How do microinverters work?

What’s a Smart Module?

Increasingly, microinverter and power optimizer manufacturers are partnering with solar panel manufacturers to create ‘Smart Modules’. Simply put, a Smart Module is a solar panel with a piece of MLPE equipment integrated into it. This simplifies installation and cuts down on labor costs for installers - and should ultimately deliver more value to you as the system owner. Many of the world’s biggest panel manufacturers now have Smart Module options available, including Trina Solar, ET Solar, ReneSola and SunPower.

Microinverters

Microinverters are rapidly gaining popularity, particularly for residential solar systems. At the moment microinverters tend to be the most expensive inverter option, but as they become more commonplace it is anticipated that their cost will come down.

How do microinverters work?

Microinverters convert the DC electricity from your solar panels into AC at the panel level (i.e. on your roof), with no need for a separate central inverter. If your system uses microinverters, you will have one microinverter installed at each panel. In many cases the microinverters are integrated into the solar panel itself, but they may also be mounted next to the panel on the system’s mounting system.

One of the major advantages of microinverters is that they mitigate the negative impacts of partial or complete shading. Because the DC-AC electricity conversion takes place at each panel, there is no ‘bottleneck’ when one panel produces less or no electricity.

Microinverters also allow you to monitor the performance of individual solar panels.

Who manufactures microinverters?

The dominant player in the microinverter industry at the time of writing this article is Enphase. A number of other companies also manufacture microinverters, including SolarBridge (recently acquired by panel manufacturer SunPower), Enecsys and APS. String inverter manufacturer SMA also has its own line of microinverters. (You can see a more complete list in our article about microinverter and power optimizer options.)

https://www.energysage.com/solar/101/string-inverters-microinverters-power-optimizers