One of the latest solar technology buzzwords is microinverters, which have already made a big impact in the solar power market.
Typically a solar power system has a central inverter that connects to multiple solar panels. A microinverter is installed under each solar panel. The microinverter converts the DC power generated from the solar panels into grid compliant AC electricity.
Microinverters are designed as a plug in and play unit, any electrician or experience handyman that has experience installing AC into a home will be able to wire up a solar power system using microinverters
Installing panels with micro inverters eliminates solar module mismatches, string size miscalculations and power loss due to long distance wiring.
As well as micro-inverters allowing lower install cost and easier installs, they can improve the annual performance of a system. For example, when one panel gets shaded, it doesn't affect the rest of the system, which would happen with central inverter.
Microinverters can produce 5-25% more power compared to systems with central inverters.
The new type of inverters tend to make a system more expensive than using centralized inverter, but for smaller system sizes with a handful of panels it may be slightly cheaper.
Some New Zealand solar power companies are already using the technology so don't be shy in asking your about microinverters when getting a quote request from My Solar Quotes.
View Enphase's video below to see how the microinverter technology works.