This Growatt Inverter Review is Good.. But What About The Reliability?

August 6, 2012 2019-09-25T09:33:32 by Finn Peacock 82 Comments

The scores for the growatt inverter review

Photon Magazine July 2012 Awarded good marks to the Growatt 5000MTL

The latest issue of industry bible: Photon International has an in depth Growatt inverter review of the 5000MTL. A popular 5kW solar inverter from China.

It performs well in the efficiency tests, scoring an A grade at high irradiation (i.e. strong sun) and a B grade at medium irradiation. It ranked in the top third of all devices tested by the magazine over the past few years.

So to cut a long story short – Growatts are one of the better Chinese inverters out there. And they are certainly a lot cheaper than the European inverters on the market.

But there is a question mark over the quality control in the Growatt factory. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: samil power, sma

Samil Power Inverters: The Hyundai of the Solar Industry?

June 29, 2012 2017-04-28T15:51:48 by Finn Peacock 8 Comments

Solar Infographic : If Inverters were Cars…

The current edition of industry bible “Photon Magazine” (June 2012 issue) has a glowing review of the Chinese made Samil Power Solar Lake 15kW inverter.

A couple of years ago if you were investing in a 15kW solar system your default choice would have been a European inverter – think SMA, Aurora or Delta. It would have been a very brave engineer that specced a Chinese inverter on such a big system!

However in a few short years the Chinese have learned from any mistakes made and are producing some world class solar inverter hardware.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: buyers guide, infographic, samil power

Samil Inverter Review: German magazine gives top marks

March 13, 2012 2017-05-02T10:48:08 by Finn Peacock 20 Comments

The Samil Inverter got a great review in the German Photon Magazine in August 2011

Samil Inverters are very popular in Australia. They are great value, and have great specifications on paper. However I get a lot of emails asking me if this Chinese made solar inverter is any good.

It is a fair question. The inverters are a lot cheaper than their German made competition (like SMA), and are a relatively new player in the market. Plus there are a lot of solar salespeople out there that are peddling the (somewhat xenophobic) line that all Chinese made solar components are crap.

So what’s the truth? Are Samil Inverters any good? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: reviews, samil power

How Does Temperature Affect Your Solar Inverter Power?

March 1, 2012 2017-05-02T10:55:07 by Finn Peacock 26 Comments

Don’t mount your inverter where the sun can cook it!

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you are probably already aware of how high ambient temperatures negatively affect solar panel performance.

But did you know that when it gets hot outside, those scorching Aussie temperatures can also cause the efficiency of your solar inverter to drop? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Inverters Tagged With: Efficiency, samil power, sma, Temperature