Traditional inverters are only designed for solar panels, while hybrid inverters can also control the battery system. The ideal inverter choice for household solar systems depends on your plan:
·If you only want to install solar panels and have no plans to add batteries in the future, it is recommended that you use a traditional string inverter.
·If you want a household solar system with energy storage function, you must use a hybrid inverter.
It makes sense to combine solar panels with batteries when net metering is not available or when the grid electricity price is very low. In this case, you need a hybrid inverter to manage the energy flow of both the solar panel and the battery simultaneously. Here are some other scenarios where batteries can provide attractive investment returns:
When your power supplier charges a time of use electricity price, it usually goes higher at night. With batteries, you can store electricity from solar panels and use it during peak demand periods – eliminating the most expensive kilowatt hours from your electricity bill.
If you only plan to install solar panels but consider energy storage in the future, it is recommended to use a hybrid inverter. If traditional inverters are installed, they will be forced to be replaced when increasing energy storage.
However, hybrid inverters only require the use of solar panels to operate normally, and in the future, batteries can be easily connected and configured.
