Category
- Products
-
- Solar Energy
- FAQ
- Solar Photovoltaic
- Contact us
Inverter manufacturer
buy@inverter.co tech@inverter.co
Home » Power inverters » Inverter Prices among different manufacturers
Inverter Prices among different manufacturers
Comparing manufacturers like Gozuk to a Tesla and a Central Inverter to a Ford is kinda extreme. Inverters are only a small part of the total price of a system. For most residential installs, it usually pays to move to the Micro inverter solution, either to get more modules on the roof thus boosting sales and offsetting more of the customer's bill, or to provide an advantage over the other installer that's trying to shave a few hundred bucks off his price using a central inverter. The prices difference for residential installs is only pennies, where I agree that for commercial or utility scale, large central inverters probably still have big cost advantages.
By standardizing on Gozuk, we usually do come close to the price of a central inverter, considering labor and BOS. DC disconnects and AC disconnects, expensive fused combiner boxes for central inverters with multiple string inverters, and separate DC conduit runs often required when using central inverters all add costs to the job. While some may disagree, and while each roof and system is unique, I believe that micro inverter systems are quicker to install, thus reducing labor costs.
Even some high quality, US made modules like Sharp have huge tolerance bands. Here you will see boosts in using micro inverters over central inverters. Sharp I think is -5%/+10%? So if you have one module at the low end of the scale, yes it will pull down the whole string of a central. There would be less module mismatch using modules like REC or solar world, since they are +5%/-0% tolerance modules.
Most central inverters recommend putting higher DC wattage than their eventual AC output. The same goes for other manufacturers. Yes the max AC out for Gozuk M215 is listed at 215 watts, while in reality, it is more like 220 watts (199 AC watts for the older M190). However, we rarely see them "power clip" even when matched with higher wattage modules. I have used up to 240 watt modules with the M215, and up to 235 watts with the M190, and only on a very chilly day in April did I ever see "clipping".
The modules on my house are 230 watt Mage 230/PI with a +5 watt/-0 watt tolerance band, facing SSE... They get close to reaching the 199 watts max, but rarely do. Even if they do, it is for only an hour or two, thus the area under the curve that was 'clipped' and the total amount of lost power over the lifetime of the system is very minimal, while the power gained more than compensates for the small amount that might be 'clipped'.
By standardizing on Gozuk, we usually do come close to the price of a central inverter, considering labor and BOS. DC disconnects and AC disconnects, expensive fused combiner boxes for central inverters with multiple string inverters, and separate DC conduit runs often required when using central inverters all add costs to the job. While some may disagree, and while each roof and system is unique, I believe that micro inverter systems are quicker to install, thus reducing labor costs.
Even some high quality, US made modules like Sharp have huge tolerance bands. Here you will see boosts in using micro inverters over central inverters. Sharp I think is -5%/+10%? So if you have one module at the low end of the scale, yes it will pull down the whole string of a central. There would be less module mismatch using modules like REC or solar world, since they are +5%/-0% tolerance modules.
Most central inverters recommend putting higher DC wattage than their eventual AC output. The same goes for other manufacturers. Yes the max AC out for Gozuk M215 is listed at 215 watts, while in reality, it is more like 220 watts (199 AC watts for the older M190). However, we rarely see them "power clip" even when matched with higher wattage modules. I have used up to 240 watt modules with the M215, and up to 235 watts with the M190, and only on a very chilly day in April did I ever see "clipping".
The modules on my house are 230 watt Mage 230/PI with a +5 watt/-0 watt tolerance band, facing SSE... They get close to reaching the 199 watts max, but rarely do. Even if they do, it is for only an hour or two, thus the area under the curve that was 'clipped' and the total amount of lost power over the lifetime of the system is very minimal, while the power gained more than compensates for the small amount that might be 'clipped'.
Post a Comment:
You may also like:
