Solar Inverter

String Inverters
String inverters have one centralized inverter — or, keeping with the metaphor — one central currency exchange station.

This is a standard inverter, and it works just fine if you don’t have any encroaching shade from nearby trees or a big chimney. It’s also great if you have all of your solar panels facing the same direction.

String inverters are standard in the industry, and they’re the least expensive.

String inverter pros:

• Lowest cost
• Standard inverter
• Performs well with no shade

Microinverters are small units built into each individual solar panel that convert power. Think of it as having mini currency exchange stations on every nearby street corner.

This gives each panel the ability to function at peak performance, independent from its neighbors. Even if the panel next to it has a tree branch shading it for most of the day, all the other panels can convert at full capacity. Any drop in efficiency only affects one panel.

Microinverters also enable you to monitor the performance of each individual panel. This is helpful for spotting any issues with a single panel so you can have it repaired before it slows down the whole system’s productivity.

Microinverter pros:

• Shade from a nearby tree won’t reduce the whole solar panel system power output
• Individual panel monitoring available
• Increasing power needs are easier and less expensive than installing a second central inverter
• Good for rooftops where solar panels may face different directions

Power optimizers are somewhere in between string inverters and micro-inverters both in how they function and in price.

As with micro-inverters, power optimizers have a component (the “optimizer”) underneath and within each solar panel. But rather than change the DC to AC right there on site, these inverters optimize the current before sending it to one central inverter.

This is more efficient than a string inverter, as any sluggish production from one panel doesn’t slow the whole system, but more cost-efficient than a standard micro-inverter setup.

Power optimizer pros:

• More efficient than string inverters
• Less expensive than micro-inverters
• Individual panel monitoring available