{"id":1864,"date":"2012-08-17T19:53:24","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T10:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2017-01-16T12:11:49","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T01:41:49","slug":"where-should-your-solar-inverter-go-and-should-you-worry-about-voltage-drops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/where-should-your-solar-inverter-go-and-should-you-worry-about-voltage-drops\/","title":{"rendered":"Where should your solar inverter go and should you worry about voltage drops?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got a great email the other day:<\/p>\n

“One solar installer has told me that it is best for the inverter to be as close as possible to the panels and NOT to the meter box as your checklist indicates. Is he crazy?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Short answer.<\/strong> Yes – he’s crazy.<\/p>\n

Longer answer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As close as possible to the panels? Whatcha gonna do put it on the roof?<\/p>\n

I get a lot of stick for this advice in one of my solar installation videos<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Solar<\/a>

Sometimes I get heat for recommending that you put your solar inverter as close to your fusebox as possible.<\/p><\/div>\n

The argument against this advice is basically that the voltage drop is proportional to the length of the wire and that the voltage drop between the panels and the inverter is (allegedly) more critical than the voltage drop between the inverter and the meter. Therefore you should minimise the \u00a0length of wire from the panels to the inverter at the expense of the length of wire from the inverter to the grid\/meter.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure where this argument comes from. The truth is that\u00a0the voltage drop that will cause the most problems is on the 240V AC side.<\/p>\n

If you want to be sure that your solar system will operate reliably, then the\u00a0voltage drop between the inverter and your grid connection needs to be less than 1%.<\/p>\n

Why? Here I’ll quote from a Grid Connect PV manual by GSES<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough not mentioned in AS\/NZS 5033:2012, AC voltage drop\/rise [i.e. between the inverter and the switchboard] should be kept as low as possible. The purpose of this is to keep the voltage rise to a minimum – this is to prevent voltage rise in the local grid. High levels of voltage in sections of the grid may lead to overvoltage tripping in grid connected inverters. The allowable voltage rise depends upon the local state rules that are in effect. However, under the CEC Guidelines which were effective as of the 1st of February, 2013, the new recommended AC voltage drop\/rise from the inverter to the point of connection is 1%.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course the best way to minimise voltage drops in your solar system – which will maximise your power output and maximise the return on investment – is to use cables that are as short and as thick as practicably possible. The thicker the cable, the lower the voltage drop across the cable. So if you absolutely need a long run of cable – you can usually compensate with thicker wire.<\/p>\n

Typical wire thickness (measured in cross sectional area – millimetres squared)\u00a0for the DC cables that run from the panels to the inverter is 1.5mm\u00b2, 2.5mm\u00b2, 4mm\u00b2, and 6mm\u00b2. If you want to minimise losses insist on at least 4mm\u00b2. Believe me some of the large and super cheap solar installation companies want to save every last cent on every install and will try to get away with the 1.5mm\u00b2 wire!<\/p>\n

As for the AC cable, i.e. from the inverter to the meter, don’t go smaller than 6mm\u00b2. And if you have to place your inverter more than a few metres from the meter then go \u00a0thick enough to keep the losses in that wire less than 1%.<\/p>\n

My advice is to stipulate to your installer (in writing) that the losses in the wires (voltage drops) should be less that 2% overall for the system as a whole. After all electricity is expensive and wire is cheap!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got a great email the other day: “One solar installer has told me that it is best for the inverter to be as close as possible to the panels and NOT to the meter box as your checklist indicates. Is he crazy?” Short answer. Yes – he’s crazy. 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I started SolarQuotes in 2009 and the SolarQuotes blog in 2013 with the belief that it\u2019s more important to be truthful and objective than popular. My last \"real job\" was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009, I\u2019ve helped over 800,000 Aussies get quotes for solar from installers I trust. Read my full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/","https:\/\/x.com\/FinnPeacock"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-u4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100156,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/best-solar-inverters-2026-installers-choice-awards\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":0},"title":"Best Solar Inverters In Australia 2026: Installer’s Choice Awards","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"July 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We recently kicked off the SolarQuotes Installer's Choice Awards with the solar panel brands installers would choose for their own homes. This week, we're turning our attention to the inverter \u2014 the box on the wall that converts DC solar power into the 230 volts AC your home uses. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Inverters"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Inverters","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-inverters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SolarQuotes Installer's Choice Awards 2026 - Inverters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-awards-inverters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-awards-inverters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-awards-inverters.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-awards-inverters.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-awards-inverters.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101695,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/plug-in-solar-has-the-safety-problem-been-solved\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":1},"title":"Plug-In Solar: Has The Safety Problem Been Solved?","author":"Kim Wainwright","date":"September 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Plug-in solar has moved a step closer in Australia, with federal, state and territory energy ministers agreeing to explore pathways for its safe deployment. The UK now allows approved systems, while New Zealand is also moving towards legalisation. But there\u2019s an electrical safety problem SolarQuotes raised when we looked at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Plug-in solar for Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/plug-in-solar-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/plug-in-solar-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/plug-in-solar-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/plug-in-solar-australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/plug-in-solar-australia.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101760,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/the-question-nobody-asks-before-selling-you-a-battery\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":2},"title":"The Question Nobody Asks Before Selling You A Battery","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"September 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was in Officeworks waiting for some printing. Next to me, a woman was buying a laptop, and the Officeworks bloke helping her knew his stuff. Processors, RAM, screen brightness: all of it correct. Then he asked whether she'd considered a Mac, which opened a second long conversation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a home energy ecosystem","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eco-system.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101240,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/series-vs-parallel-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":3},"title":"Solar Backup: Super Series Vs Perfect Parallel Connections","author":"Anthony Bennett","date":"September 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Everyone buying solar wants lower bills, but adding expensive batteries should be more about a reliable supply than straight-up bean-counting. The solar industry has, for a long time, glossed over a pretty basic point in battery-backed systems, so strap in while we explain the difference between series and parallel-connected supplies,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Installation"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Installation","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-installation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/parallel-vs-series-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/parallel-vs-series-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/parallel-vs-series-header.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/parallel-vs-series-header.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/parallel-vs-series-header.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100117,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/intersolar-2026-the-worlds-biggest-solar-show\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":4},"title":"Intersolar 2026: Europe’s Biggest Solar Show, In A City That Couldn’t Keep Cool","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"June 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=feBryJXCqfY Last week I went to Intersolar Europe in Munich, and the first thing to tell you is the scale (watch my video above to get a real feel for the exhibition). The show floor was eighteen halls big[1. I say 12 in the video for some reason - but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Innovations"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Innovations","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-innovations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Longi solar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longi-solar.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longi-solar.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longi-solar.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longi-solar.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longi-solar.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101816,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/cec-double-standard-on-budget-brand-delistings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1864,"position":5},"title":"CEC Double Standard On Budget Brand Delistings","author":"Anthony Bennett","date":"September 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Neovolt have been threatened with de-listing because their CEC approval paperwork isn't in order. I find this curious because when I've asked about similar approval paperwork in the past concerning Growatt products, they weren't de-listed. And the CEC refused to answer our questions. It's been an interesting rash of emails\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Battery Storage"","block_context":{"text":"Battery Storage","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/battery-storage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neovolt battery with the words SolarQuotes in the upper right hand corner.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Headers-for-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Headers-for-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Headers-for-Blog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Headers-for-Blog.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Headers-for-Blog.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9218,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions\/9218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}