Solar Inverter versus Regular Inverter

Difference between a Solar Inverter and a Regular Inverter

Something that is often asked is what exactly is a solar inverter and how does it differ from a regular inverter we use daily?

What is an inverter?

A power inverter is an electric power converter that changes DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current).

Why do I need to convert to AC?

Long distance transmission on our grids is done on AC. So, most of our regular home appliance run on AC. Whereas, power generation like in the case of Solar Energy is in DC. This creates a requirement for DC to AC conversion, to transmit it over large distance or in other cases to use it with AC devices.

What is a UPS and is UPS and a inverter the same thing?

No. This is a quite common misconception and people often mistake a UPS as an inverter.

A UPS is an Uninterrupted Power Supply. It basically provides an alternative power source when the regular

While it is true that both have inverting operation and both are used for backup. Most often in India, a home UPS is actually an inverter. The essential difference is that UPS has no delay, whereas the inverter does.

Regular Inverter: Operation of a standard inverter

A regular inverter or a UPS will basically have a battery to store energy from the grid when the supply is available. When the grid is cut off, it will basically switch to power from the energy stored in the battery.

 Solar Inverter : What’s the difference?

A solar inverter, generally is grid tied and can synchronously transfer the energy from the grid. A solar inverter can basically feed into the electrical grid and has functions to attach to various photovoltaic arrays. Solar Inverters have MPPT or PWM technology that allow the batteries to be charged at a constant level. Solar inverters also have islanding protection, which basically means to prevent automatic re-connection.

Solar Inverter with grid tie

Why use a charge controller?

Sun light varies throughout the day. That basically means that sometimes during a day there will be more power generation and other times, it would be lesser. Let’s say a cloud comes up then sudden

Author: Google +

Image Source: Solar Power Rocks

Tags: Solar inverter india, solar inverter and regular inverter

10 thoughts on “Solar Inverter versus Regular Inverter

  1. Pratheep Reddy says:

    its good information available for us and thank you for this. I have a query can we use both electric inverter and solar inverter?

    • Vineet Agarwal says:

      Why will you use solar inverter and an electric inverter? Essentially, a Solar inverter = electric inverter with charging through solar panels instead of grid electricity

    • Venu Gopal Regalla says:

      not needed at all. our company Sunnprapd renewable solutions providing solar rooftop systems with back up facility like 3 to 4 hours as in normal inverter.

      So with this system you are provided with

      1) solar net metering facility – reduces your power bill.
      2) provides back up power in case of power failure for 4 hours duration .

      for more information
      contact:
      Sunnprapd Renewable solutions
      AC college road , opposite state library ,
      Guntur ,AP
      09030064648

    • Aman Shah says:

      Hi Pratheep,

      Lets say you have 12V and 100Watt solar panel

      Watts/Volts=Amps
      100Watts/12V = 8.3 Amps

      Please note that this can change depending on daylight hours you get, we are using module rating here.

      Now lets say your battery is of 100Amp Hours,

      Charging time = Battery Size/ Rating
      So, Charging Time = 100/8.3 = 12 Hours

      This is for a single battery charge cycle.

      How long does the battery last? Lets say you are using a load of 50 Watts (a small TV)
      As far as using an inverter to power a TV, we can calculate how long the battery will last by using the original formula.
      a typical 19″tv will use 70 watts

      First, Current rating of TV 50 Watts/ 12V = 4.17A
      Now, Your load with full charged battery on inverter = 100 Amp Hour / 4.17 = 24 hours

      Hope this helps!

  2. Pushpendra Singh says:

    Hi,
    i need to know if 100 watt panel produce 8.3 amp current of 12 volt as per your calculation, if we use 200 watt panel so will it produce 16.6 amp current of 12 volt dc?
    one more question will your solar inverter convert panel’s dc vold directly to ac without using battery? or solar panel and inverter is just a battery charger? Thank you.P

    • Venu Gopal Regalla says:

      Hi Pushpendra Singh !

      output of solar panel is DC .
      input or output of battery is DC
      inverter converts DC to AC

      different solar circuits serves different service .
      examples:

      1. solar net metering system

      solar modules + inverter = AC electricity can feed in to grid

      2.solar net metering system with back up facility

      solar modules + battery with charge controller + inverter = AC electricity can feed in to grid

      and house can provide
      back up in case of power failure

      for more information
      contact:
      Sunnprapd Renewable solutions
      AC college road , opposite state library ,
      Guntur ,AP
      09030064648

Leave a Reply