Solaredge Solar inverter and battery review- Updated August 2023


As an installer, I have to say that there's a lot to like about Solaredge inverters and batteries.
That is, unless they were installed around 2019.
That was not a great time for SolarEdge and the capacitors inside that caused so many Solaredge inverters to fail.

Ancient history now, maybe whoever tried to do some cost cutting on materials got sacked, but the internet never forgets.

So, why do we like Solaredge inverters and batteries now?
The simple answer is that they do the job very well, and have a lot of problem-solving solutions.
I'll get to those handy additional gizmos further down the page but let's start with the basics.

There's a 5kW single phase inverter called "Home Hub" (previously known as Energy Hub).
This also comes in larger sizes up to 10kW but in WA, we are restricted to the 5kW model by Western Power.

The Home Hub has a consumption meter built-in and is ready to connect to the SolarEdge 10kWh Home battery and backup unit.

All Solaredge inverters operate at a fixed voltage and don't use the traditional MPPTs that other string inverters have.
Instead, Solaredge have an MPPT on every single solar panel by using their DC Optimisers.
The optimisers continuously raise and lower their attached panel voltage so that the string of panels operate at a fixed 380V.

This fixed voltage is very conveniently close to the Solaredge battery voltage, so minimal conversion losses.
They claim that their DC solar panel to battery to AC for loads round trip conversion efficiency is 94.5%, which is very impressive.

With optimisers on every panel the layout of panels is extremely flexible.
A string of panels might start on the East roof and snake around to panels on the North roof for instance.
Or it might start on the North roof and follow the sun onto the West roof.
You can't do that with a regular inverter like SMA, Fronius, Goodwe, Sungrow.

Of course, putting an optimiser onto every panel adds an additional cost, but it's nowhere near as high as many think.
As service manager at Solar4Ever I love optimised systems because I can see the output of every panel and detect faults.
So can you by the way. "Panel level reporting" as it's called is a standard feature of the Solaredge Home Hub inverter.

There are some over-excited claims about the extra power than optimised or micro inverter systems produce.
If you have some shading issues on a few panels then yes, an optimised system will extract more power, but for most non-shaded systems, not much.

There's another Solaredge single phase inverter called 'Genesis'. Don't waste your time on that. Features removed to save $400. Pointless.
If you want a cheap inverter buy Growatt, Sofar, SolaX, but if you are buying Solaredge buy the real thing.

The AS4777 600V residential string voltage limit.
This uniquely Australian standard restricts how many panels you can put on a string.
It doesn't apply with Solaredge inverters.
There are of course some Solaredge imposed limits but they allow, in multi mode with the Solaredge battery 300% oversizing.
That means a 5kW Solaredge Home Hub inverter with Solaredge battery could have 15kW of panels connected and you'll be paid STCs.
Of course, unless you have 2 or 3 Home batteries, that level of oversizing is ridiculous, but all the same...

Solaredge Home battery
10kWh battery with 9.7kWh usable, 10 year defect warranty, 10 year unlimited cycle warranty to 70%
That means you can cycle the battery as much as you like and they warranty it will still have at least 70% left in the tank in 10 years time.
It's not the absolute best battery warranty I've ever come across, but it's definitely better than most.
The other factor is that it's more than likely that a global company like Solaredge will be around to honour that warranty.

The battery is usually wall mounted, mainly because the floor mount option is insanely expensive (about $800).
It weights 130kg and is definitely a two person job but it's quick and easy other than that.

Another nice thing is that you only need 10.2kWh of solar power to fully charge it.
That's going back to the round trip efficiency thing I mentioned earlier.

You can parallel further 10kWh batteries if you want more storage.

Solaredge backup box.
There's a separate back up box to provide either "whole of house" or "essential load back-up" during a grid outage.
It has a deliberate 3 second switch over delay between when the grid goes down and when the backup kicks in.
That deserves some explanation when other inverters boast about cutting over in milliseconds.

Imagine you have your dishwasher, washing machine, a split air con, pool pump, kettle all running and then the power goes out.
If the power came back on a few seconds later, how many of those appliances would automatically restart?
The kettle, lights, yes, but the others would probably need your attention to restart them.

That's the theory behind 'whole of house' backup from a 5kW solar inverter and battery.
With all the major appliances not restarting on their own when power resumes you are left with lights, WIFI router, kettle.
All perfectly within the 21A limit of the inverter, battery and backup box.

If you overload the Solaredge backup circuit it will shut down again for a while before trying to auto re-start.
With a 3 second delay before backup kicks in you should notice that something has happened.
That's the theory anyway. Fronius inverters delay switching to backup for about a minute for the same reason.
Wiring backup to essential loads only seems a more time consuming, but more sensible way to go to me though, as I don't like
the idea of the inverter starting and stopping if it is overloaded, but Solaredge don't appear to be bothered by it.

Solaredge and three phase power
They have regular 'solar only' three phase inverters but not three phase hybrids (battery connectable).
Actually, they do have 3 phase hybrids in Australia, it's just that they don't connect to any batteries.
Initially we were told, "It's coming", but now we are told "Not going to happen in the Australian market."
Why can't the Solaredge battery work with the Solaredge three phase hybrid inverter in Australia?
There's quite a lot of very annoyed customers asking that question without a satisfactory reply from Solaredge.

So how do we install Solaredge and their batteries on three phase?
If it's a small inverter, e.g. 5kW, no problem as with a battery, Western Power allow a 5kW single phase inverter on three phase.
Note, if you are reading this and are based in the Eastern States, you may be allowed to install their 10kW single phase hybrid, but we aren't in WA.

The 5kW Solaredge Home Hub single phase inverter along with a three phase Solaredge consumption meter, and battery works just fine on three phase.
The Western Power 'net meter' sorts out all the in's and outs so that you can draw from the grid on one phase and export on another and it all balances out.

The problem, at least for us in WA comes when you want 10kW.
We are allowed to install 2 x 5kW single phase inverters, but BOTH must have a battery connected.
That means a 10kWh Solaredge battery costing about $12k on each inverter which is more storage than most people want or need.

Ironically, once you bump up to 15kW, then no problem, 3 x 5kW single phase inverters with just one battery on the 'Master' inverter, is allowed.

Therefore the 10kW three phase hybrid inverter is a massive 'hole' in the Solaredge product line-up but really, it's only in WA.

Solaredge gizmos and gadgets.
By far and away the biggest drain on my time is solar inverter WIFI.
People regularly change their router, internet service provider and that means helping them reconfigure the settings in their inverter.
I'm not talking just Solaredge, I mean Huawei, Fronius, Sungrow, Growatt, you name it...WIFI, which is crucial for all sorts of things, including reporting
can feel like the bane of my life and causes a lot of end-user inconvenience too.

So how nice is it that for about $100, Solaredge have developed a solution to save you and me future time and effort?
It's called 'Wireless Gateway' and it's a transmitter at the inverter paired with a 240V powered receiver at the home modem/router.
The receiver plugs directly into a spare router Ethernet port with a standard cat 5/6 cable. No passwords ever required.
It provides about 50m range on it's own but if there are a lot of walls in between they have additional repeaters that add further range.

They also have a single phase 7.4kW EV charger that can be configured to operate only when solar conditions are favourable.
In other words, charge only from solar, not from the grid.

If you live on a property where typically your electricity meter is on a pole out by the road there can often be issues with consumption meters.
With a battery your inverter will need to monitor all the loads, from the house, sub boards in sheds etc.
This may mean the best spot for the inverter consumption meter is on that pole.
Dig a long trench?
Solaredge have developed an antenna that is connected to the inverter via a cable, that receives data from a remote consumption meter.
About 100m line of sight. May not work in every situation but it's a great solution for most.

Staying with that antenna, Solaredge use it for Home Automation, although I should probably add the word 'will' there because it's not out yet.
If you think WIFI problems fill me with fear imagine how I feel about Home Automation via your solar inverter.
The connectivity challenges multiply exponentially, but at least, I'll explain what it is even though I really don't want you to buy it, lol

Solaredge have developed three or four different devices that can switch things on an off. Some are for normal GPO's (wall sockets), others for more heavy duty appliances.
Pool pumps, heat pumps, etc.
They communicate wirelessly back to the solar inverter's antenna described above so you can turn things on and off via the Solaredge app.

Can you appreciate why I'm absolutely terrified of this?
Just getting a solar inverter to talk to a home router for WIFI reporting is hard enough.

I guess the only solution is to only sell this feature to people who know what they are doing, and let the end user manage it.

After sales support from Solaredge.
You may have read online that people have had some trouble contacting Solaredge and getting a timely reply.
Unfortunately if you call or email Solaredge Australia via the published channels, the response can indeed be under whelming.
However, Solaredge installers have a dedicated support channel, including remarkably, someone here in WA, and the service is great.
I'm not saying you won't get a reply from Solaredge if you contact them yourself, I'm just saying it's likely to be faster to go through your installer.
In other words, if you buy your Solaredge from us....me.

Solaredge pricing
It will most likely take you an extra year to pay off your Solaredge investment than if you bought a regular inverter.
Over time the optimisers that are the reason for the extra cost will pay for themselves, harvesting a bit more power and identifying faulty panels.
The Solaredge Home battery is also more expensive than others and it's fixed 10kWh monolithic design, not modular, won't suit everyone.
Between you and me, I think a big part of the reason why the battery is more expensive is that Solaredge have one eye firmly on their customer base.
All those Solaredge inverters out there that can't connect to the new Solaredge battery.
When an owner of one of those inverters calls up and says 'I'm ready for a battery now' they don't want to hear, 'Sorry, not compatible'.
So Solaredge give a brand new Energy Hub inverter for free to legacy customers if they purchase a Solaredge battery and backup box.

When Solaredge retailers have 'worked their base' as far as they can with upgrades, then perhaps the deal will be withdrawn and the battery price reduced.
That's just me speculating.

Warranty
There is no doubt that Solaredge give the best warranty. 25 years on the optimisers, 12 years on the inverter.
For about 40% of the cost of the inverter you can extend the inverter warranty to 25 years.

In addition Solaredge are pretty generous (compared to other manufacturers) about paying us to go out and replace faulty equipment.
If we ignore the very unfortunate quality issues mentioned at the start of this page a few years ago, the failure rate is about 0.4%
So, 4 failed inverters a year out of 1,000 installed. That's good. The best I've experienced is Huawei at 0.2% although they publish 0.3%
Either way, give or take one or two inverters per thousand, Solaredge now have an excellent reliability performance and a long warranty.

Summary
I was very much put off Solaredge because of the reliability issues they had a few years ago, but that is behind them, and they handled their error well.
That's really all you can ask.
Today's' Solaredge inverters are reliable, feature rich, and whilst more expensive than Chinese brands, they have a lot more to offer.

The fact that the 10kW three phase Solaredge hybrid inverter can not, and never will work with the Solaredge battery, or any other battery is a problem.
Not over East where the 10kW single phase inverter will work fine, but here in WA with our quirky Western Power rules.
I don't think that 2 x 5kW single phase inverters with a battery on each is a cost effective solution so we unless you actually want 20kWh of storage
I won't be recommending Solaredge for this size when there are so many other products available instead from Fronius, Sungrow, Goodwe etc.



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This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.