What is A Solar Grid-Tied Inverter?
A grid-tied solar system turns sunlight into electricity using solar panels and a power inverter. This all happens while your home or business remains connected to the local electricity grid.
Why install a solar Grid-Tied Inverter System?
People install solar grid-tied inverter systems to save money on electrical bills, improve their carbon footprint and reduce reliance on the aging grid network while still having the grid to use when needed. You can reduce your power bills by using as much solar energy as possible in your home. By transferring excess energy from your home to the grid, you are contributing to a cleaner, more sustainable energy network in NZ, by reducing the need to draw electricity from distant Dams to your home, & even more importantly, reducing the country's need to utilise coal-powered generation.
How does a Grid-Tied Inverter System Work?
The solar panels you install are the first step to a successful solar Grid-Tied Inverter system. These solar panels collect the sunlight that shines on them and produce a direct current (DC). This DC needs to be converted into alternating current (AC) for your home to use this electricity. This conversion happens through the power inverter that you have installed. Once the power inverter converts the DC into AC, you can use this electricity. This process is simple, fast, and efficient.
The great thing about the Grid-Tied Inverter system is the ability to send any extra power generated back to the grid, which means not only can you make some additional savings (depending on you electricity provider), your neighbours can then use the clean efficient solar power you have produced, rather than drawing electricity from remote Dams or even worse from Huntley coal station. Again, this all happens quietly and automatically. Easy, Clean, Efficient Electricity at your place!
What is a Transformerless (TL) inverter?
The difference between standard or conventional inverters and transformerless inverters is:
- Conventional inverters are built with an internal transformer synchronising the DC voltage with the AC output.
- Transformerless (TL) inverters use a computerised multi-step process and electronic components to convert DC to high-frequency AC, back to DC, and ultimately to standard-frequency AC.
Benefits of Transformerless (TL) Inverter
Transformerless inverters are light, compact, and relatively inexpensive. Since they use electronic rather than mechanical switching, the amount of heat and humidity produced by standard inverters is greatly reduced.
TL inverters can utilise two power point trackers, allowing installations to be treated as separate Solar PV Systems. In other words, with TL inverters, Solar PV Panels can be installed in two directions (i.e. north and west) on the same rooftop and generate DC output at separate peak hours with optimal effects. Traditional inverters work through only one power point, meaning panels performing at lower frequencies will lower DC output for the entire system.
