What are the advantages and disadvantages of off grid inverters?

What are the advantage of inverter?

1. The first advantage of inverter is about the cost. The cost of a reliable inverter and other components for an off grid solar system can be used for couple of years, the cost is far cheaper than the electricity bill.

2. You’ll have complete energy independence. No grid connection means freeing yourself from the risk of power outages or fluctuating power costs. As you’re a producer of your own power you get a great amount of freedom.

3. It can contribute to the most eco-friendly and sustainable home energy system or campervan system. Without the grid, the inverter can be take out for camping and outings and deliver powers to your appliances. You can minimize your carbon footprint. Your system will help to reduce water pollution and greenhouse gases. 

There are many advantages of off-grid inverters, and those who have used them are aware of them, so today we will mainly discuss what are the disadvantages of inverters.

What are the disadvantage of inverter?

1.The first disadvantage of inverter is the inverter you need to convert DC to AC has an efficiency < 1, which impacts the overall efficiency of your system. Off grid high frequency inverters cannot be connected to full-load inductive loads, and their overload capacity is poor, please always leave a 20% buffer when selecting an inverter.

2.The inverter is a complex piece of electronics, which can fail, so the overall safety factor or Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of your system may degrade, given that you have a major electronic component that can fail as well.

3.The cost of the inverter needs to be added up to the system. An inverter will generally be a lot more expensive than a transformer for the same power. The built-in circuit becomes far more complex due to multiple conversions from AC to DC and back to AC. If any defect, the repair costs also will be expensive.

4.You cannot use the power whenever you want and need. You can’t rely on grid power during bad weather or if your system needs servicing. You’ll need more panels and a large capacity batteries if you intend to power an entire home or survive a few rainy days. Batteries and generators are important to have, but cost high price. Batteries have limited lifespans and can require maintenance, so those expenses factor in as well. 

5.You need to tightly monitor your system work , the power consumption and even change lifestyle. With off-grid solar, you must use power sparingly. This might require big lifestyle changes, such as using most of your power in the daytime or tightly restricting night-time activities.