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At Electrical Sensations, our Clean Energy Council accredited designers have done the hard yards of researching and comparing the multitude of solar products available. We're totally confident in the performance, reliability and longevity of every product we choose to install.

When you're investing in a solar power or battery system, you need the system to perform well for you, for as long as possible, without giving you any headaches. There are literally hundreds of different solar products on the market and it can be really hard to distinguish between them all. With solar power systems, the old adage “You get what you pay for” rings very true. We apply the following criteria when choosing which products to recommend to our customers:

How long has the manufacturer been in existence and producing that particular product?
How financially stable is the manufacturer?
What is the general ‘reputation’ of the product from industry and consumer reports?
Do they have an Australian office to handle any potential future warranty issues?
What is the warranty claim/failure rate?
Not only, what is the length of the warranty, but also how difficult and onerous is the warranty process? The devil can be in the detail of the warranty Terms and Conditions.
Would I be confident and happy to have this product installed on my home?

Solar Inverters

The inverter is the heart of a solar power system. It converts the DC output of the solar panel to AC power that is used by your home appliances.

With a sub–standard solar inverter, your solar power system is at best, under–performing and at worst, an expensive white elephant on your roof. Choosing an inverter is an important decision and one that warrants significant research and investigation. There are many different brands of solar inverters and the variance in terms of quality, performance and longevity is huge! The most common inverter sizes are 5kW and 10kW for single-phase and 5kW, 10kW, 15kW and 30kW in three-phase options. Most commercial solar installations are 3-phase starting at 10kW. There are three types of solar inverters/configurations; String Inverters, Microinverters and Power Optimisers.

1

STRING INVERTERS

String inverters, like SMA and Fronius, are the most commonly installed inverter in Australian. Their job is to convert the DC power to AC. String inverters are usually located in a central location – commonly beside the switchboard or in the garage. There is typically only one central inverter per system.

2

POWER OPTIMISERS

An optimised system consists of a small Power Optimiser mounted under each panel similar to a microinverter, plus a central inverter in a similar place to where DC string inverter would be located. SolarEdge Power Optimiser systems are well suited to installations that have shade issues or that require panels to be installed facing more than 2 directions.

3

MICRO-INVERTERS

Enphase micro-inverters are used for more complex installations where there may be partial shading or panels tilted at various angles and/or panels facing multiple directions. An individual micro-inverter is installed under each solar panel, meaning that the number of panels = the number of micro-inverters needed.

Solar Inverter Brands

Known for its German engineering and design, SMA is renowned for producing reliable, compact, high performing solar inverters for the past 40+ years. Electrical Sensations is a proud SMA PowerUp Partner.

SMA

Established in 1945, Fronius is an Austrian solar inverter manufacturer. Fronius inverters are globally recognised as amongst the industry’s highest-performing inverters.

FRONIUS

Known for their long warranties, safety features and monitoring advantages, SolarEdge is a trusted brand that we recommend for our customers with more complex installations.

SOLAREDGE

Enphase was founded in 2006 and manufactured the world’s first microinverter system in 2008. Since then, Enphase has grown exponentially and is widely considered the global leader in microinverter technology.

ENPHASE

The Australian owned, designed and manufactured Selectronic inverters are regarded in the solar industry as the leading inverter for off-grid (stand-alone) solar and battery applications.

SELECTRONIC

Where the inverter is made?
How long has that company been in existence?
How long has that company been producing inverters?
What warranty is provided with the inverter and can it be extended?
Does the manufacturer have a reliable service network in Australia and/or allow the installer to carry out minor repairs?
Is there an Australian office and how many people are in that office? Is it just a token office with a salesperson?
Can you connect remotely to the inverter to see what power is being produced (online monitoring) or does it cost any extra to have that capability?
Do you have reliable WiFi connectivity for remote online monitoring of your system?
Do you want to be able to monitor your electricity consumption as well as solar production? Most inverters allow remote production monitoring but consumption monitoring usually requires a separate inverter Smart Energy Meter.