WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE BUYING AN INVERTER - LinkedIn

When installing a PV plant, there are many important factors to take into account for its installation. Among them, to know which photovoltaic inverter is the one that best suits your needs

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Here are the most important things to consider before choosing a solar inverter.

1.      Type of inverter

There is a wide variety of soalr inverters from central to inverters one, the Operation philosophy and grid codes times response has to be determined and then select the most suitable option, such as the ones you can find on our website. These are: 

• Bi-directional PV inverters

These inverters are polyvalent , they can be used as well as PV inverter or BESS inverter or Fuel cell inverter, the DC must be adapted to each solution but the core system remains the same.

In our case the inverters are built with 2 or 3 power stages that increase plant reliability and are able to create reactive management that adapts to the strictest grid codes. In addition, these smart inverters have the ability to work in grid tied or grid forming mode.

• Medium voltage systems

A Turnkey solutions integrating all medium voltage systems and inverters in a single building it’s the optimal solution, and if everything is already wired and tested from factory then Installation is made easier and shorter.

Link to Jiwei

See also:
Modified Sine Wave Inverter: Essential Insights for 2025

• Battery energy storage systems

AC or DC coupled , Systems can be scalable and added later in the PV plant, just be careful allocating some space for batteries close to inverters in DC configuration or close to the POI in AC configuration.

• Var compensator

Just consider in some cases to avoid reducing active power from the PV inverters adding a STATCOM to your plant , and let work your PV inverter with a 1 power factor.

2. Service  and Training

Undoubtedly, to have a field service close to your plant may avoid time loosing for interventions Remote diagnostic tools is also welcome as in 80% of the cases troubles can be solved with a remote diagnostic in less than 10 minutes.

With these points clear, you can now find the inverter that best suits you!

At JEMA we support you from the design phase to the start-up, becoming part of your team.

 Take a look at our range of inverters. We help you to select the inverter according to your needs and specifications.

For more Inverters(ur,es,el)information, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

There's lots of things to consider when picking an inverter. You need to add up all your individual power consumers, including lights, computers, appliances, etc. Assume they were all one at one time, and that adds up to your max continuous power need. Anything with an electric motor will have an inrush current / power. That usually is for a fraction of a second. Most of the better inverters have two power ratings: one for continuous and one for surge. As long as the power including the inrush is below the surge rating of your inverter, you should be fine.

One of the things that will be driven by this total power is the voltage of your DC system. There's lots of different opinions on where the boundaries are, but a 12VDC system is appropriate if you are planning on less than W. A 24VDC system is fine up to around W. Above that, you should probably do a 24VDC system. This is partially because of the larger wire sizes needed for high watts at low voltage, and partially because it is hard to find a quality inverter that really provides power above these thresholds. You may find some no-name 10kW 12VDC inverters. These are fake, rip-offs, and will not work. Remember, 10kW at 12VDC is over 800 Amps, without even accounting for the inefficiency of the inverter.

You didn't say what DC voltage you were planning on, but the power consumption should be a primary driver.

As for a negative impact of having an oversized inverter: First, if you stick with a quality inverter, buying oversized can be very expensive, especially if you are sticking with true sine wave output. Second, the tare loss (power consumed by the inverter itself when there is no loads) tends to be higher as the inverter watt rating goes up.

Hi,
I am running off grid. Need to power a 110V 13.5 BTU split A/C unit, ( starting watts and run watts is my guess)

If that split A/C is inverter drive, then no surge and W as you suggest or even W starting.
Otherwise ...

If watts by the nameplate, I would guess 10,000 starting watts.

I've measured smaller units, with a scope and current probe so I could see individual AC cycles. A meter isn't fast enough.
It was a small 400W window unit. Under mild conditions (not cooling a room on a hot day), running wattage was 1/2 of rating on label. Starting wattage for 0.16 seconds was 5x rating.

Some inverters quote surge rating, but for about 20 milliseconds which is not enough. Some quote surge rating for multiple seconds which is good.
Many offer a surge 2x continuous rating, some 3x.

If your A/C has VA (volts x amps) of W on the label, expect 10,000W surge and a quality W inverter is probably need to start it.

So as you say, "5-6KW inverter is adequate". Consider specs for SI- (my picture)


11,000W surge for 3 seconds.


At W or 33% of rated power, 95% efficient.


Larger inverter is better of course, efficiency and no-load power is the only concern.

Different brands vary about 4:1 in no-load power. But, the more efficient one generally cost more. This can be offset with more PV and more battery, also a cost, so include those in the dollar comparison.

You may be able to find a nice 120/240V unit that meets your needs so you have more flexibility. But you'll have to be sure of how much surge is available at 120V.