Solar Inverters: Best in Show Awards
As most loyal SolarTown customers know, we try to get you the best guidance on selecting solar energy products from our selection of home solar panels to solar water pumps and other products. We have a chart so that you can compare and buy solar panels. If you haven’t seen that chart, it has been an invaluable resource for those who want objective data on various technical aspects and prices of the solar modules we offer. We have repeatedly made the argument that solar panels are not commodity products, but the market has long since proven us wrong. Nevertheless, we continue to provide information so that you the consumer has objective information.
We recently played with the idea of doing the same thing with our selection of solar inverters, but came to the conclusion that the inverter market may not have as many objective standards or features to make that kind of comparison as useful as with solar modules. Some excellent brands, like Outback, don’t stack up in the numbers because they are specialized in other areas like being installable in almost any tropical or harsh environment or switching between on and off grid mode.
That said, sometimes the numbers have a point, and we want to share that point with you so at least you have some information on which to base your decision of which solar inverter to choose for certain size solar panel systems. So here is our first rundown of Solar Inverters: Best in Show!
Best $/Watt Small Home Inverter (< 5kW)
SMA Sunny Boy 4000w: The SMA Sunny Boy 4000w home inverter takes home the award for cheapest per watt inverter for the small home solar panel system. Inverters generally get less expensive per watt the larger they get, but at just $.55/Watt of output AC current, this 4kW inverter delivers power for less per watt than some large commercial inverters! That isn’t all – you’ll be seeing more from this little guy later.
Best $/Watt Large Home Inverter (5-9kW)
Power One Aurora PVI-6000: If anyone ran away with the “best inverter line,” it is Power One’s Aurora line of inverters. The PVI-6000 is just the first of this line to show up, but with a state of the art 96.0% weighted conversion efficiency (not the peak, optimal conditions efficiency manufactures usually advertise!) and only $.48/watt of AC output, the only contest this inverter faces is from units ten times its size… unless you count our next winner.
Best $/Watt Small Commercial Inverter (10-50kw)
Power One Aurora PVI-10.0: A larger scale version of the PVI-6000 for small commercial use, the jump from 6kW to 10kW doesn’t improve the cost per watt for the Aurora PVI-10.0, which weighs in at the same $.48/watt as its smaller companion. That is still enough for it to blow away all of the larger inverters in the small commercial weight class, however, and with a devastating 97.0% weighted conversion efficiency when operating at 480V output, the PVI-10.0 barely misses taking our award for most efficient inverter.
Best $/Watt Large Commercial Inverter: (50-85kW)
Solectria 82 kW: The Solectria 82kW inverter breaks into the running with a solid workhorse of a lare commercial inverter. While its 95.5% weighted conversion efficiency at 480 volts isn’t quite as jaw dropping as the number Power One puts out, its price is right at just $.44/watt. Moreover, this may be the most versatile inverter we have in stock, with the ability to be configured in four different AC output voltages: 208, 240, 480, and 600, making it a solid choice not only for industrial or commercial ventures, but also municipal buildings and apartment complexes.
DOUBLE AWARD!
Best $/Watt Industrial Scale Inverter (> 85kW)
Most Efficient Conversion – Commercial Inverter
Power One Aurora PVI-Central-250: The sheer capacity, efficiency, and per-watt value of the Power One Aurora PVI-Central-250 inverter is staggering. Not only does this inverter output enough AC power to run an entire suburban block, but it does so at only $.36/watt and with an unmatched weighted conversion efficiency of 97.6%. At $89,750, we would call this inverter the Lamborghini of our inverter selection – if Lamborghinis had the horsepower to haul a freight train.
Most Efficient Conversion – Residential Inverter
Tie: PV Powered 5200W EVR and SMA Sunny Boy 6000W: We understand that not everyone can afford the PVI-Central-250 for their home solar panel system, nor can they afford the small second house to store it in. We therefore present a joint award to the PV Powered 5200W EVR and the SMA Sunny Boy 6000W for most efficient home installation scale inverter.
The award is made jointly because inverter efficiency varies with output voltage, and while the Sunny Boy achieves a slightly higher tie breaking peak efficiency of 97%, it does so only at the 277V output level. The 5200W EVR manages a weighted 96% conversion efficiency at the lower and more standard 240V output level just beating out the Sunny Boy 6000W’s 95.5%.
Most Flexible Residential Inverter
Power One Aurora PVI-3.6: Not one to be content with dominating the value-per-watt field, the Aura line also takes our award for most flexible residential inverter for its 410V wide operating range. Come rain or cloud, morning or evening, or mismatched poorly mounted home solar panel array, this inverter will keep switching AC to DC for you at voltages that would overload or put to sleep most other inverters.
Honorable Mention
Fronius IG 5100: The Fronius IG 5100 is a victim of its own superior design in this competition. With a whopping 400V wide operating range, this Austrian designed unit barely got edged out by the PVI-3.6, but only because we can’t quantify Fronius’ proprietary Mix-Concept technology. While it doesn’t increase the operating voltage range of the IG 5100, the Mix-Concept technology allows for much more efficient conversion rates in partial-load situations, making the IG 5100 more efficient and cost effective over a wider range of that voltage spectrum than the PVI-3.6. With that in mind, we award it our one and only honorable mention.