Power inverters for home UPS have been in use in India for a long time. Due to continuous power cuts, the home UPS or power inverter industry has performed excellently in India. But with the increasing interest in solar power and solar panels, many people are thinking about using solar power to charge batteries to conserve electricity drawn from the grid.
Solar energy can help tackle climate change. The future projections predict a shift in the frequency of solar inverters, many people wonder whether their current inverter system is useful or not. In the past, this question has come to us many times in saving electricity: what is the difference between a solar inverter and a regular inverter? Through this article, we will try to answer this question.
What is an Inverter ?
A power inverter or inverter is a device that converts DC (or DC) into AC (or AC) using transformers, switching, and control circuits. And this is the essential task of any inverter. A home UPS or home inverter takes DC power from a battery and converts it into AC power used by devices. A solar inverter is also an equivalent in that it is an “off-grid” solar power system. In the case of “grid-connected” DC power comes from solar panels and AC power is delivered to the grid.
Working of a Home UPS/Inverter
A regular home UPS/inverter system is a system of inverter and battery that is connected to a home power connection. When electricity is coming from the grid, the UPS/inverter system charges the battery using electricity coming from the grid. When the power is off, the inverter takes DC power from the battery and converts it to the AC used by the devices. An automatic switch in the system senses a grid power supply, and then a UPS switch in battery mode.
Working on an Off-Grid Solar Powered system
An off-grid solar power system is a gathering of solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, and an inverter. The battery is charged using solar panels and the inverter performs the same function of converting DC to AC. It can also be an automatic switch to understand if the grid is not supplying power that can convert a grid-connected home power source from grid to battery. The system needed to be designed depends on:
1 To fully rely on solar power.
2 Charging the battery with solar power is when the sun is available and from the grid when it is not.
An existing home UPS or inverter system can be converted to use with an off-grid powered system by simply adding a switch that can control the change source: solar or grid (depending on availability).
Having said this, to answer the question asked in the title of this article: There is not much difference between an off-grid system and a solar inverter used in a regular inverter. Working of a Grid Connected Solar Power System
A grid-connected solar power system supplies additional power from the additional grid. When they feel they have enough space to install solar power systems, people can go for this type of system and they can sell back the excess power generated to the power distribution company. In this type of system, the purpose of the inverter is also to convert DC (generated from solar panel) to AC. But it should also have an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) feature built into it. Because of the voltage generated by the solar panel Varies depending on the temperature and availability of the sun. The solar inverter used for grid-connected solutions also includes an anti-island functionality to prevent exposure to the grid in the event of a power failure in the grid.
Conclusion
The basic purpose of an inverter is to convert DC power to solar inverter or regular inverter AC power. The situation is based on the setup may require some additional features that can be implemented through simple modifications in the existing home UPS / Inverter.