Advantages of 3 Phase Solar

06 May.,2024

 

Advantages of 3 Phase Solar

If you are researching solar power systems, you may have heard of different types of solar inverters especially single phase and 3-phase inverters. Depending on your electricity supply (single-phase or 3-phase power) your decision might become simpler. In most Australian homes, the power supply is single phase, which means one live wire comes in from the grid. Single-phase power supply is commonly used in Australian homes while three-phase power supply pulls more power from the grid and is useful to handle bigger loads for large aircons, pools, heaters, electric car chargers, etc.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of 3 phase solar inverters. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Do you have a 3 Phase Power supply?

  • Check your switchboard – If the main switch is one pole wide, then your home is connected to a single-phase power supply. If the main switch is 3 poles wide, you have 3-phase power.
  • Alternatively, you can call your electricity provider and ask them about the power supply. Just keep a copy of your electricity bill handy.
  • Check the service fuse – Homes connected to a single-phase power will have one service fuse while for a 3-phase power supply, there would be 3 service fuses.

Most of the homes are connected to a single-phase power supply. Large homes, residential apartments and commercial buildings can have a 3-phase supply to manage the high electricity demand.

3-phase power is good to handle heavy loads from:

  • Spa
  • Sauna
  • Pool heater
  • Electric car charger
  • Ducted air conditioners

Single Phase vs 3-Phase Solar Inverter

A single-phase solar inverter has one live wire which connects to your home. While a 3-phase solar inverter has 3 live wires connected to your home.

A 3-phase solar inverter sends the electricity evenly across the 3 wires which minimises the voltage drop problem associated with a single phase power supply. It needs to be noted that a 3-phase solar inverter will probably cost more than a single-phase inverter.

Why Do You Recommend A Three-phase Inverter?

Spreading the inverter capacity across the three wires coming into your home means that you don’t have to push the solar energy as hard to get it out to the grid. You’ll be increasing the local grid voltage less than a single-phase install, and you’ll have less throttling or tripping off due to over-voltage issues. That means more solar power production with our high-voltage plagued Australian grid.

 

Voltage rise related solar issues are one of the biggest problems we see with installed solar power systems. I go in to detail on the causes and solutions for voltage rise issues here.

 

So to reiterate for the blog post skimmers:

If you have a three-phase supply, I recommend getting a three-phase solar inverter. Why? Because it drastically reduces the chance of having voltage rise issues.

 

But not everyone agrees with me on this.

 

There is one downside to using a three-phase inverter, other than the extra cost (expect to pay $300 to $500 more compared to a single-phase inverter). Three-phase solar inverters do make it much more expensive to have ‘Apocalypse Proof Battery Backup™’.

 

Are you interested in learning more about solar power inverter manufacturer? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

What are your options if you have a three-phase supply and want solar power?

 

If you have three-phase supply, you can have either:

 

  • A single-phase solar inverter
  • Microinverters
  • A three-phase solar inverter

 

Any of these choices are valid. It will not affect how you are billed for exports or how much solar energy is self consumed.

 

But, I still recommend a three-phase solar inverter.

 

What is a three-phase supply?

 

Most homes in Australia have a single-phase electricity supply. This means that they have one live wire coming in from the grid.

A three-phase home has 3 live wires coming in from the grid.

This means three-phase homes can pull more power from the grid.  Handy for particularly big loads such as a:

  • large air conditioner
  • pool heater
  • spa
  • sauna
  • electric car charger
  • etc.

And of course a three-phase supply means you can send much more solar energy back into the grid compared to single-phase (three to six times as much depending on your local DNSP rules).

 

What is a three-phase solar inverter?

 

A three-phase solar inverter takes DC electricity from solar panels, chops it up and sends it out as AC electricity shared across a three-phase supply. We are a three-phase solar inverter supplier. If you are interested in our products, please contact us now!

For more 3 phase to single phase inverterinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.