The residential solar industry in the US has long been dominated by two inverter companies: Enphase and SolarEdge. However, recently, a number of inverter companies have been making headway in the US market to expand inverter technology and diversify the options available to consumers. We sat down with Northern Electric Power (NEP), an inverter company founded in the US, to learn more about their mission and their product offerings.
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Comparing microinverters vs. inverters with power optimizers
Inverters are a key component of any solar panel system: while solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, inverters ensure that you can use the electricity they produce in your home or business.
Continue readingSolar inverter warranties: what’s covered, and what’s not?
If you’ve already started exploring your inverter options, you may have noticed that many products come with a 25-year warranty. However, simply comparing the length of one warranty term to the next doesn’t give you a full picture: what is and isn’t included in a warranty differs quite a bit from one inverter company to the next. And considering how important a solar inverter is to the functionality of your system, you want to make sure you’re covered in case anything goes awry.
In this article, we’ll review the most important aspects of a solar inverter warranty, and discuss what’s standard for the industry.
Continue readingQ&A with SMA
Outside of solar panels, solar inverters are the most important part of a solar energy system, responsible for converting electricity generated by your solar panels into usable electricity for your home’s electronics and appliances. When it comes to deciding which equipment is best for your solar panel system, you have many different inverters to choose from, including options for both the type of technology (string vs. microinverter vs. string + power optimizers), and well as the inverter brand.
Continue readingWhat happens if your solar inverter fails?
Solar energy systems are built to last and are designed to produce solar electricity reliably for 25 years or more. In some instances, though, individual components of a solar energy system may malfunction or break altogether. If you’ve installed solar, here’s what to do if your solar inverter fails.
Continue readingCEO’s note: Why I’m excited about the EnergySage Buyer’s Guide
We are very excited to release a brand-new online tool for the solar industry: the EnergySage Buyer’s Guide – a first of its kind tool to allow consumers to research, compare and evaluate the price and quality of solar panels, inverters and batteries. To introduce you to our new product, I would like to give you some context for why we built the Buyer’s Guide and describe how we anticipate solar shoppers and industry stakeholders alike to use it.
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