How to convert existing inverter to solar inverter

If you already have a battery backup along with an inverter(UPS system) in your home & want to install solar panels and want to.

1. Charge battery from the grid if solar energy is not being produced. And,
2. charge the battery from solar if solar energy is being produced. And,
3. run on direct solar energy if the battery is fully charged. And,
4. run from the battery if both grid & solar are not available. And,
5. run from the grid(and charge battery) if solar energy is not available. Or
6. charge the battery only from solar and not grid.

Can we do this?

Yes, but there is a catch.

Above-mentioned functions are what a SOLAR INVERTER does. Solar inverters are designed to work all the time 24*7, but normal inverters are not.

Normal inverters need to work only during a power outage. These inverters are designed for that purpose only. There is no point in increasing cost by designing it to work all the time.

So that is the only bottleneck when we convert the existing inverter to solar. Should we make a normal inverter(and battery) work more time or less time. Will it or can it handle working more time.

The reason for this bottleneck is the way the Normal UPS system works. When we add a solar panel to the system, the DC current from solar first charges the battery.

Then inverter takes dc power from a battery and converts it to AC.

Why not directly convert DC from panels to AC. Microinverters can be installed along with each panel to do this. But what we have here is a normal inverter.

Plus grid-tied Solar panels with inbuilt microcontrollers won’t work when there is no electricity from the grid. That is a whole another system and setup, we may discuss in the future.

Some controllers mentioned below have an option to set in different modes based on the availability of sun, battery charge percentage, etc.

But some of them will just shut down charging the battery and thus not make use of solar panels.

In this post, we are going to learn, How can we convert existing inverter to a solar inverter. This can be done using a hybrid solar charge converter. These are also known as solar conversion kits.

This system is the best option if you already have an inverter installed in the home and want to generate power using a solar panel. You can use existing batteries to store power generated from panels.

Solar conversion kit(single product) is an amazing product because it provides one solution to many problems.

Good Solar conversion kits work as,

• Switch between grid and solar.
• Battery type selection switch.
• Charge controller.
• Provide short circuit protection.
• Provide overvoltage protection.
• Provide deep discharge protection.
• Provide reverse polarity & reverse current protection.

At the same time.

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4 Best Solar conversion Kits in India - Convert your existing inverter/UPS to solar.

Luminous Shine 2420, 3650, 4850, 9650 etc

Type: PWM

Display: LCD

Buy from offer links - Amazon

These are all different models from the same brand. The main difference is the amount of current it can handle from solar panels. Some models support only 12v setup while others support 12v, 24v, 48v, and 96 volts.

All of these models are PWM-based Solar charge controllers.

You can choose one of these models based on the voltage & current rate of the system.

It is not clear from their product specification what happens when the battery is fully charged and still solar power is available.

Reading through the lines, it seems they just shut off charging completely.

But there are different modes like auto, manual mode, charge 100% solar, etc.

Smarten mppt solar management unit 30 Amps/ 50 Amps

Type: MPPT

Display: LCD display

Buy from offer links - Amazon

These models are MPPT solar conversion systems. A little bit more costly compared to the above-mentioned brand. But these have many more features.

You can set different modes like charge only from solar, only from the grid, or run on solar when battery fully charged and solar available, etc.

Microtek solar charge controller smu 10 Amps/ 30 Amps/ 60 Amps Models

Type: PWM

Display: Light indicators

Buy from offer links - Amazon

Microtek controllers are another good option for affordable solar conversion kits. These are a little bit bulky and boring designs,

Su-kam SOLARCON Conversion Kit 12/24 V 20 Amp

Type: PWM

Display: LCD Screen

Buy from offer links - Amazon

Input Range: 90V - 300V ± 20V (Float voltage is 3.7 V ± 2%, 27.4 V ± 2%.)

Su Kam solar con conversion kits were one of the first companies with this kind of product. This product is still available but kind of going out stage.