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SolarEdge is understood for top effectivity inverters, and the corporate was at RE+ 2024 in Anaheim, California, once more this yr exhibiting off all the newest enhancements and upgrades it has made to its house photo voltaic ecosystem of merchandise.
Most individuals don’t get excited concerning the white and gray bins that get bolted onto the wall as a part of a photo voltaic set up, however we do. After speaking with SolarEdge final yr and diving deep with their consultants once more this yr, I’m right here to confidently say that SolarEdge’s inverters, batteries, and expertise is meaningfully completely different and will have you ever asking what model inverter your installer is planning to make use of.
SolarEdge’s Class-Main Inverters
Earlier than we get into that, let’s begin with what SolarEdge is already doing and what prospects and installers can purchase at this time. SolarEdge’s house hub inverter is the guts of the system, and is ready to flip energy from DC to AC with a outstanding effectivity of 99%.
It’s unparalleled within the trade and is essentially what set SolarEdge aside because the chief within the residential photo voltaic inverter house. Just under SolarEdge’s house hub inverter in a typical set up is a field with a disconnect the place the DC feeds all faucet in to the system. It is a magical little connection that Photo voltaic Edge provides and is a crucial differentiator, as a result of it permits the DC from a rooftop photo voltaic system to be despatched on to a devoted DC bus somewhat than straight into the inverter.
That is significant, because it permits DC energy to be fed from the rooftop photo voltaic system on to different DC elements just like the battery, a DC EV charger, and even DC home equipment sooner or later. Batteries — like photo voltaic panels — retailer energy as DC and SolarEdge’s design determination permits them to faucet straight into the DC bus within the inverter with out having to flip it to AC first.
Permitting the battery to be charged straight from rooftop photo voltaic is a game-changer, because it drastically improves the effectivity of the general system and minimizes the round-trip losses of going into the battery after which again into the house as usable AC energy.
Flipping the facility from DC to AC and again, also referred to as the round-trip effectivity, is round a ten% loss in a typical system, however SolarEdge’s inverters can do that with a 98% round-trip effectivity. It is a monumental benefit over its rivals, which must flip energy to AC earlier than placing it again right into a battery and vice versa when pulling it again out of the DC battery. For owners, this interprets on to the underside line because it straight produces extra usable energy from the rooftop photo voltaic system and from the saved battery.
The Subsequent Technology
SolarEdge’s crew doesn’t stand nonetheless. They’re at all times pushing out new merchandise (like their battery), making enhancements (like their DC bus), and making it simpler to put in their merchandise. At RE+, they showcased their subsequent technology {hardware} stack which is because of arrive within the second half of 2025. This new product lineup is an improve to their bottom-to-top residential infrastructure stack and brings efficiencies to each the installer and the home-owner within the type of a streamlined look.
The brand new lineup is actually a stack that mounts the inverter atop a set of 4.4 kilowatt-hour modular batteries. These modular batteries permit the home-owner to buy precisely how a lot power storage they want, with as much as 4 battery bricks per stack for a complete of 17.6 kWh every. Up high, SolarEdge consolidated its house hub inverter, backup interface, PCS, bus bar, and residential fast-mount system all right into a single unit that stacks cleanly onto the modular battery system.
That not solely makes the system extra aesthetically pleasing, but it surely drastically reduces the time, effort, and value to put in the system. Switching to a modular battery system additionally improves the logistics of the system as the present wall-mounted SolarEdge battery system weighs 220 kilos / 100 kilograms, whereas the brand new battery modules solely weigh 70 kilos.
Meaning a single installer can handle these out of the again of a van as an alternative of getting to carry out a lift-gate truck with a forklift to handle at this time’s monolithic battery.
This new system options the identical devoted DC bus bar that means that you can cost the battery from the DC energy produced by a rooftop photo voltaic system, but in addition provides a major benefit with the addition of SolarEdge’s upcoming bi-directional house EV charger. SolarEdge introduced the bi-directional EV charger final yr and is now showcasing it with its new house inverter suite.
Because the identify implies, this DC charger faucets straight into your electrical automobile with a DC connection. At this time that’s the CCS1 adapter in North America, however SolarEdge confirms that swapping this out for a NACS-compatible charging cable is an easy operation. Extra importantly than that although, the brand new SolarEdge bi-directional DC charger faucets straight into DC bus on their subsequent technology inverter.
Meaning you possibly can transcend charging your EV with AC when your photo voltaic system is producing energy, and as an alternative faucet straight into the DC energy being produced by the photo voltaic system in your roof with out having to run it by way of an inverter first. It additionally means you possibly can energy your property from the DC battery in your automobile, if it helps bi-directional energy output.
Total
Mixed, these bulletins give SolarEdge a major benefit over the competitors. To get the total good thing about the DC bus, you’ll want a SolarEdge Inverter with optimizers on every panel, a SolarEdge battery system, and the brand new SolarEdge bi-directional DC EV charger. That is lastly beginning to really feel like the long run we have been promised.
That is monumental when it comes to effectivity and it will possibly additionally faucet into the house’s battery stack for an additional jolt of DC energy if wanted. It’s a good looking integration in contrast to something we’ve seen from some other photo voltaic provider within the trade and undoubtedly units a brand new excessive bar for what’s potential when integrating — nay, optimizing — photo voltaic, power storage, and EV charging.
For extra details about SolarEdge’s at present obtainable Dwelling Good Vitality ecosystem or its subsequent technology house ecosystem with the bi-directional EV charger, head over to the house photo voltaic merchandise web site.
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