Solar Inverter Buying Guide
Last Updated on October 14, 2024
Saving energy today will make your tomorrow brighter
Power cut off has become a routine in India. Excessive load on the grid and uneven power distribution across the grids are some of the various reasons. The end-user has definitely affected adversely and a substitute to the main supply is the only preferred option. Inverters are designed to satisfy this very significant need.
With the use of solar inverter, you will get the extra benefit of off-grid power generated by the sun which is absolutely free and you can cut down your electricity bills on a monthly basis.
What is a solar inverter?
The solar inverters are the most vital segments of a home solar power system. It attempts to change over Direct current to Alternating current. Besides, it even changes over the electricity from the solar panels. Without this, the solar power system won’t have the capacity to light your whole home and power the greater part of your machines.
Types of solar inverter?
There are different sorts of inverters available in the market:
1) Sine Wave Inverter:
This type of inverter generates sine wave for which an appliance is designed. Most of the appliances can be safely run on this type of current output.
2) Square Wave Inverter:
This type of inverter is popularly known as Digital Inverter. It generates square wave AC output which is not enough to run all kinds of home appliances as the appliances are made to run on sine wave AC pattern only. You will also notice a humming sound coming from some of the devices. The devices can bear this but still this square wave is not recommended to run your home appliances.
3) Stepped Sine Wave Inverter:
This type of inverter falls in between the above two types. Quasi Sine Wave pattern is also not very much accessible in the market. This type of inverter is apparently a low-cost power solution for running computers and other types of electronic gadgets.
Getting the right product becomes quite a bit of an exercise as there are loads of options of Solar inverter available in the market. Some people can even mislead you with aggressive marketing. So, before getting into buying one, you need to figure out your requirements first. Read on to know more with the buying guide provided by Industrybuying below.
Calculate your power requirements
Before going to purchase an inverter- You have to make a rough estimation of your power requirements. Remember- Inverter is not a Generator. Solar Inverter has its own limitations. You can’t power and run your entire home with an ordinary inverter. On the off chance if your energy prerequisite is more than 4000 VA, at that point an inverter alone can’t cater to your requests viably. Most likely a powerful inverter can run your fridge and AC, however to what extent? Here your battery won’t last over a couple of hours. Henceforth it’s ideal to go for high capacity solar panels.
Wattage rating of typical home appliances
Appliances Power
- Fan (Ceiling) 50-75 Watts
- Fan (Table) 25-50 Watts
- CFL 18 Watts 18 Watts
- Computer 80- 150 Watts
- Laptop 20- 75 Watts
- LCD TV (32”) 150 Watts
- Refrigerator 160 – 250 Watts
- Tube Light 40 Watts
Starting power and running power
Starting and running power prerequisites of every single electric apparatus are distinctive. A18 Watts CFL takes around 25 Watts energy to start and following a couple of moments it balances out to 18 Watts. A few devices like Refrigerator, Washing Machine, etc take double the vitality to start in relation to the standard running power. Consequently, before picking an inverter you ought to find out the starting power.
What is a solar inverter VA and Watts?
Usually individuals are mistaken for the distinction amongst Watts and VA evaluations of inverter or other home apparatuses. Power drawn by the gear (Power utilizing hardware like Bulb, Fridge, Washing Machines, ACs, Stabilizers and so forth.) and Power created by the hardware (Solar Panel, Generators, Inverters, UPS and so on.) can be communicated in Watts or VA (Volt Ampere).
Here comes the distinction. Power in Watts is the genuine power drawn or provided by a gear. VA is the evident power (more hypothetical) which is acquired by duplicating the Voltage and Current drawn/provided by a hardware. We can compare the VA and Watts appraisals:
Power in Watts = Power in VA- Losses
OR
Power in Watts = Power in VA x Efficiency of the equipment (Power Factor)
Solar Inverter or Solar UPS?
If you have to consider Solar inverter vis-a-vis Solar UPS, practically both do a similar job of converting Direct Current to Alternating Current which is utilized as a reinforcement control producing gadget if there arises a problem in the mains control. Solar UPS as the name states gives Uninterrupted Power Supply to devices.
The devices won’t feel the changing deferral from mains to Solar UPS supply. Switching over time of an average UPS is 3 to 5 MilliSeconds. A standard inverter takes around 500 Milliseconds which is unsatisfactory for the hardware gadgets like PCs, Modems, Routers, printers and so forth. So before purchasing a solar inverter or solar UPS you should first check the devices that you have and if you can manage the intrusion on control supply or not.
Solar Battery
Solar Batter- the fundamental piece of Solar inverter. Execution and life of a Solar inverter relies on Solar battery. We can see a few groupings of Solar inverter batteries. Typically high power Lead Acid batteries are utilized to control Solar inverters. Lead corrosive batteries are grouped into various types according to the application, outline, innovation and so forth.
Battery Capacity
Capacity of a battery is based on Ampere Hour (Ah). It shows the rate of current a battery can supply for a given time. In the event that the Capacity of a battery is 100 Ah, that battery can supply 100 Ampere current for 1 Hour or 1 Ampere Current for 100 Hrs., 2 Amps Current for 50 Hrs. The capacity of inverter batteries are for the most part 100 Ah, 150 Ah or 180 Ah.
| Flat Plate Batteries | Tubular Batteries | Maintenance Free Batteries (Sealed lead acid) | |
| Battery Life Span | Low (~ 3 Yrs) | High(~ 5 Yrs) | Medium (3 to 4 Yrs) |
| Maintenance | High | Medium | Low |
| Cost | Low | High | High |
| Safety | Low | Low | High |
| Efficiency | Low | High | Medium |
| Scrap Value | High | High | Low |
The inverter output (Sine wave, Square wave, Stepped Sinewave)
Does this wave shape really matter? Yes, it does.
All commercial instruments are designed to run on pure sine wave. Characteristics of such devices greatly depend upon the input wave shape. A change in wave shape will affect the performance of the appliances. Appliances like Motors, refrigerators, Ovens etc. will generate full power on pure sine wave input only. Distortion in the sine wave creates humming noise in transformers, and audio devices.
A few instruments like light dimmers, few battery chargers, toasters etc require immaculate sine wave to work. Drawn out operation of machines in Square or stepped waves will impressively influence the life of such hardware because of the generation of heat.
You may have noticed that audio amplifiers, Televisions, Fluorescent lamps etc. make noise on inverter power. This indicates that inverter output is not pure sine wave. Sine wave inverters are costly as compared to square wave and stepped sine wave inverters, however it is always advisable to go for a pure sine wave inverter for the safety and effective performance of your appliances.
| Square Wave | Stepped Sine Wave | Pure Sine Wave | |
| Safety of Appliances | Less | Moderate | High |
| Life of Appliances | Less | Moderate | High |
| Battery Life | Less | Moderate | High |
| Noise Level | High | Moderate | Normal |
| Heat generation | High | Low | Normal |
| Suitability for sophisticated appliances | No | Not recommended for prolonged use | Yes |
Solar Inverter efficiency and No load power consumption
The efficiency of a Solar inverter is proportional to the amount of power drawn. It can vary from 90% to 50% from full load to light load. Here the notable factor is that the Solar inverter efficiency is high on maximum load. Generally, a solar inverter is in its most efficient capacity when being used at around 1/3 to 3/4 of its full rating.
Power Consumption of Solar inverters
Solar Inverters take Solar energy to charge the batteries. If the charging section of a solar inverter is not energy efficient, it will waste electricity even after the battery is fully charged. You can test the same at your home. Turn off all apparatuses aside from the mains supply to inverter, disengage the battery and measure the power utilization for a particular period.
Battery backup duration
Here we have an equation to find the battery life on load
Time (in Hrs.) = Battery Voltage (In volts) * Battery Capacity (in Ah)*efficiency of inverter
Load (in VA)
Let us have a sample calculation
Battery voltage = 12 Volts
Battery Capacity = 150 Ah
Load = Two fluorescent lamps (40 Watts each) and one ceiling fan (75 Watts )= 155 Watts
Inverter efficiency = 80%= 0.8
Backup Time = 12 * 150*0.8/155= 9.29 Hrs (Approx)
Other features
LCD Status Indicators: Modern inverters come with LCD status indicators to display various status like Battery charge level, Load, Input/output voltages, Battery life etc.
Earth Leakage Protection: Earth leakage protector is a safety device used to protect users from electric shock and appliances from damage. Modern solar inverters come with in-built earth leakage protection circuits, which continuously monitor earth leakage and cut off the supply to safeguard the users.
Buy Solar inverter online at discounted prices from IndustryBuying
IndustryBuying.com as India’s chief B2B commercial center displays an interesting collection for purchasing top notch branded Solar Inverters online among a large group of other modern merchandise. The items are 100% bonafide and fabricated by first class brands, for example, Su-Kam, Luminous, Navaid, Tracksun, and so forth.
You can even purchase Solar Power Conditioning Units, at best price in India and browse through an assortment of varied items including solar UPS System all under one roof. You can likewise get home awesome discounts on Solar MPPT Inverter over different top level brands and make payment by many means for example, Cash on Delivery (COD), Debit and credit card, and Net Banking.
Moreover, besides the different deals and offers, businessmen looking to purchase solar inverters in large quantities can avail huge discounts on bulk purchases. So, look no further! Shop online for solar inverters at wholesale rates from the biggest e-store today!
