Inverter base and selection

Select inverter - solar and backup

How to choose the solar system inverter. Including sine waves, modified sine waves, grid lines and backup power.

We have many types, sizes, make and models of inverters. Various options are also available. It may be a chore to choose which one from such a long list is the best. There is no "best" inverter - it may not be the best fit for an ambulance. Power output is usually the main factor, but there are many.

There are many factors that can be used to choose the best inverter (and option) for your application, especially when you enter the higher power range (800 W or higher). This page should give you the information you need to choose the one that suits you best.

We provide standard Modified inverter, Pure sine wave for Home power system, and hybrid inverter with AC function.

Watt

Poor watts are often misunderstood. Watt basically only measures the power a device uses or can provide when turned on. Watts are watts - no "watt hour" or "watt day" sort of thing. If you have something that uses 100 watts, that's simply the voltage times the amperage. If 10 amps are placed at 12 volts and 1 amp at 120 volts, then still 120 watts. Watts are defined as one joule per second, so watts per hour are like "miles per hour per day."

Watt-hours

Watt hour (or kilowatt hour, kilowatt hour) is how many watts of time it takes. This is what most people say about "tiles per day." If a lamp uses 100 watts, and it has been using 9 hours, it is 900 watts. If the microwave oven uses 1500 watts, run for 10 minutes, ie 1/6 hours × 1500 or 250 watts. When you buy electricity from friendly utilities (look at your final bill), they sell you so much for every kilowatt hour. KWh is a "kilowatt hour" or 1000 watt an hour (or 1 watt for 1000 hours).

Amps

Amplifiers are a measure of the current current. (Amps are not "Amps" or "Amps per hour" per hour). Amp is important because it determines the wire size you need, especially on the DC (low voltage) side of the inverter. All wires have resistance and the current in the wire generates heat. If your lead is too small for the amp, you'll get a hotline. If the wire is too small, it may cause the voltage to drop. This is usually not a good thing. The amplifier is defined as 1 coulomb per second.

Amp-Hours

Ampere hours (often abbreviated as AH) are what most people call "amplifiers per hour." Amp x time = AH. AH is very important because it is the primary measure of battery capacity. Since most inverters are battery-powered, the AH capacity determines how long you can run. Please see our battery page for more details.

WATTS - OR WHAT SIZE POWER INVERTER DO I NEED?

Peak Power vs Typical or Average

Inverter needs to provide two kinds of demand - peak or surge power, and typical or common power.

Surge is the maximum power the inverter can provide, usually only for a short period of time - a few seconds to 15 minutes or so. Some appliances, especially those with electric motors, require much higher start-up surges than run-time. Pumps are the most common example - another common example is a refrigerator (compressor).

The typical inverter must be stable power supply. This is a continuous rating. This is usually well below the surge. For example, this may be the case when the refrigerator is pulled out within a few seconds of starting the motor, the time it takes the microwave oven to run, or the sum of all the loads. (See the notes on the power supply and / or name label level at the end of this section).

The average power is usually much smaller than a typical or surge and is usually not a factor in choosing an inverter. If you run a 20-minute pump and a 20-minute mini-TV in an hour, the average power may be only 300 watts, even if the pump needs 2000 times. The average power is only used to estimate the required battery capacity. The inverter must be tuned to the maximum peak load and the typical continuous load.

Power Ratings of inverters

Inverters have a rated capacity of 50 watts to 50,000 watts, while units larger than 11,000 watts are rarely used in homes or other photovoltaic systems. The first thing you must know about your frequency converter will be the maximum surge and how long. (More about 230 volt pumps later on).

Surge: All inverters have continuous and surge ratings. Surge ratings are usually specified in so many seconds so much. This means that the inverter will handle that many watts of overload in a short period of time. This surge capability varies greatly between inverters and different types of inverters, even within the same brand. It can vary from 20% to 300%. In general, a surge rating of 3-15 seconds is sufficient to cover 99% of all appliances - the motor in the pump may actually surge for only about 1/2 second.

General rules: The lowest surge level inverter is a high-speed electronic switch (the most common). These are usually 25% to 50% of the maximum overload. These include inverters made from Statpower, Exeltech, Power to Go, and almost all inexpensive inverters that cost between 50 and 5000 watts. The highest surge rating is based on the transformer's low frequency switch. This includes most Xantrex, Magnum and Outback Power. Surge levels up to 300% for short periods of time. High-frequency switching makes the volume smaller and lighter, and also reduces the surge or peak capacity due to the much smaller transformer used.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Although the high-frequency switch does not have the surge capacity of the transformer, but it does have some advantages. They are lighter, usually quite small, (especially at lower power ranges) and they are much cheaper. However, if you are going to run a submersible pump-like equipment, you need very high surge capacity, otherwise you need to increase the size of the drive beyond its typical dosage, so that even in the case of maximum surge, the inverter Will not exceed the surge rating.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF INVERTERS

Sine Wave, Modified Sine, and Square Wave - Say What?

There are three main types of inverters - sine (sometimes referred to as "true" or "pure" sine waves), modified sine waves (actually a modified square wave), and square waves.

Sine wave

Sine waves are sine waves (usually) obtained from a generator at a local utility company. This is because it is produced by a rotating alternating current machine, which is a natural product of rotating alternating current machines. The main advantage of a sine wave inverter is that all devices on the market are sine wave designs. This ensures that the device will work to its full specifications. Some appliances, such as motors and microwave ovens, can only produce the full output of sine wave power. Some appliances, such as breadmakers, dimmers and some battery chargers, require sine waves to work. Sine wave inverters are always more expensive - from 2 to 3 times.

Modified sine wave

The modified sine wave inverter actually has a more square waveform, but with extra steps. A modified sine wave inverter can work well on most devices, but efficiency or power will be reduced. Motors, such as refrigerator motors, pumps, fans, etc., will use more power from the inverter due to lower efficiency. Most motors are wireless

Square Wave

There are very few, but the cheapest inverters are square wave. A square wave inverter will run simple things like tools with universal motors without a problem, but not much else. Square wave inverters are seldom seen anymore.