5
A retired solar installer told me not to bother with microinverters
Last summer I was getting quotes for a 6kW panel system on my house near Tucson. A retired installer I met at a hardware store said microinverters were overengineered for my simple south-facing roof. I went with a string inverter instead and saved about $1,200 upfront. Anyone else get that kind of advice from an old-timer that actually worked out?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
smith.anna6d ago
Actually panel degradation is more of a concern with microinverters in that heat, not string inverters. The microinverters sit right under the panels baking in the direct sun, which can make them run hotter and possibly fail sooner. A string inverter goes on a shady wall where it can breathe. Your installer friend was right about the simple south roof logic, string setups work great when there's no shading issues. Plus if a panel degrades a bit over time, string inverters handle that voltage drop just fine.
4
ellis.leo4d agoMost Upvoted
Panels themselves degrade so slowly it barely matters for most people, like maybe 0.5-0.7% a year. Microinverters baking under a hot panel in Arizona or Texas though, that's where you'll see real failures after 8-10 years. String inverters on a shady wall have it way easier, they just need good ventilation and they chug along for 12-15 years no problem. Plus swapping a dead microinverter means crawling under hot panels on your roof, which nobody wants to do twice.
3