Solar Inverter versus Regular Inverter

A power inverter is an electric power converter that changes DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current).

Why do I need to convert to AC?

Long distance transmission on our grids is done on AC. So, most of our regular home appliance run on AC. Whereas, power generation like in the case of Solar Energy is in DC. This creates a requirement for DC to AC conversion, to transmit it over large distance or in other cases to use it with AC devices.

What is a UPS and is UPS and a inverter the same thing?

No. This is a quite common misconception and people often mistake a UPS as an inverter.

A UPS is an Uninterrupted Power Supply. It basically provides an alternative power source when the regular

While it is true that both have inverting operation and both are used for backup. Most often in India, a home UPS is actually an inverter. The essential difference is that UPS has no delay, whereas the inverter does.

A regular inverter or a UPS will basically have a battery to store energy from the grid when the supply is available. When the grid is cut off, it will basically switch to power from the energy stored in the battery.

A solar inverter, generally is grid tied and can synchronously transfer the energy from the grid. A solar inverter can basically feed into the electrical grid and has functions to attach to various photovoltaic arrays. Solar Inverters have MPPT or PWM technology that allow the batteries to be charged at a constant level. Solar inverters also have islanding protection, which basically means to prevent automatic re-connection.

Sun light varies throughout the day. That basically means that sometimes during a day there will be more power generation and other times, it would be lesser. Let`s say a cloud comes up then sudden.