4 Advice to Choose a Single Phase Hybrid Inverter for South Africa

A fundamental part of every Solar Power setup is the Inverter. It is a piece of equipment that is very important to understand.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Sunplus.

After you read this definitive guide, you will understand:

Chapter 1

What is an Inverter?

The basic fundamentals

An Inverter plays a very important role within a Solar Power or Load Shedding Kit.

Simply put, a solar inverter converts DC power (Direct Current) that Solar Panels produce and batteries store into AC power (Alternating Current) that our home appliances use to run.

They also do several other things like tracking your production, and they are responsible for ensuring your system is safe and shutting down if it&#;s not to prevent damage.

Without one, you can&#;t use the Solar Power your panels are producing.

The

There are four main types of Solar Inverters that we&#;ll go through in this guide:The Hybrid Inverter Off-Grid Inverter , Grid-Tied Inverter and 3-Phase Inverter

Chapter 3

Off-Grid Inverters

The inverter that brought everything together

Features

• Easy to install
• Expandable
• High or low voltage options
• Lowest solar inverter price

A very  popular choice because of their price , compared to previous Off-Grid inverters, they are far easier to install due to the fact you have everything in one box instead of separate components.

one function: convert DC to AC.

However, in previous years, they were just a metal box with only: convert

You would need other components like an MPPT (this allows you to connect to solar panels), a Charge Controller (that allows you to connect to batteries), a monitoring device, and a bunch of wiring to tie it all together.

Expandable

 Some Off-Grids can be paralleled  should your demand for more power increase. But, it is essential to remember to do your research and ask questions about how to meet your needs and future plans.

High or Low Voltage

You get  2 main types of Off-Grid inverters, and these are Low-voltage and High-voltage . The difference between the two comes down to how many solar panels you can connect. You can find more detail on how that works by reading our guide: How to Size a PV Array.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Expandable and modular
• Affordable

Cons

• Less reliable than a Hybrid
• Lifespan isn&#;t that great (around ten years)
• Can be noisy

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Chapter 4

Grid-Tied Inverters

Feeding back to the grid

Features

• Grid connection required
• Solar Panels required
• Scalable
• No batteries

Grid-Tied Inverters require an active grid connection to function. If the grid goes down, you will not be able to use any Solar Power produced. An energy meter must be installed within a Grid-Tied Kit so that should your array not be producing enough solar power, it will supplement the excess with grid power.

feed Solar Power back into the grid. However, there are additional charges for this ability including the cost of a bi-directional meter, installation and a daily fixed charge or around R12.
Grid-Tied setups are ideal for homes or businesses that use the majority of their electricity during the day. Supplementing your daily electricity usage with Solar Power will drastically reduce electricity bills.

Another feature of the Grid-Tied inverter is that you can. However, there are additional charges for this ability including the cost of a bi-directional meter, installation and a daily fixed charge or around R12.Grid-Tied setups are. Supplementing your daily electricity usage with Solar Power will drastically

Grid-Tied systems do not require batteries which brings down the cost of these kits.

Chapter 5

What Size Inverter Do I Need?

Working out what size inverter you&#;ll need is easy

help you work out what inverter size you&#;ll need and you&#;ll understand how solar inverter sizing works.

Here is the formula that we use at SolarAdvice to calculate system sizes for our clients. It willand you&#;ll understand how solar inverter sizing works.

All you&#;ll need is your average monthly electricity bill and a calculator.

Step 1

Take your average monthly electricity bill amount and divide that by 2.2 (the average price per kW) Eg:

Monthly Bill

R

/

Average Price Per kW

R2.20

=

Monthly Usage in Kw

818.18kW

Step 2

Take your monthly usage in kW and divide that by 30 (days in a month)

Monthly Usage in Kw

818.18kW

/

Days in a Month

30

=

Daily Usage in kW

27.27kW

Step 3

Take your daily usage and divide it by 5.5 &#; the hours in the day that you produce the most.

Daily Usage in kW

27.27kW

Recommended article:
Is the Innovative Grid Connected Inverter Overhyped?

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Single Phase Hybrid Inverter for South Africa. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

/

Max Production Hours

5.5

=

Production Needs

4.96kW

Inverter Sizing Conclusion

You will need at least a 5kW inverter to cover the 4.96kW

• 6 x 400W Solar Panels = 48% coverage.
• 10 x 400W Solar Panels = 81% coverage.
• 12 x 400W Solar Panels = 97% coverage.

Important Array Sizing Information

In addition to size, you will also need to consider MPPT voltage ranges when selecting an inverter.

Do you need a large array? If the answer is yes, then a high voltage option is best..

If the answer is no, you can look at the low voltage options.

You can read up more on how to size an array here: How to Size a Solar Panel Array

Bonus Section

Inverter Application Questions

These are the questions you should ask yourself before choosing an inverter.

Do you want a Load Shedding Solution or Solar Solution?

If you answered Solar Power, a Hybrid Solution is recommended because it synchronises to the grid allowing you to use all available Solar Power and if you&#;re not producing enough, it will pull the deficit from the grid and/or batteries.
If you need a setup that will save you power cuts only, either-or will do nicely.

Will you add solar panels later?

Adding Solar later is something that many of our customers do. However, in this instance, it is always a good idea to install a Hybrid Solution because of its blending capabilities mentioned above. Installing a Load Shedding Kit now and installing Solar Panels later, breaks up the cost of the product and installation allowing you more time to prepare financially.

Will you add extra solar panels later?

If you&#;re wanting to add extra solar panels later, a system with more than 1 MPPT is your best option. Allowing your system to grow with you.

Will you need batteries?

If you&#;re adding batteries, check to ensure that the equipment you choose has comms. Meaning that the equipment can communicate with each other.

Will you be adding another inverter later?

Some can be paralleled and some can&#;t. Be sure to check the datasheet or ask one of our sales team.

Do you require a UPS function?

If you&#;re running life-saving machinery or computers, you&#;ll definitely want to invest in a system that has UPS capabilities.

Do you have Single Phase or 3 Phase supply?

You can install a single-phase inverter on each phase if you have 3 phase supply. Or, there are 3 phase inverters available on the market.

Chapter 6

How Much Do Inverters Cost?

What to expect

The prices are determined by brand, build quality, features, and size.

For commercial systems with massive kW ratings, you will be paying anywhere from around R50,000 and much higher for even larger inverters.

Whereas residential inverters typically starting from 3kW to a 10kW in size, you can expect the following price ranges:

Off-Grid Inverters

Between R 8,000.00 and R 14,000.00

Hybrid Inverters

Between R 18,500.00 and R 44,000.00

Whatever the choice, it&#;s always best to start where you can, saving you money in the long term and having the ability to re-jig your system as time goes on.

Chapter 7

Best Solar Inverters in South Africa

Quality inverter brands

To name the best pound for pound brand is tricky. Each brand does have its strengths and weaknesses, depending on its application.

Here are the best brands that we would recommend:

Fusion Solar

Fusion Solar&#;s creators have seen the demand in South Africa for more choice when it comes to Solar equipment.

Passion for the South African Solar Industry has seen them answer this demand by bringing in products fit for the South African market.

Top features:

• Stylish
• Functional
• Reliable
• High Quality
• Excellent warranties

Additionally, their products are specifically chosen for their price point and size to be able to cope with long periods of no grid supply and compatibility with quality products from other suppliers.

Their Solar Products have been popular thanks to their reliability and stylish design.

View Fusion Solar website

Browse Fusion Solar Inverters &#;

What size inverter must I use?

Sinetech stocks many different sizes, and several brands of power inverters for solar and commercial use. We also carry a range of professional telecom inverters.

Click here to go to our Inverters Page for more details on the range we stock.

The inverter size you choose depends on the power in watts (or current in amps) of the appliance/equipment you want to run (find the power consumption by referring to the specification plate on the appliance or tool or you will find the information in the appliance manual. If this information is not available, check with the appliance supplier). You need to know both the continuous rating in watts or amps; and the peak/surge rating in watts or amps. Without this information any further calculation is not possible.

Continuous vs peak/surge watts
Inverters are rated in continuous power and peak/surge power. Continuous power is the total WATTS the inverter can support indefinitely while peak/surge power is the amount of power that the inverter can provide for a brief period, usually when the equipment/appliance starts up. Induction motors driving such devices as air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, pumps, etc. may well have a start up peak/surge of 3 &#; 7 times the continuous rating.

Converting AMPS to watts
Multiply the equipment/appliance AMPS x 230 (AC voltage) = WATTS (approximate)

Working out the power
Multiply the equipment/appliance AMPS x 230 V (AC voltage) to give the approximate WATTS or AC power.

Calculate approximate startup load (peak/surge watts)
Multiply the equipment/applicance WATTS x 3 = PEAK/SURGE WATTS (approximate)

So if you want to run an appliance with a continuous load of 5 Amps and a peak load of 15 Amps :

Power : V x I = VA i.e. 230VAC x 5A = Watts continuous power

Power : V x I = VA i.e. 230VAC x 15A = Watts peak/surge (also known as start or inrush current)

You would need an inverter with a continuous rating of approximately watts and with a peak/surge rating of approximately watts. It is always advisable to build in a safety factor by overrating the continuous rating by 20 &#; 25% .

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Intelligent three phase string inverter.