Which are the factors to be considered while buying energy storage systems?
Basics 101 : Understanding Specifications of Storage Tower (also known as AC Coupled or Retrofit Inverter)
Home Owner if you use Path to Green Homes, you will be able to choose the right equipment and get a quote from your nearest installer. We don’t stop at recommending brand names e.g. How is LG? PathToGreenHomes helps you drill down to matching series and model e.g. 1Φ (4-5kW) RESU Series with 5kW AC Power.
Below is the specification of storage tower which you will find commonly in data sheet, installation and warranty manuals.
| Manufacturer | Choose Brand or Manufacturer name | Installer near you |
| Series | Inverter Series are group of related products | Send Enquiry |
| Model | Part number is followed by the inverter AC power and phase (1Φ / 3Φ) for ease of selection | Send Enquiry |
| Datasheet Values | Send Enquiry | |
| AC Power (KW) | AC output power e.g. 5KW inverter for 5KW household load | Send Enquiry |
| Battery Capacity (kWhr) | Storage Towers may have inbuilt or approved 3rd party battery makes. The battery capacity maybe expandable later by Paralleling “No of Parallel Battery w/o addn devices” or series “See Battery Voltage” | Send Enquiry |
| Inverter type | Grid type connect only with solar panels. Hybrid connects with both panel & battery. Storage Tower connect only with battery | Send Enquiry |
| Backup Overload ( kW) | A 5KW inverter should work >5KW for a small “time period (secs)” to accommodate surge loads like aircons , motor, pump etc. | Send Enquiry |
| Overload (secs) | A 5KW inverter should work >5KW for a small “time period (secs)” to accommodate surge loads like aircons, motor, pump etc. If Overload ( secs) is ZERO (0), it means that Backup overload load is not possible. | Send Enquiry |
| Phases | A household can be Single or Three phase. Most Three phase inverters already feature unbalanced load and they can deliver 5KW across 3 phases as follows 0.5KW, 1KW, 3.5KW | Send Enquiry |
| Solar Panel compatibility | Send Enquiry | |
| Max Allowed Input Current from PV per String | NA. AC Coupled / Storage Tower cannot be connected to solar panels | Send Enquiry |
| Input MPPTs ( nos ) | NA. AC Coupled / Storage Tower cannot be connected to solar panels | Send Enquiry |
| PV String Level Monitoring | NA. AC Coupled / Storage Tower cannot be connected to solar panels | Send Enquiry |
| Country | Country of Origin is HQ for manufacturer irrespective of place of assembly | Send Enquiry |
| Round Trip Efficiency | Round Trip efficiency in AC Coupled / Tower is the final efficiency after all losses including battery charging and battery discharging loss. Path to Green Energy has observed that many manufacturers are instead mentioning only the electronics efficiency not comparable to Round Trip Efficiency. Many AC Coupled inverters do not have in built battery but require 3rd party compatible battery. So to arrive at Round Trip efficiency deduct battery charging and discharging loss ( 8%-12%). | Send Enquiry |
| Colour | Inverter colour is personal choice. However the quality of paint, C5 corrosion level are imp for longevity. In future plastic housing of inverters (to save cost) will make an arrival which need compliance to mechanical, electrical and tough EMI compliance | Send Enquiry |
| Safety | Send Enquiry | |
| Lightning protection Type (DC) | Type 1 = best, Type 2 = Good, Type 3 = standard. Very few inverters have an SPD fail alarm (LCD screen blinks) when it gets damaged due to surge. | Send Enquiry |
| Lightning protection Type (AC) | Type 1 = best, Type 2 = Good, Type 3 = standard . Very few inverters have an SPD fail alarm (LCD screen blinks) when it gets damaged due to surge. | Send Enquiry |
| Exchangeable SPDs | “Damaged SPD” can be part of an expensive board & need for replacement for both SPD and the expensive board. It may cost $100 for such replacement. Not very common but Path to Green Energy prefers equipment where only SPD replacement is possible. | Send Enquiry |
| Fuse for Battery ( Yes / No ) | Standard features like “Reverse protection” and “breaker” are basic safety but Battery Fuse, Soft Start is the real safety thing | Send Enquiry |
| Dimensions | Compact is better. Liquid cooled models won’t be compact but very advanced technology. | Send Enquiry |
| Weight (Kg) | Sometimes light inverter is better but not always. Some mfr leave a must “EMC filter” to make it lighter. Some top models add “liquid cooling” to add to reliability. | Send Enquiry |
| Battery Values | Send Enquiry | |
| Battery Cycles | Each time battery is discharged that’s one battery cycle. There are 365 days in a year and 10 years means 3650 cycles (100% charge and discharge each day). Please ask supplier if can battery be fully discharged Or weather maximum 90% / 80% of discharge is recommended since it has price implication | Send Enquiry |
| Battery Voltage (V) | High Battery voltage reduces losses. As the household load increases (EV, Heat Pump), storage capacity maybe increased (not all inverters allow it) by adding more batteries in Series. Note : However not all brands will allow battery capacity addition, by mixing an existing (Old battery) with a new one. For them such mismatch is unacceptable | Send Enquiry |
| Parallel Batteries w/o addn. device | Storage capacity may later be increased, by adding batteries in PARALLEL instead of Series. No of units in parallel is an inverter feature to parallel batteries, without purchasing an additional data logger. | Send Enquiry |
| PV Oversizing (kW) | We can connect 7kW solar panels to a lower rated 5Kw inverter. This is particularly advantageous in certain parts of Europe (such as Belgium). | Send Enquiry |
| Warranty | Send Enquiry | |
| Electronics Warranty (Years) | A 10-12 year warranty is at least recommended. | Send Enquiry |
| 3rd Party Device Compatibility | Send Enquiry | |
| Compliance to SunSpec Protocol | “Plug & play” interoperability for 100s of smart devices. | Send Enquiry |
| Weather data integration | Intergrate 3rd party reliable weather data from MetroControl / Skytron/ SolarLog useful for PV Energy prediction. In a EV scenario regional meteorological data can create a generation forecast, which it compares against your own consumption behaviour. | Send Enquiry |
| Smart Heat Pump | Heat pumps operate directly from solar which is the cheapest energy source | Send Enquiry |
| Wireless connection | Communication between devices through the local area network will reduce the complexity of system wiring. Wireless connection is more beautiful, but the complexity of the initial configuration increases. | Send Enquiry |
| Futuristic Requirements | Send Enquiry | |
| Smart EV Charger | In General EV Charger can integrate in any PV grid. However this requirement is “Yes” when an Electric vehicle can be charged quickly, in a PV-optimized or forecast-based manner. The solar power should fully feed the car and not the grid. | Send Enquiry |
| Smart inverter | Mainly required right now in the USA. It’s the ability to participate as an Interoperable PV Inverter with advanced Grid-Support Functions as Distributed Energy Resource (DER) | Send Enquiry |
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