Are you ready for what Multifunction Solar Panel Inverters can do for you? Let’s jump right in…

Multifunction solar panel inverters combine the best from Stand-Alone Solar Panel Inverters and Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters. They are of course more expensive, but these are the best choice for your solar energy panels.

This type of inverter allows you to generate excess power to be stored in a battery bank. As such, you are able to use energy from the grid, from the solar panels or from stored energy in the batteries. You can even connect a standby generator to the whole setup. Let me illustrate…

During the day, solar energy panels supply your household appliances with power. At the same time, the battery bank is charged up to store energy for the night. If there is surplus electricity, they can be sold to your local power company.

By evening, the batteries will be charged up. At this time, the inverter provides AC power to the house from the batteries. If the batteries are flat, the inverter taps into the grid to charge the batteries and power up the house at the same time.

If a standby generator is used, the inverter will synchronize its power so it can be added to an existing source of power. Many multifunction solar panel inverters are not as efficient as synchronous inverters because the system must have a battery. However, they offer functions that grid-tied inverters do not.

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Solar panel inverters convert direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). This is one of the most important components that you need for your solar power generator.

You can find three types of solar panel inverters:

1. Stand-Alone Solar Panel Inverters
2. Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters
3. Multi-function Solar Panel Inverters

1. Stand-Alone Solar Panel Inverters

Stand Alone solar panel inverters has a range from as little as 100 watts to as much as 8,000 watts. Low wattage inverters can be used to power individual or small groups of appliances. At the high end of the scale, solar inverters can help power an entire home. In order to know what inverter specification you should use, you will need to first determine the total energy consumed by your household.

This information is easily available from your monthly energy bills. To arrive at the specification you need, please take into account the power loss through various photovoltaic components. Even if there’s no loss (which is impossible), it’s good to have some buffer.

When using inverters to power household appliances, it’s important to choose models that have a built-in ability to surge. Common appliances like dryers and clothes washers and other motorized equipment require a surge when you start then up. Thus your inverter has to supply this need.

Click Here To Read About Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters

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This is the third and final part of the “Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels” series. Have you done some calculations for your future solar power system yet? If you have been doing those mini exercises, you’ll most likely find a suitable solar panel for your home by now.

The next step requires us to find an appropriate-sized battery bank, inverter and charge controller. Let’s look at each of these:

1. The Inverter

The inverter you choose has to be sized according to the demands of the alternating current (AC) side of the circuit. Therefore you will choose a specification according to the loads in your house (with a little buffer in case you increase your loads over time). Pretty straightforward.

2. The Charge Controller

You’ll at least need a basic charge controller to begin with. Until you get fussy about how advanced you want this component to be, more affordable models will do just fine. You’ll need to get a specification that fits the output current (Amps) of your solar panel arrays. If you intend to scale up your solar power generator, you’ll do better with a larger charge controller with room to accommodate more solar panels than with two smaller-sized ones.

3. The Battery Bank

The size of your battery bank depends on how you want to use your solar panels. You can size your battery banks such that it can get you through thick clouds that pass by, or you can size them so you can get through three solid days of solar eclipse and a power outage at the same time. It really depends on you. But take note that over-sizing isn’t always realistic. You have to take into consideration the space they occupy and the how much they’ll cost you.

If your home is grid-tied, provided there aren’t frequent power outages, the size of your battery bank isn’t critical. Just size it to take care of cloudy days will do. You can still maintain your lifestyle by drawing power from the grid.

When you design your battery bank, you’ll have less power loss (through wires) if the voltage is higher. If you are able to design a 48-volt system, you can conserve more power than when you use a 24-volt or 12-volt system.

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There are obviously costs involved in setting up residential solar panels. Today, we’re going to look at these and balance them up with the financial gains you’ll experience. It’s a busy day, so let’s get right in:

Cost #1: Equipment.

Equipment forms the largest part of the entire solar power setup. These are PV panels, inverters, battery bank, regulators, et cetera. Equipment cost can be spread out over time if you want to expand your solar power generator over time. Perhaps your goal is to be able to build up one more solar panel every weekend. Thus your cost really spreads out over time. It can really be less taxing on your wallet this way.

Cost #2: Installation

If you want to do the installation yourself, you won’t have to worry about this cost. But if you want to get a professional or contractor to do it for you, remember o budget for this as well.

Cost #3: Interest

If you took up a loan to pay for your PV panels and other photovoltaic components, the interest is going to build up and this must be factored into the overall cost as well.

Cost #4: Permits, Fees and Taxes

In some locations, you’ll need to pay for permits and fees when you install solar panels over your roof or on your property. Generally, most states let you install solar panels without imposing taxes on them. But be sure to check with your local authorities so you know if you need to pay for any taxes.

Cost #5: Clearing Refuse

If you need someone to clear out any refuse for you, you may need to pay for their service.

Now these are all costs…how about the benefits, I hear you ask. Well, here are the financial gains you’ll enjoy:

Benefit #1: Lower Energy Bills

The most obvious benefit is the reduced (or eliminated) electricity bills. If you are adding solar panels gradually to your collection of “solar harvesters”, your energy bills will gradually reduce and may finally be eliminated.

Benefit #2: Hedge Against The Rising Cost of Energy

The cost of energy is set to rise as inflation and scarcity forces its price upward over the long term. We all experience this effect — everything seems to get more expensive! Yet when you’re tapping energy from the sun, it doesn’t get more expensive then when you first bought the photovoltaic equipment. Therefore while the rest of the world pays for electricity through their nose, you can quietly enjoy cheap electricity using solar panels.

Benefit #3: Appreciation

The price of your property will probably appreciate because you installed an asset. Depending on the valuation, you may get back what you paid for. This mean you’re really using all the energy for free through the years. If you built your own residential solar panels, you’re definitely going to get back more than you invested in equipment and other photovoltaic components.

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Image via Wikipedia

There are two major benefits to using residential solar panels. First, you can reduce pollution as you rely less on the burning of fossil fuel. Second, you can get a very good return on investment on your photovoltaic panels — these are always double digit returns, much better than Wall-Street-types investment with only single digit paybacks.

Other than these two benefits, there are more that people seldom heard of. But these can be significant when added together:

1. Government subsidies

Many state governors have realized the importance of using renewable energy. Therefore rebates, tax breaks and subsidies are given to households that use renewable energy to power their homes. The total discount on a system may be more than you imagine…sometimes more than 50%. Therefore do check what you’re eligible for.

2. Electricity Bill Hedging

Fuel is consistently increasing in price due to inflation and diminishing supply. But whatever the cost of fossil fuel may be in the future, there is no need for you to pay an extra cent if your solar power generator can supply all your energy needs. The grand total of your bills will still amount to $0. Isn’t that great?

3. Property Appreciation

Properties installed with solar panels are worth more than those without. This is obvious, since solar power generators are assets that can help the household lower their monthly electricity bills dramatically. Having PV panels in your property will not increase your property tax. Therefore it is a priceless item that can maximize the value of your home.

When we install solar panels on our property, we always look for numbers like cost per watt or payback period.. With the above benefits such as government incentives and rebates factored in, we’ll find these numbers become more attractive. Moreover, there are also many intangible benefits like environmental protection that comes along with your PV “toy”.

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