needs. So you could be able to lower your electric bills and your life be affected at the minimum level during load-shedding or power outage .