Solar Power Inverter – Essential For All Solar Power Systems In The Home

If you are using any form of solar power to provide electricity to your home then a solar power system breaks down into two components. The first is the technology that collects the sunlight and transforms it to electricity. This is the photovoltaic (PV) cell that is used to make the solar panels that you have installed on your roof or that you see in many homes these days. The second component is the storage and distribution system. Simply put, this is a battery system and a solar power inverter.

The PV cells in your solar panels create direct current (DC). In order to store DC you need some form of battery. Depending on the amount of electricity you need you will either have one battery or a bank of batteries. However in order to use this direct current in the home you need to convert it to alternating current (AC). AC is used in most homes mainly because it is normally supplied by utility companies that need to transport the electricity through wires. AC can do this but DC can't. A solar power inverter is used to convert DC to AC. This article will cover some of the things that differentiate one inverter from another. 

Most inverters will transform 12, 24 or 48 volt DC to 120 volt, 60 hertz or 220 volt, 50 hertz AC current. Most appliances in the US run on 120 volt, 60 hertz.

The hertz value indicates the frequency that the current alternates at. Although this may not be important to you and is fairly meaningless in itself, it is important for many appliances that are powered by AC.

Another consideration of solar power inverters is the power rating. The inverter will be either continuous or surge. Continuous means that the AC current produced will be constant. Surge means that the inverter will be able to handle sudden spikes in electricity usage. This is useful on cold morning when extra energy is used or starting up many appliances first thing in the morning. Surge is more flexible than continuous.

There are numerous types of inverter however the electronic types are more popular because they are smaller and cheaper. Depending on your needs you will go for an inverter that is longer lasting, efficient and can mange electricity surge. Other types of inverters include the intertie and battery charging varieties.

Intertie inverters are used when your solar power system is connected to the grid. The inverter manages your electricity usage to the extent that if your solar supply is running short it will switch to grid electricity. The same applies for battery charging inverters. They will monitor the charge in your DC batteries that are used to store solar created electricity. If the charge is low the inverter will use grid electricity to recharge the batteries. Both these varieties are designed so that your power supply never runs out.

Solar powered inverters are the link between making solar generated electricity usable in the home. Understanding how much electricity you will need in the home and how this usage is likely to increase in the future is an important factor when selecting an inverter

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