Jun. 24, 2024
Energy
Installing solar on your home or business comes with many questions. One of the very first you will be asked is how much electricity you currently use. This information, and other factors, will help your solar installer determine how much solar your home or business needs. Something they will consider is the type and size of solar inverter they will use. Undersizing and oversizing your inverter will have different implications for your home or business. Lets take a look at what undersizing and oversizing your solar inverter means.
It is important to first understand the role of a solar inverter in your solar system. A standard home or business solar PV system will consist of 2 main components: Solar panels and a solar inverter. The panels absorb sunlight and create DC electricity. DC electricity is generally not used in most homes and businesses and requires inverting (or converting) to AC electricity. This is the role of the inverter. Your solar inverter will take the DC electricity and convert it into usable electricity to power all the appliances and electronics in your home or business.
Solar inverters, like the ones manufactured by GoodWe, Sungrow, FIMER, Fronius, Sigenergy, and LAVO, all come with different capacities. The amount of solar panels, and their combined output, generally determines the size of the inverter you will have installed. If you have 10 solar panels, all with an output of 400W, then you will need a 4kW inverter (10 x 400W = 4kW).
Each inverter manufacturer will have varying sizes available and they can range from as little as 1.5kW to over 1MW!
The language around under/oversizing can be a little confusing. To ensure that we are all on the same page, this is what we are referring to in this article:
Oftentimes the terms are interchangeable, but it depends on whether you are referring to the inverter or the number of solar panels. You may also hear of overclocking of your solar inverter this is the same as undersizing.
Now that we are on the same page, lets talk about undersizing your inverter! Undersizing is not only common but usually recommended. When you hear of a 6.6kW solar system, this will mean that there are W of solar panels installed with a 5kW inverter. The reason why this happens is that almost all solar inverters are rated for 33% more than the nameplated output. This means that you can maximise the amount of solar you have installed without having to increase the size of the inverter. Otherwise, you would need a 7kW inverter for a 6.6kW system
There are many reasons to undersize your inverter:
Oversizing your solar system generally means that your solar inverter is oversized for the amount of solar panels and energy output you currently have. An example of this would be if you have 4kW of solar panels but a 5kW solar inverter.
Oversizing your solar inverter would generally only occur for a few reasons.
*Such installations may come with difficulties later. We recommend speaking with your solar installer should you wish to expand your solar in the future.
Generally speaking, we recommend undersizing where possible. You should see a faster return on investment as your upfront costs will be cheaper. If you do plan to increase your solar generation in the future, oversizing is certainly an option. You will need to weigh up the increased upfront cost now vs future installation costs and possible challenges.
The best way to find out what your home or business needs is to talk with a professional! Energy Matters offers an absolutely FREE and NO-OBLIGATION service to all of our readers. We will connect you with local solar installers who will provide you with quotes to help you go solar. Theyll discuss your current and future energy needs and design a system that best suits your home or business.
Click the link below to complete the quick quote request form.
Hi there,
I just had solar installed over the last few days. It was 14 panels which is 5,460 watts. The inverter is a 5k inverter. I know nothing but queried this, how can the inverter be smaller than the max consumption? They said its normal to under spec the inverter by up to 20% as you never get the max output. When then panels get hot they are less efficient etc.
Anyway, when they get up on the roof they say there is actually room for 2 more panels, do I want them? I said yes thats great, but surely now we need a bigger inverter? Now the max output is 6,240W. The inverter is 5k. No they say, you will never get to the max, maybe once or twice a year.
So here is the data from today. the very first day. Clearly you can see its bumping up against the max across about 2 hours in the middle of the day. I know its very hot, but Im told the heat actually makes the panels less efficient?!
So my question is is this normal, that Im creating DC i cant convert to AC? The 6k inverter is about £60 more expensive. This really seems messed up to me, but I though I would ask here before I push it with the company.
Many thanks
James
Related links:Installing solar on your home or business comes with many questions. One of the very first you will be asked is how much electricity you currently use. This information, and other factors, will help your solar installer determine how much solar your home or business needs. Something they will consider is the type and size of solar inverter they will use. Undersizing and oversizing your inverter will have different implications for your home or business. Lets take a look at what undersizing and oversizing your solar inverter means.
It is important to first understand the role of a solar inverter in your solar system. A standard home or business solar PV system will consist of 2 main components: Solar panels and a solar inverter. The panels absorb sunlight and create DC electricity. DC electricity is generally not used in most homes and businesses and requires inverting (or converting) to AC electricity. This is the role of the inverter. Your solar inverter will take the DC electricity and convert it into usable electricity to power all the appliances and electronics in your home or business.
Solar inverters, like the ones manufactured by GoodWe, Sungrow, FIMER, Fronius, Sigenergy, and LAVO, all come with different capacities. The amount of solar panels, and their combined output, generally determines the size of the inverter you will have installed. If you have 10 solar panels, all with an output of 400W, then you will need a 4kW inverter (10 x 400W = 4kW).
Each inverter manufacturer will have varying sizes available and they can range from as little as 1.5kW to over 1MW!
The language around under/oversizing can be a little confusing. To ensure that we are all on the same page, this is what we are referring to in this article:
Oftentimes the terms are interchangeable, but it depends on whether you are referring to the inverter or the number of solar panels. You may also hear of overclocking of your solar inverter this is the same as undersizing.
Now that we are on the same page, lets talk about undersizing your inverter! Undersizing is not only common but usually recommended. When you hear of a 6.6kW solar system, this will mean that there are W of solar panels installed with a 5kW inverter. The reason why this happens is that almost all solar inverters are rated for 33% more than the nameplated output. This means that you can maximise the amount of solar you have installed without having to increase the size of the inverter. Otherwise, you would need a 7kW inverter for a 6.6kW system
There are many reasons to undersize your inverter:
Oversizing your solar system generally means that your solar inverter is oversized for the amount of solar panels and energy output you currently have. An example of this would be if you have 4kW of solar panels but a 5kW solar inverter.
For more information, please visit 3 phase solar inverter connection.
Oversizing your solar inverter would generally only occur for a few reasons.
*Such installations may come with difficulties later. We recommend speaking with your solar installer should you wish to expand your solar in the future.
Generally speaking, we recommend undersizing where possible. You should see a faster return on investment as your upfront costs will be cheaper. If you do plan to increase your solar generation in the future, oversizing is certainly an option. You will need to weigh up the increased upfront cost now vs future installation costs and possible challenges.
The best way to find out what your home or business needs is to talk with a professional! Energy Matters offers an absolutely FREE and NO-OBLIGATION service to all of our readers. We will connect you with local solar installers who will provide you with quotes to help you go solar. Theyll discuss your current and future energy needs and design a system that best suits your home or business.
Click the link below to complete the quick quote request form.
Hi there,
I just had solar installed over the last few days. It was 14 panels which is 5,460 watts. The inverter is a 5k inverter. I know nothing but queried this, how can the inverter be smaller than the max consumption? They said its normal to under spec the inverter by up to 20% as you never get the max output. When then panels get hot they are less efficient etc.
Anyway, when they get up on the roof they say there is actually room for 2 more panels, do I want them? I said yes thats great, but surely now we need a bigger inverter? Now the max output is 6,240W. The inverter is 5k. No they say, you will never get to the max, maybe once or twice a year.
So here is the data from today. the very first day. Clearly you can see its bumping up against the max across about 2 hours in the middle of the day. I know its very hot, but Im told the heat actually makes the panels less efficient?!
So my question is is this normal, that Im creating DC i cant convert to AC? The 6k inverter is about £60 more expensive. This really seems messed up to me, but I though I would ask here before I push it with the company.
Many thanks
James
For more commercial three phase inverters for houseinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
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