The Solar system is considered one of the most quintessential amenities these days for Australian people. High electricity costs, the intensity of sunlight, the harmful effect of fossil-based fuel, carbon footprint, and massive down payment are some of the obstacles that led the Australians to thrive on the solar system finally. Amongst it, the inverter is deemed the most important device, which converts DC electricity to AC electricity to use for your home appliances. Moreover, inverters cost 20-30% of your whole solar power system if you want to install a long-lasting cutting-edge inverter. Therefore, at a pinch, we should have the right inverter with its right applications. In this comparative review, we will highlight the 12 best solar inverters in Australia.
Discover 12 best solar inverters In Australia
There are quite a large number of inverter brands available in the Australian market in particular – some are top-notch, some are average, or some are mediocre & obsolete. On top of that, some inverters hop in the list for their price. Although, most of the avant-garde types of type 1, inverters are likely to be pricey but not always necessary. In fact, most of the Chinese manufacturers are in the lead of this competition; they are sleek, modern, long-lasting and finely revamped. However, European inverters are more famous due to their commitment to the long-lasting, robust design and ability to perform with the highest efficiency with low complaints.
Therefore, we have decided to jot down this review to give you an insight into our favourite choices of quality inverters that might be interesting to you. It needs to be mentioned that this review is entire of our thoughts and independent of all other reviews disseminated across other websites. Therefore, our experience of using these inverters might not match with your expectation or maybe they could, who knows? Let’s explore the following 12 best solar inverters Australia –
We will review them comparatively with our personalized point of views based on 7 criteria – Efficiency, Warranty, Monitoring system, Customer support in Australia, Battery Storage System, Unique feature, and lastly, Pricing Nature of the Inverter.
SolarEdge Inverter
Having peaked the rank for the third-largest inverter manufacturer in the world just behind Huawei and SunGrow, SolarEdge is a common name in the inverter industry for their spectacularly-designed DC optimized-based inverters and their cutting-edge technology. After embarking the journey in 2006, this Israeli new kid on the block had observed their magnificent performance in terms of sales growth by installing over 250,000 power optimizers, along with 12,000 inverters alone.
This company has 2,400 ongoing employees, and thus, being able to construct the monitoring sites globally in over 130 countries. As one of the best solar inverters Australia, other offices of SolarEdge is located in the USA, France, Japan, China, India, Germany and Australia.
Efficiency: Any residential inverter requires 95% to 98% efficiency, whereas the SolarEdge inverter has surpassed that limit by maximizing the efficiency to 99.5% ¬– the highest efficiency producer of all. This highest efficiency is achieved due to its DC optimizers set in every solar panel, which work like microinverters. Shading or any obstacle can be forfeited by the presence of this sheer amount of DC optimizers.
Warranty: SolarEdge with their highest years of warranties, 12 years for the inverters and 25 years for the power optimizers, guarantees that they are certainly the most reliable and ROI-based inverter in the world. You can claim to extend your inverters’ warranty up to 20 or 25 years – yet the longest warranty period any inverter manufacturer ever offers.
In the case of replacement of the faulty inverter or optimizer (hardly any cases though), your first installer must inspect that. However, if the whereabouts of the installer is not known, only then the company will hire an accredited and licenced installer for you to sort out your issues.
Customer Support: SolarEdge, despite showing no faults or complaints in their inverters, still tends to be proactive all the time to deal with your queries. Even during this covid-19, and storm ahead in Australia, SolarEdge is still manufacturing their inverters to meet the supply and hence undertaking various schemes to tackle your problem during this crisis. The company and its team are always ready to adapt to any changes that they have to make to satisfy the customers across Australia as their office is located in Double Bay, NSW.
From troubleshooting to online tutorial videos, along with many other comprehensive knowledge base libraries on inverters are available in their websites. Still, the customer representatives will be delighted to explain them to you verbally if you wish.
Monitoring System: SolarEdge’s inverters’ monitoring system is, in a word, “splendid.” Their inverters generally come with the standard monitoring option, but that lacks some of the important details regarding your usage. Hence, paying an extra tad of cash can get you the premium monitoring system. By using it, you can track each panel’s efficiency, their voltage, self and building consumption, data presentation at module, string and system level, and export limit.
Its graphical presentations with a lot of pictures and diagram to illustrate you the detail are ravingly awesome. You need the SolarEdge Setapp from the smartphone to use this system. Using this software, the technicians can also get an insight into your inverter’s faulty responses and act accordingly to save time and labour cost.
Battery Storage: SolarEdge has recently proclaimed its SolarEdge battery solution system at Intersolar Europe 2019, including the SolarEdge residential and larger-scale modular commercial battery storage system, which are due to be released in late 2020. Kokam, a leading Lithium battery manufacturer taken over by the SolarEdge in 2018, has been in partnership with the SolarEdge to develop a new 10kWh battery by taking the Kokam Lithium (LFP) cells into account.
These batteries are unique in design with no need for special cables. Solar energy is directly entered into the battery and has the DC-coupled system to prevent any accident from happening during outage or blackout. In fact, you don’t need any AC port to retrofit or convert AC to DC or vice versa.
Unique Feature: The great speciality of the SolarEdge inverter is its presence of individual DC optimisers. With the help of the single or multiple MPPTs, these DC optimisers boost the efficiency to a greater extent up to 99%. However, to do this, you need this inverter to run at a voltage of 380. With the individual panels’ workout and the power of the MPPTs, this inverter can generate this voltage.
However, if one or multiple panels are affected by the shading, still, the rest of the panels’ optimisers can compensate for recouping the voltage up to 380V.
Pricing: Apparently, it won’t seem apt to see a huge figure of the price of the SolarEdge inverter. Still, when you delve into comparing its latest and up-to-the-minute features, then you can realise that their asking price is fairly legit.
| Range of inverters | Estimated Price in AUS$ |
|---|---|
| SolarEdge SEG-SE5000H 5KW | $1,200 to $1,400 |
| SolarEdge SEG-SE8K 8KW | $1,600 to $1,800 |
| SolarEdge SEG-SE10000H 10KW | $1,900 to $2,100 |
Editors Pick:
SolarEdge HD-WAVE SINGLE-PHASE SERIES: It’s called HD because it is small in size but has a record-breaking efficiency to produce adequate power with a maximum efficiency rate of 99.2%. It weighs only between 10kg to 17.6kg maximum. Inverter possesses constant voltage for longer strings. It’s Easy monitoring, and quick commissioning using the SolarEdge SetApp from a smartphone is amazing. It also comes with a 12-years warranty with an extension claim option for up to 25 years.
GroWatt Inverter
This Chinese-based manufacturer, also a part of GroWatt New Energy Technology, is recognised for making some of the distinctive and cost-effective inverters for residential owners. This company’s inverters have been widely accepted by Germany, the UK, the US, and recently, Australia. Having founded in 2010, the company has grown with over 1200 employees, and 150 R&D consummate engineers. Initially, the company massively fell flat on its face with their early generation 5000MTL 5kW for its error message and failing in the Photon magazines’ labs. However, still, it managed to hold its line by producing some of the formidable pieces of inverters.
Efficiency: According to the Clean Energy Council, the maximum efficiency of 97.2-98.4% is the indication of the standard efficiency. Therefore, GroWatt inverters can produce solid maximum efficiency from 95% to 98.7%. In fact, GroWatt’s latest MIN 2500-6000TL-XH series has an incredible amount of efficiency for up to 98.4%.
Warranty: GroWatt provides one of the best solutions to your warranty. All of their inverters come with 5 years warranty with an option to extend for another 5 years, including the cost of labour and parts. GroWatt is very transparent about their warranty. They will either dispatch their labours on-site straightway or tell you that they haven’t got the spare components for replacement.
The latest “S” and “TL-X” series come with 5+5 warranty provided that the company will offer you a replacement free of cost for first 5 years, but for another 5 years, you will be charged for swap overcharge.
Customer Support: As one of the best solar inverters in Australia, GroWatt serves both domestically and internationally, including Australia. Australian office is located in Fariola Street, Silverwater, NSW. They have one of the best customer support teams with 260 staffs who are dedicatedly serving you with their highly proficient and knowledgeable expertise for pre-sale and post-sale.
They have their local warehouse to provide the customers best and effective maintenance support.
Monitoring System: GroWatt monitoring system, known as OSS (Online Smart Service) has the duck’s nuts and extensive features to diagnose and repair your inverter far from home to save your time and labour costs. You can pop the dongle in the inverter to receive updates, such as self-consumption, export, and input of inverter’s power on GroWatt’s website or app.
This dongle can send data every 5 minutes from a distance up to 100 meters away and allows the engineers to solve 60% of the common technical problems.
Battery Storage: Having a massive number of cell cycle life in excess of 8000 at 25 degC, this sublime battery GBLi6531, particularly made for Australia, is a boon for the GroWatt company. GroWatt is the official distributor of this battery and saves four-time as charge as the NCM lithium-ion cells. Outstanding efficiency with a depth of discharge of 94.5% and 10-years warranty, GroWatt hybrid inverter is a victory of the hybrid inverter race.
IP55 and the smart battery management technology insure this battery against any damage caused by the over-charging and discharging when exposed to low sunshine, whilst the battery remains waterproof and dustproof.
Unique Feature: All the latest GroWatt inverter support zero-export application in which you can limit or stop the export of electricity using the firmware when the loads are high. When it becomes low, you can set the export limit again. This unique feature has added a new dimension to those who have less sunlight in their region.
Pricing: GroWatt, against all its unique and top-class features, costs way less than you can ever expect. The TLX (2500-6000) series starts from $110, but depending on the kW and number of premium features, including MPPTs, the price can go up from $300 to $1400. However, if you want to install a smart meter for non-battery inverter, then you have to spend an extra $300 followed by an extra $600 for BDC adaptor.
By spending $3,650 for GroWatt 6kWh battery, you can save at least half of the cost than LG Chem 7kWh battery, which would otherwise have cost $6,400. However, the additional cost increases the total cost of the system by a bit.
Editors Pick:
TL-X (2500~6000) Series: This latest series has every reason to be used as the best solar inverter for a home for its magnificent efficiency rate of 98.2%. Having dual MPPTs and 3-6kW capacity, this inverter comes with 5+5 years warranty. Also, it has a touch key, OLED display, RS485/USB/Wi-Fi/4G/RF communication interfaces. Weighing only as little as 10.8kg, this inverter surely is one of the best solar inverters in Australia.
GoodWe Inverter
GoodWe, aka Jiangsu or also known as GoodWe Power Supply Technology Co. Ltd is one of the best solar inverters in Australia for the time being for making some of the masterpiece-inverters, especially string inverter. Interestingly, this company also manufactures both single and three-phase inverters, along with a battery for the hybrid inverters with a capacity ranging from 0.7kW to 250kW. They have their 15 offices worldwide, including in the UK, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands with over 1200 employees. As of 2018, the company used to deliver 30,000 units per month.
Efficiency: The average maximum efficiency of the GoodWe inverter is 97%, but the efficiency rates for the NS series 1kW and SDT series are 96.5% and 98.3% consecutively. As a string inverter, this efficiency rate suffices how good these inverters are.
Warranty: As a GoodWe user, you can claim for an additional 25 years warranty, along with the standard 5 years warranty for the latest inverters. Having a 25-year warranty is adequately a long duration to keep faith in your GoodWe inverters. To claim this, you can enter the GoodWe Warranty Purchase page to fill up the form to submit it to the proper authority. Both DNS and MS series can come with an additional 5 years warranty if you desire so.
Bear in mind that, you will be eligible to get the replacement of your “parts only” items, whereas you need to pay for the labour costs, taxes/duties, and other additional items.
Customer Support: In a word, GoodWe’s customer support team is fabulous. When you have thousands of queries flying around in your head, their customer support will be in your service for solving issues, such as sales & price, warranty, service & support, and many more. Australia’s office is based in Glenroy, Victoria. The team’s brilliant performance, as well as their vast knowledge on their products, had garnered them the top brand PV seal in Australia. Besides, the pre-sale, in-sale, and post-sale service help the teams to get more insight into their service and operation through various training and workshops.
Monitoring System: GoodWe’s monitoring system is one of the cleverest and up-to-the-minute monitoring systems you can ever imagine. The details are so intricate and ravishing that they will keep you up to date all the time. You can access it by using your smartphone with an app called “EziViewer.” The inverter app shows you what time you had the highest power output, and when the lowest output is recorded.
Not only the day but also this monitoring system gives you an option to choose the calendar to select any particular day, month or year. You can see the voltage history of any day. The software allows voltage to go up to 270V, but the moment your voltage is 262V, it gets automatically lowered down.
Battery Storage: GoodWe’s 5kW single-phase EM and ES models have created hype for their semi-affordable price ($2,200 & $2,750), which is trivial compared to Huawei, GroWatt, and many other prominent brands. It’ battery has three modes; General mode to allow the battery to charge in daylight, back up at night and in the case of less storage power, the system automatically switches to a grid system.
Backup mode helps to use the battery when there is an outage or grid failure. Economic mode allows the users to set the charging or discharging time so that the battery charges in the off-peak time and discharge in the peak time. You can also consider installing GoodWe GW5048D-ES hybrid inverter, as it is regarded as one of the most powerful inverters with numerous battery energy storage systems.
Unique feature: GoodWe inverter either gives you an option to use half solar cells to boost the power output or with the joint use with Tigo optimizers, you can prevent the shading perfectly without losing too much power.
Pricing: GoodWe inverters are cheaper in nature and offer a lot compared to its emergence and price. Any decent GoodWe inverter will be around $200 more than a Growatt inverter, but $800 cheaper than the Fronius or SMA inverters. In the light of these figures, any standard inverters’ costs will be around something like these;
| Model | H8E & H10E |
|---|---|
| Max. efficiency | 0.98 |
| Operating Temp. range | -25 °C to 65 °C (derating above 45 °C) |
| Storage Temp. range | -40 °C to 85 °C |
| Humidity | 0% to 95% |
| Acoustic noise | < 45 dB(A) @ 3 ft (1m) |
| Communication interface | Wi-Fi, optional BLE, Ethernet, 3G / 4G cellular communication |
| Inverter Topology | Non-isolated |
| Active anti-islanding method | Active move frequency island detection method, Comply with IEC 62116 |
Editors Pick:
GOODWE DNS SERIES: This single-phase inverter is like a hot cake that brilliantly produces maximum efficiency of 97.8%. Its communication happens through RS485 or Wi-Fi or LAN, and it is currently available in 3-6kW. Having 2 MPPTs and natural cooling convection system, this inverter is a great source of power with less than 14kg. The anti-reverse function can be set to limit the exported power to zero, and its warranty is five years with an extension limit up to 25 years.
SunGrow Inverter
SunGrow, a multi-billion Chinese company, is the second-largest inverter manufacturers behind Huawei. Now, this company worth at least $1.5 billion. However, this company was founded back in 1997 in a motive to solve the electricity shortage in remote areas in China by the founder named, Cao Renxian, who got disconcerted by the ardent story of this crisis. Over the years of hard endeavour and dedication, this company is catapulted into one of the best solar inverters worldwide.
Their slogan, which is “Green and Effective.” Reminds that the world can be made greener with the help of its involvement in manufacturing solar accessories. Their inverters are worth installing in Australia for their salient qualities.
Efficiency: Efficiency wise, SunGrow is indomitable since they tend to gross 99% efficiency with the help of their multiple built-in MPPTs (2 to 9), along with the bifacial solar panels. Together they bring out the best efficiency by utilizing the perfect “Sweet Spot” across various solar panels set on the roof. The average maximum efficiency ranges from 97.2% to 98.4%.
Warranty: Even months ago, Most of the SunGrow inverters used to come with 5 years warranty except for an opportunity to extend 10 years warranty for some of the models. But from April 1, 2020, the SunGrow latest inverters will come with a 10-year warranty. This 10-year warranty for the above models has been done to render the best service to Australians as much as possible.
Should you face any faulty inverter, you must approach to your first installer; otherwise, you will have to lodge a warranty claim to SunGrow in which, the company will get you an installer who will work with the company to fix or repair it. However, for this, you won’t receive any reimbursement at all.
Customer Support: SunGrow invests a lot in training, consulting, and hiring world’s some of the finest inverter engineers to solve your technical problem. Once your installation is up and running, their consummate engineers are easily found in the service station. Besides, SunGrow, for the easy access and the new parts or products delivery, has built regional spare part warehouses to replace your faulty parts overnight.
Also, their customer support centre team, along with the engineers are available 24/7 not only to resolve your issues, but rather to provide you training in regard to operation, maintenance, and management of your installation. The office is located at 99 Mount Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Monitoring System: The ISolarCloud app is a boon for all the latest SunGrow inverters, including the premium SG model inverters. This app can be used from your smartphone and is a perfect combination when used with Wi-Fi as both blended together can help you monitor your solar performance by showing you the essential updates, such as self-consumption, exported energy to the grid, individual string-level inspection, the battery, overall and monthly yield of energy, etc.
To prevent the downtime, you can use its troubleshooting to check your automated reports, multidimensional analysis, and the reasons for any fault or defect. Moreover, its touch-free interface and remote firmware advancement have made the maintenance work far more convenient and easy-going.
Battery Storage: SunGrow latest PowCube 4.8, aka the SBP4K8 battery, is undoubtedly one of the finest batteries available out there in the market.
The greatest battery manufacturer, Samsung, was behind the success of this battery since Samsung had jointly worked with SunGrow since 2015. The hybrid inverter SH5K+ can have massive advantages for its compatibility with the LG Chem, BYD, SBP4K8, and many more.
SBP4K8 battery is lightweight and cheap and easy to hold it using the handles shaped into a sturdy cast aluminium lid. The multiple entry points on both sides of the battery make it easy to be linked with other additional batteries in parallel connection for the higher storage capacity up to 14.4kWh.
Unique feature: Previous models used to have an external EPS box to back up the power in the case of an outage. EPS could supply power with its 3kW capacity to all the necessary loads, such as lighting circuits, fridges, PCs etc. But the newer version SH5K-30 hybrid has the internal EPS box, which neither requires excess cables and easy to install in one go.
Pricing: In terms of pricing, the SunGrow inverters are available from competitive price to quite a high range. The price starts from $800 and goes up to over $2200 depending on the capacity and the upgrades.
Editors Pick:
NEW SH5K-30 HYBRID SERIES: This new inverter’s built-in EPS box saves both time and space to install this inverter. Since there is no hassle of extra cable or conduit, it is way safer and easier to install and set it up. This inverter is also blessed with an integrated DC isolator to provide extra protection, as well as save time and money. This EPS provides an on-the-spot supply of the electric power that takes only 20ms compared with the retro model that would otherwise have taken 3-5 seconds to back up.
SolaX Inverter
SolaX inverters were created to comply with the environmental-friendly issues, and they are, indeed, one of the best solar inverters for home, but remained underrated compared to many inferior inverters’ manufacturers. Having founded very recently in 2010 in China, the SolaX, which also a subsidiary company of Suntellite Group, manages to transcend barriers by evolving its fame and reputation using the high-class technology and eco-friendly inverters. Currently, 500 people working globally in six different offices, including the USA, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and lastly, Australia.
Efficiency: SolaX’s one of the quintessential epic inverters called SolaX single-phase X1 Smart series has the ability to produce the maximum efficiency of 97.4-97.8% in a residential level, making it one of the best solar inverters in Australia as a new kid in the block.
Warranty: SolaX offers you a standard 5-year warranty for their inverters, and you can claim extra 5 years if you fill the replacement form. You can also extend your warranty for up to a maximum of 15 to 20 years if eligible provided that it has to be done within 36 months from commissioning.
In the case of a faulty inverter, you ought to look for the installer who first installed it followed by hiring an accredited installer to check it out for you in case the main installer is not available or found. In that case, SolaX will reimburse $150 to your installer to identify the fault followed by work together to replace or repair it. The SolaX will pay for the labour, materials, removal, and replacement of the part or whole of the device.
Customer Support: There are currently 16 international representatives of the SolaX brand, and Australia feels privileged to have one of the global standard customer support teams who are willing to take your call 24/7 regarding any queries from taking your complaints to giving technical support, remotely monitoring, product replacement, and many more. Their main office is based in Nunawading, Victoria.
Monitoring System: SolaX Cloud monitoring system, known as V2, is a five-star monitoring interface that gives you all in one package. The SolaX will come with a pocket Wi-Fi Dongle to track the inverter’s status from any part of the world or pocket LAN Dongle to connect to the ethernet to avoid any latency caused by the Wi-Fi. You can also use the 4G SIM card to monitor your inverter to track the battery’s performance to live data & historical performance, and detailed report of the system.
This V2 monitoring Cloud system will enable you to remotely access your inverter with an option to check the visualized energy graphs. It also keeps you updated about the Battery Storage: Geo Location Weather information. The SolaX Cloud will notify the right personnel if it encounters any unforeseen faulty activities caused by the inverters and sends email right away with an in-depth report of your problem.
Battery Storage: One of the best solar inverters Australia, SolaX single phase X1 hybrid while supporting the installation of the additional battery, it can charge/discharge the battery at a rate of 6000W using the grid. Also, for the off-grid use, you can take its advantage from the built-in EPS. The release of the new AC charger has revolutionized the battery concept of the inverter as it retrofits any older series to adapt for the battery system.
The newly released 5.8kWh model of the Triple Power high-voltage battery solution is providing storage for up to 4 batteries, to sum up, the total storage of 23kWh. This battery has a 10-year warranty with 90% depth of discharge.
Unique feature: Its meantime for failure is 100,000 hours, which is hugely praised. These hours represent that this inverter, regardless of what the warranty states, is expected to function for over 11 years before wearing away. This is truly a unique feature for the long-lasting investment.
Pricing: SolaX, in terms of its high features, costs above average, but they are still worth it. The price range for the residential solar inverters starts from $500 to $1200.
Editors Pick:
SOLAX X1 SMART: This is a typical string inverter with a massive number of unique features. They are single-phase inverter with a capacity between 6kW to 8kW, which is massive for residential use. There are two MPPTs, and the maximum efficiency goes up to 97.4%. It has a 600V DC voltage and weighs 22kg. It comes with 5+5 warranty, and it has a touch LCD display. Connectivity is maintained through Pocket Wi-Fi Dongle/Pocket LAN Dongle/Pocket GPRS.
FRONIUS Inverter
Venturing their business in 1945 by Günter Fronius, like a battery and welding device manufacturer, this Austrian company soon began to take the lead of the inverter industry after 1992. From the suitable utilization of multiple MPPTs to better efficiency, active cooling system, integrated DC isolator, surplus warranty, and good customer service had given this inverter the reasons for becoming the best part of the solar industry. However, it would have been better if the excess noise could have been abated.
Efficiency: The presence of at least 2 MPPTs causes the efficiency to reach up to 99.9%, even though the average efficiency tends to retain between 97.8% and 98.3%. Due to two MPPTs’ contribution by finding the “sweet spot”, this inverter can boost the efficiency by up to 30%.
Warranty: Any range of Fronius inverter comes with a 5-year warranty with an option of 5 years extra warranty for which you have to register at Solarweb free of charge. This is quite less time from an inverter manufacturer like Fronius. Fronius doesn’t find you any installer as they recommend you find a suitably accredited installer to check the fault of the inverter for replacement.
If found, then the installer, together with the Fronius, will replace or solve the faulty inverter. Unfortunately, you will have to pay the price for it.
Customer Support: When it comes to complaints, compliance, and faulty issue, the customer team in the local region comes first to contact. Fronius Australian’s office is located in Tullamarine, Victoria where you can call the customer service to query for your products, know necessary details regarding the training course, and find more information regarding your faulty product replacement and their warranty.
This brilliant team is always happy and determined to help you with any cause.
Monitoring System: With the help of an integrated Wi-Fi and smartphone app, you can monitor your sophisticated inverter system that consists of SnapINverter with integrated datalogger, Solar.web, and Smart meter. It gathers and transmits information, such as output, energy consumption to Solar.web portal via router, which displays the processed and analysed information. The datamanager records and optimises the necessary consumption related to the information.
Battery Storage: Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter is one of the most pioneering examples of solar battery. This inverter can supply your home by receiving inputs from both battery and solar array (whichever source is readily available) simultaneously. This battery is made of lithium-iron-phosphate with a storage capacity of 3.6 to 9.6kWh. This battery can have 8000 charging cycles with up to 6.4kWH discharging and charging power.
You can add more batteries by adding 1.5kWh modules at any time to increase the storage capacity.
Unique feature: The unique feature of this inverter is its integrated DC isolator-based snap-in-design (snapINverter), which is easy to mount on the wall like a car boot and can be operated or maintained without detaching it from the wall.
Pricing: Fronius, as one of the best solar inverters Australia, has a bit of a higher price, and why not? It is one of the best systems that you are buying for a long period of time. So, don’t you think you need an inverter that will bring the ROI? Usually, the price range for Fronius varies from $1990 to $2290. However, the price is subject to change but still tend to be expensive.
Editors Pick:
FRONIUS SYMO HYBRID: This is an all-in-one package with battery inverter, hybrid inverter, controller, and monitoring system. This multitasker transformerless inverter with less weight around 19.9kg is compact and easy to mount due to snapINinverter feature. With a maximum efficiency of 97.9% with single MPPT, this inverter can produce up to 8.0kW AC power.
Huawei Inverter
Huawei is not only famous in the smartphone industry, but rather it’s quite popular amongst solar users. With over 180,000 employees across 170 countries with a total growth revenue of over $90 billion as of 2017, Huawei is surely a champion in all sectors, including in the solar industry. Although it is a new kid on the block, over the years, this inverter manufacturer has established itself a prominent gamer in the solar industry by allocating a large sum of money to the R&D sector and thus producing inverters like “Battery Ready” and “SUN2000L”, which are their best series of all time.
Efficiency: Their SUN2000L series has the maximum efficiency of between 98.6% and 98.65% with a power ranging from 2 to 5kW, making this inverter a perfect solar inverter for home. Even though an optimizer can be used, but without using it, this inverter still doesn’t drop its efficiency even by a tad amount.
Warranty: Huawei offers a five-year warranty with an additional 5 years (purchased additionally) for their inverters. This warranty will apply straight from the 180th day after the shipment from Huawei or the installation date. This warranty will apply to SUN2000L, SUN2000P-375 optimizer, Smart power sensor, and Smart PV safety box. Huawei also provides extensive support for any query, remote maintenance or technical support for the faulty products through email or phone call.
Customer Support: In terms of customer support, Huawei has a brilliant team globally. From replacement of inverters to any parts or accessories, Huawei ensures that the customers’ problems get solved instantly. For that, they also have the live chat option to instantly respond to customers’ queries and questions and then come up with the solution as the customer is their first priority. Huawei’s team always want their customers, who are purchasing the solar inverter, should benefit in the long run in terms of ROI. They also offer comprehensive support for their products’ lifecycles. The office in Australia is situated in Chatswood, NSW.
Monitoring System: Compared to Huawei previous portal called “NetEco”, the newly developed cloud-based monitoring system is way more user-friendly and contains easy interface. From the picture below, you can see that red line illustrates the energy imported from the energy company, the green line shows the exported energy back to the grid, and the blue line denotes to a self-consumption. If the battery is connected, then it will highlight two more features, such as battery charge and discharge. This useful cloud monitoring system will keep you updated about the regular usage and data monitoring for 24 hours regardless of whether or not solar arrays are working.
Battery Storage: Huawei has been dominating in the battery market since its inception. When it comes to its “Battery Ready” inverter, it means that the inverter doesn’t require any AC main grid connection to retrofit your old inverter. You can plug & play your battery anytime without splurging any penny on AC main grid. The SUN2000L requires coupling with a high-voltage battery called “LG Chem RESUH”, which can boost the power from 9.2kWh to a maximum of 19.2kWh.
Currently, LG Chem 7kWh and 10kWh are the two of the most reliable and top-performance batteries for SUN2000L series. Besides, By November 2020, Huawei is yet to roll out its very own distinctive battery called “LIFEP04”, which can be extended from 5kWh to 30kWh for the M0 and new M1 three-phase inverters.
Unique feature: Add-on unit, known as “Smart PV Safety box” is another dimensional feature that has made this Huawei inverter as one of the best solar inverters Australia. This box takes the readings of all the necessary data, including the voltage status provided by the optimizers. Hence, any abnormal reading or during a blackout, this box shuts down the whole system, saving you from any unnecessary mishaps.
Thanks to L1 and M1 models as they are equipped with a built-in chipset that does the same job as this box, hence no need of the additional box
Pricing: Huawei inverter’s price is neither quite high nor very affordable either. The prices of the SUN2000L 3kW and SUN2000L 4.6kW are $1,250 and $1,700.
Editors Pick:
Having 2 MPPT, along with optimizers, can produce up to 30% more yield than usual. While having a maximum efficiency of up to 98.50% to 98.65%, the built-in PID ensures a better performance. This inverter was awarded in 2019. Its AI Powered AFCI is sufficient to mitigate the fire risk. SUN 2000-8/10/12/15/17/20/KTL-MO SERIES: This noble Huawei inverter is a three-phase inverter, suitable for residential use.
SMA Inverter
If you are in search of an inverter manufacturer, which has had 35 years of solid experience and authentic craftmanship with sleek and invincible energy capacity, then SMA, a company based in Niestetal, Germany, will come first, because they are one of the top 2 solar inverter manufacturers with top-notch quality string inverters. However, they also made a huge stride in manufacturing various other types of inverters like hybrid, microinverters etc. This best solar inverters Australia has 5000 employees from twenty countries worldwide and sold more than 750,000 units alone in Australia.
Efficiency: Their flagship inverter named Sunny Boy 5.0 shows a maximum efficiency of 97%. This efficiency has made this inverter regarded as the perfect solar inverter for home. Also, their Sunny Tripower 2000TL and 2500TL have an efficiency of 98.4% and 98.3%. The Sunny Boy storage has an efficiency of 97.5%. So, average efficiency fluctuates between 97.8 to 98%.
Warranty: SMA inverters usually come with a five-year warranty with an additional option to extend it to 10,15, and 20 years. Bear in mind, any issue related to physical damage, alteration or unauthorized perpetration can lead to automatic termination of the warranty. Any product related to defects or on-site shipment will be borne by the warranty cost.
Customer Support: SMA’s extensive customer support due to their location at the heart of Sydney, NSW in Australia is the prime reason why you ought to purchase their products without fear of getting the damaged products. This team is full of expert people who are conversant with their roles and guide you either by talking, listening or transferring your call to the right person to solve your query.
For your own satisfaction, they will even remotely monitor your inverters, should you encounter any faulty device by saving labour cost and time.
Monitoring System: Unfortunately, SMA Sunny Boy and Sunny Tripower are two of the inverters of SMA that have all the greatest and modern features, but lack monitoring system. In fact, the firmware needs a device to let you see your essential energy consumption, feed-in-tariff rate, and energy supply. Therefore, you are in need of Sunny Home Manager, a device worth of extra $900. This device is compatible with the Wi-Fi using, which you can keep pace with those updates.
Although the information in the interface is limited, its graphical presentation and colourful design of them are simply tangible and gives you a slew of important features.
Battery Storage: The battery management system is unique in Sunny Boy storage 3.7/5.0/6.0. These are not the integrated battery system, but rather they can accommodate up to three high voltage batteries to supply the essential electricity in the case of blackout or grid failure. These batteries are the separate units, which is connected to the hybrid inverter so that you can add more batteries in the future without improvising with one internal battery. It also has the battery backup operation of up to 8kW and integrated secure power supply function.
Unique feature: SMA Shadefix software in a sophisticated piece of software, which tracks down the affected or shaded panels and then divert them to the right path to reach your home appliances. In fact, the TS4-R optimizer is used, along with Shadefix to pass some current into the shaded panels and brings some power back to the inverter for more AC production. Isn’t it unique?
Pricing: The price for the SMA Sunny Boy for 3/5/7kW is in the range of $1,800, $1,950, and $2,450, which is quite exorbitant. Also, the price of the Sunny Home Manager with $900 is more of a waste of cash.
Editors Pick:
Sunny Boy: Sunny Boy compared to other series of best solar inverter for home, is the most common and demandable inverters of SMA. It has the capacity ranging to 3.0, 3.6, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0kW. With a lightweight of around 16kg and transformerless option, this inverter comes with the IP65 protection. With an ability to detect the faulty inverter with a self-diagnosis option, this is surely one of the best solar inverters in Australia.
Solis Inverter
Solis inverter set out its journey more than 20 years ago, and soon enough, they began to reign the solar industry in countries like Sweden, Germany, the UK, the USA, Australia, Costa Rica etc. However, the company was originated in China. Their space-age inverters are brimmed over with a slew of features that some of the finest European brands have. As a subsidiary company of “Ginlong”, Solis is famous for undertaking rigorous testing, and in-house processing for their inverters. Also, Solis is fussy in dealing with all kinds of wholesales as they are currently trading with only three specialist solar wholesalers, such as PGK Distribution, OZ Roll, and Si Clean Energy.
Efficiency: Most of their inverters come with 97.5-98.3% of maximum efficiency, and there isn’t the slightest change taking place even when the inverter is 45 degrees Celsius. This was possible owing to this inverters’ top-class and superior testing in any of the following tests, such as thermal cycling, humidity, moisture, freezing temperature, and heat near 40 degrees.
Warranty: Solis inverter comes with standard 5 years warranty with an option to extend it to 8 to 10 years. In the case of a defective or faulty technical problem, you must contact your installer who installed it at first. If the person is nowhere to be found, you must visit their website and fill the Serviced Request Form.
Customer Support: Solis company as one of the best solar inverters in Australia has a very omniscient group of members who will navigate you from phone to email regarding your warranty, replacement, technical problem, and many more. For this, you need a local contact point, which is called Solis Australasia. Using this contact point, your query regarding technical issues will be dealt with by a group of accredited and qualified solar technicians. To let them carry out the tasks, you will be charged for call-out fee plus an hourly rate. Australia’s office is situated in Cheltenham, Victoria.
Monitoring System: To monitor your inverter and its other relevant information, such as inverter’s status, a spreadsheet of self-consumption, export & input limit, Solis has made your life easy by rolling out various devices like Wi-Fi sticks, Web Boxes, and Rapid Shutdown Device. Wi-Fi sticks let you take control over your inverter from any corner as long as you have the connection and quite compatible with the Solis inverter.
You can use data logger box, which has an equal application as the Wi-Fi stick, but compatible for connecting multiple devices if you have. And this connection happens through Rs485/422. This app shows you your total daily, monthly, and the yearly energy production with more information, such as the number of trees planted, carbon offset, and your generated ROI.
Battery Storage: Using hybrid solar and battery inverter is always a cumbersome experience, but Solis RHI Hybrid 5G series inverters are blessed with two of the most exciting features. One is UPS’s presence, which gives you a backup of power when there is an outage or seal-off of connection, and another one is the availability of the expanded batteries that help you abate the sufferings caused by the lower voltage battery compatibility.
Unique feature: Australia’s weather is harsh and extreme. To generate the right amount of electricity, Solis inverter’s NEMA 4X provides extra protection against any incremental weather, such as humidity, rain, snow etc. This NEMA 4X is corrosion-resistant. It makes sure that no kind of natural environmental calamities can exacerbate the already-established heating condition of the inverter.
Pricing: The price range for this perfect solar inverter for home ranges from $700 and $900. However, the price is subjective to change and can increase as you upgrade more.
Editors Pick:
SOLIS-1P5K-4G: The most common, yet the most-used inverter, Solis 1P5K-4G offer you dual MPPTs with the right algorithm settings. Having a capacity of producing a maximum efficiency of 97.8%, this can be further boosted using the MPPT to 99.5%. Wi-Fi with app monitoring offers more reliability and right usage of the inverter, as well as the solar system. This single-phase inverter has the integrated power control system with DRM function, and compatible with AS4777.2:2015.
DELTA Inverter
Delta, sounding a bit new in the industry, is actually a multi-billion-dollar power generating company under the internationally famous giant Delta Electronics Group. From an electrical power, production to finally land into producing the solar inverter sector in 1999 had given them a lot to acquire. However, their recognition bloomed when they were chosen for two famous indexes in 2012. Having 47 globally recognised design award in their carts, Delta surely is expert in manufacturing inverters with all the latest features like built-in DC isolator, multi-panel use, lowest voltage with high generation from sunlight, and many more. This company was formed in Taiwan in 1971.
Efficiency: They have some of the unique residential-based inverters that are capable of generating 2.5kw to 5kW with a maximum efficiency between 97.5% and 98.0%. From 2.5kW to 4kW are all single-phase inverters, whereas the 5kW is a three-phase inverter. As a very underrated inverter, we think Delta’s home versions produce a great deal of efficiency.
Warranty: The standard warranty for home and Hybrid E5 is 5 years, which is nothing compared to some of the average branded inverters. However, you can elongate your duration of warranty to 10,15, and 20 years by filling the contact section. However, for the replacement issue, it takes as many as 6 working days to review your replacement form and send you a replacement one.
Also, the process of reimbursing you $150 + GST usually takes time around 3-5 weeks once your claimed faulty inverter really turns out to be faulty. This procedure is quite time-consuming.
Customer Support: The office is located on Normanby Road, Notting Hill, Victoria. Therefore, it will be easy to access them by contacting their support team anytime. You have to fill in your details, and they will get in contact with you. Their number is +61 1300 335 823 | F +61 3 9544 0606. Or http://support.delta-es.com.au/contact/. Their team is always at your disposal to get your query sorted and get you the replacement.
However, as aforementioned, in terms of their replacement procedure, things are pretty time-consuming.
Monitoring System: The monitoring system is straightforward and average. You can track your system by using SOLVIA Monitor 2.0, Web’log and solar-lo monitoring system. With SOLVIA, you can check your inverter remotely and wireless, whereas the latter two will update you about inverter’s status, self-consumption, and many more.
To monitor your regular production of solar energy, you need a cloud-based monitoring app, mydeltasolar app, which has undergone a lot of changes and reformation.
Battery Storage: The hybrid E5 is a complete package of the inverter, containing a 6kWh Li-Ion battery, Power Meter, and Smart Monitor. These state-of-the-art Panasonic’s own cell “pack” are easily accessible and compact & undetachable. Not only that, this battery within the inverter can seamlessly back up the power to this powerful hybrid inverter with multiple built-in MPPTs. Data related to power consumption in the battery are shown on display.
Not only that, this battery within the inverter can seamlessly back up the power to this powerful hybrid inverter with multiple built-in MPPTs. Data related to power consumption in the battery are shown on display.
This li-Ion battery comprises modules (24V, 48V), cabinets, and containers for outstanding scalability and adaptability. You can also opt for customized pack design upon request.
Unique feature: Low start-up voltage with 35V and low shutdown of 30V is a boon for this noble inverter as the low voltage gate opening for longer allows more harness of energy from the sunlight, whereas the low shutdown causes the window to close for the absorption of less current. More “awake”, more return on investment
Pricing: For 3,5, & 7kW inverters, the estimated price can be $1,725, $2,000, and $3,000 respectively. The price, although cheaper than some of the European, but still, a lot compared to its available features.
Editors Pick:
DELTA H5A-222 HOME SERIES: With a phenome maximum efficiency rate of 97.5% to 98.3%, H5A-222 takes advantage of its MyDeltaSolar online monitoring system to ensure that your inverter is harvesting the maximum electricity while withstanding Australian extreme condition with its IP65 protection. This series is available in 2.5kW, 3kW, 4kW, and 5kW with each containing 2MPPTs.
ABB Inverter
Having a range from 2 to 50kW with a plug and play installation, as well as sturdy infrastructure and sleek design, ABB can accompany you throughout your whole solar journey. Even the journey of the ABB with their “Aurora” inverter was egregious, but as soon as the Fimer took charge of the ABB by revamping their existing obsolete products and replace them with some of their flagships, such as UNO-TL, UNO-TL-DM-PLUS, The company got its reputation back, and now recognised as one of the largest manufacturers with more than 110,000 employees working in over 100 countries. This company was founded in 1988 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Efficiency: ABB inverters’ efficiency catches the eyes of the solar users with its ravishing rate of 97% – at least 0.6% more than the Aurora and Fronius Primo. This efficiency is achieved with less heat produced while the less warmth of the device ensures better longevity of the inverter. Even with 2 MPPTs, ABB can bring out the best efficiency rate using its single absolute minimum capacity.
Warranty: The STANDARD “+”, as well as ASSURE warranty, for three-phase inverters is five years provided that in no case, it should exceed 66 months from the date of the shipment. You can also claim to extend your warranty to 10 years, in a condition that the warranty must be claimed within 12 months of purchasing the inverter.
The UNO-DM and REACT2 inverters have a duration of 10 years, and under no circumstances, it should exceed 126 months from the date of shipment from the factory. The good news is that sometimes if you are lucky, you may avail the additional warranty as a part of a solar package deal or promotion.
Customer Support: Unlike most of the inverter manufacturer, ABB, on the other hand, has its offices located in 4 states, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth. The head office is situated in Sydney, NSW. To ascertain the solutions of your query, you can opt for email, chat, and phone. The ABB’s correspondents will be in touch with you shortly and answer any of your queries without hesitation.
There is no hassle of dialling multiple extensions to get to talk to sales, service or support team, but rather there is only one point of contact to talk to the right designated person. When you log your query, you will get a reference number using which, you can instantly deal with your queries without elaborating your conversation.
Monitoring System: You can monitor your inverter either using a website called, Aurora Vision, which requires to use your integrated Wi-Fi system or plant viewer monitoring portal and “Energy Viewer” mobile app. In both cases, you cannot see too many information as the detail of the interface is lacklustre. However, you can use monitoring systems for issues like MPPTs, controlling the export power, adjusting grid parameters, and self-consumption.
Especially for the UNO and TRIO (3-phase) series, the in-depth features lack. Therefore, ABB released a Wi-Fi logger card (VSN300) to get the taste of rigid monitoring. It has the weather stations and irradiance sensors to detect the weather.
Battery Storage: ABB emphasises a lot on its storage system. That’s why they have used an extensive system for their Energy Storage Module (ESM). ABB’s hybrid magnet called, ABB UNO 2/3/3.6/4.2-TL-OUTD single phase inverter relies upon 4 to 12kWh Li-Ion battery to render 10% more energy on the verge of low electricity.
This ESM also ensures the provision of both battery enclosures and connection equipment modules (CEM) individually.
Unique feature: ABB’s inverters are IP65 rated, but another interesting feature that made this device a standalone is its ability to avoid water ingress. It was made possible due to the existence of plug-in connectors which impede the water or condensation from entering via the defective conduits.
Pricing: Even though the ABB offers a range of features that are up to date, but their prices don’t match with their features. The estimated prices of the ABB UNO 1.2kW, 3.3kW, and 5kW are $1150, $1320, and $1800 respectively.
Editors Pick:
ABB UNO-2.0/3.0/3.6/4.2-TL-OUTD: This famous and top-notch ABB inverter is transformerless with an efficiency rate between 97.3% to 98.4%. Owning both an LCD display and integrated DC switch, this inverter is risk-free during a blackout, and the powerful MPPTs harness the maximum yield of the solar arrays. This inverter, being one of the best solar inverters in Australia, as well as a perfect solar inverter for home, is compatible with VSN300 Wi-Fi Logger Card.
Zeversolar Inverter
Jiangshu Zeversolar New Energy Co. Ltd, also famously recognized as Zeversolar, is a Sino-German joint venture company, which embarked its solar business since 2007. Their products can be cheap, yet perform average to a bit sublime. Their reputation exceeds from China to Europe, Australia, North America, Asia etc. Zeversolar was named after the Zof (largest central inverter manufacture) teamed up with Eversolar (another string inverter manufacturer). Now the company’s majority or almost all of the share around 99.25% is owned by the SMA. The primary reason was to delve into SMA’s sordid drawbacks and revamp the 6 months’ products drawn out from the shelves to reduce the fault rate under 1%.
Efficiency: Efficiency wise, Zeversolar is averagely doing well as it tends to generate 96% of maximum efficiency. It can increase with the presence of MPPTs to a maximum of 97.0%.
Warranty: Any Zeversolar inverters come with a standard 5-year warranty, along with an option to extend it to another 5 years, a total of 10 years. But for this, you will have to apply for the extension by submitting the warranty form. However, you will not be entitled to a replacement or any repair if the faulty inverter has faulted by you even if it is affixed during the warranty period.
If there is any defect pertinent to the inverter by the ZeverSolar itself, the company will replace your products free of charge exclusive of additional travel requirement.
Customer Support: The members of staff are available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to answer your queries, and they are extremely amicable and helpful. There are three levels of customer support ¬– A Specialist hotline to know more about products, Technical support for receiving technical related issues of the product from the staffs of the R&D faculty, and Logistic support for local transport and urgent replacement. Australia’s office is in Docklands, Melbourne.
Monitoring System: Although Zeversolar cannot be considered as one of the best solar inverters in Australia, they produce one of the best monitoring systems without any doubt. ZeverCloud, a pioneering online cloud-based system, enables you to monitor your inverters’ performance on a daily, weekly, and annual basis. You can use their easy interface to track your yields, power limitation, zero export control, easy performance reporting, and create PV plant using QR code. You can access your inverters using your Android or iOS apps and connect it easily with the router via WLAN or LAN cable.
Battery Storage: No battery or hybrid inverters are produced presently as per ZeverSolar main company.
Unique feature: We didn’t find any unique or conspicuous features of this inverter, unlike other top-notch inverters.
Pricing: A piece of zeversolar inverter will cost you $1000 more than the ZeverSolar, whereas the ZeverSolar having less price will still give you an up to the mark standard. The price range is $700 to $1,600. We still believe that this is a bit pricey compared to its features.
Editors Pick:
ZEVERLUTION SERIES: It’s the most common and the best in the series with a lightweight size of around 6 to 11kg. Having been available as 1kW to 3kW or 3.68kW to 5kW, this inverter magnet can produce a maximum efficiency of 96.3% to 97.5%. Communication and remote maintenance are carried out through optional Wi-Fi and integrated Ethernet. Also, the Remote firmware update is supported too.
Over our hours of dedication and hard work of finding the best solar inverters in Australia, as well as the best solar inverter for home, we have finally enlisted twelve inverters that are trendy, modern, advanced, tangible, and up to the mark. All these inverters are available in any approved solar retailer across Australia. However, it is worth checking the price and the authenticity of the inverter by yourselves. We have tried our best to impose our own opinion to rating these inverters based on our experience and testing. You are requested to find your own comfort-based inverters that will be cost-saving and bring the ROI sooner.
Our views on these inverters are absolutely unbiased and free of any sponsorship or branding. Therefore, you can use our information to broaden your knowledge on these inverters and benefit by installing it and making renewable energy even more successful. If you have any queries, feel free to comment below, and we will answer accordingly. Thank You.
