GE - Inverter Reviews

About GE

GE is a huge multinational company with its fingers in many, many pies - including solar inverters. GE inverters offer:

• Good efficiency in a compact unit
• Up to 4 Maximum Power Point Trackers (MPPTs)
• Load consumption monitoring

Australian Office Contact

It's always very handy to have local representation for service and support, and GE doesn't disappoint there. Here are the company's contact details for Australia:

2/6 Enterprise Drive, Rowville, Victoria 3178
T: 0 3 7009 7821 (Service)
0 2 4404 4002 (wifi & comms)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Australian website

Company Info

In the past, the firm has been heavily involved with new build coal power, but in 2020 announced it intended exiting that market and increase focus on its renewable energy and gas power generation businesses. 

GE had some skin in the residential solar inverter game pretty early on in the rooftop PV revolution through GE Power Controls - the SVT series. How long these units were produced for isn't clear, but we've seen documents showing they were available in 2009. GE Power Controls was wound up in 2015. 

The company has also been manufacturing central inverters for solar farms continuously for some years and elsewhere in the renewable space, producing wind turbines.

In 2020, GE announced Chinese inverter company GoodWe would be producing GE-branded devices for the residential and commercial market. In 2021, the first GE solar inverters became available in Australia:

GoodWe vs. GE - What's The Difference?

GoodWe has a reputation for building good quality budget solar inverters and has produced millions of them, so that's encouraging - as is GE's long history that dates back to the 1800's.

But  GE solar inverters aren't just re-badged units; so expect to pay more. They are built to GE specifications and have few differences besides the design; for example, the availability of a 5kW single phase inverter with 3 MPPTs and a few bells and buzzers such as Smart Shadow Scan that GE says minimises the impact of partial shading.

GE Inverter Models

A wide range of single-phase and three-phase models are available in Australia. Here's a bit of detail on some of them.

GEP 5 - 10kw - single phase

This range boasts 3 MPPTs, up to 110% AC overloading, load consumption monitoring, inbuilt export control and the "smart shadow scan" feature. Maximum efficiency of this range is 97.7% - 97.8%. Dimensions for all models in this range are 511 × 415 × 175 mm and they weigh in at 22.5 kilograms.

There's also a newer "G3" line in this size range designed for use with high power modules, which offers a maximum 20A input current per string compared to 13A and lower start-up voltage of 50V compared to 80V. The G3's are also smaller and lighter than those mentioned above; and at the upper end of capacities just a tad more efficient.

GEP 5-15kW - three phase

This three-phase range provides 2 MPPTs, maximum 15A current per string and built-in PV II switch. Optional features are an exchangeable Type II SPD, AFCI & module-level rapid shutdown and 24h real-time consumption monitoring. Inverter dimensions are (all capacities) 415 × 511 × 175 mm and they weigh in at 20.5 - 26 kilograms depending on the model.

GEH 5-10kW hybrid inverters

Intended for solar installations with batteries, these single phase hybrid inverters feature up to 4MPPTs, AC bypass switch, less than 10ms switch over time, and full back-up capability with 120% of peak output overloading for 60 seconds. The 10kW is one of the larger single phase hybrid inverters currently available on the market.

Just on multiple MPPTs - this is a particularly good feature as it provides greater flexibility for roof layouts and working with different module types.

You can compare GE inverter model specifications and pricing with those from other firms using the SolarQuotes inverter comparison table (note: hybrid inverter comparison here).

GE Solar Inverter Warranty

The standard product warranty on GE solar inverters is 5 years, but extended to 10 years if connected to GE's monitoring portal. The warranty on some models can be extended to up to 15 years for an additional fee. But note that unless there's an agreement between GE and the customer, the limited warranty covers only the cost of hardware material to get the inverter functioning again.

While GE's inverter business has a local presence in Australia, warranty work is carried out by GoodWe, which has an office in Melbourne.

Conclusion

While GE inverters are reasonably new to Australia, the company's reputation and that of GoodWe along with positive feedback from installers and Australian customers has meant we've included GE among SolarQuotes recommended inverter brands. In terms of pricing, GE's products are around the middle of the price range of inverters we recommend.

If you're a local owner, please leave a review and share your thoughts on your GE solar inverter with other Australians considering a purchase.