Tesla recently launched a solar inverter to round out its home solar ecosystem. Designed to integrate with other Tesla products, including the Powerwall battery and the monitoring app, the inverter allows users to keep track of their power generation and consumption patterns.
What Do Solar Inverters Do?
An inverter acts as a “translator,” or go-between, for your solar panels and your home’s appliances and energy grid. Solar panels generate direct current, which requires conversion to alternating current before your solar array can send power to your home and the utility grid.
Solar inverters also let you connect your solar energy system to the internet, which helps you access information about your system. This ability is especially helpful when you want to evaluate how much energy you’re using, see what you’re spending on your monthly utility bills or ensure your system is functioning correctly.
Tesla’s Solar Inverter Specs
In the same way that Tesla provides real-time software updates to its electric vehicles over Wi-Fi, the company plans to provide over-the-air software updates to its inverters. To achieve this, the battery has a Wi-Fi/ethernet connection and 4G LTE connectivity.
The inverter is “stackable,” meaning you can combine as many of them as you need to meet your solar panels’ output, providing users with flexibility in system sizing and installation.
The Tesla inverter has four maximum power point trackers, which allow users to connect four separate, independent solar panel strings to the inverter. This feature is particularly valuable if you have installed your solar panels on parts of your roof that face different directions, or if your property sees varying periods of shade and sun throughout an average day.
Other features include:
- Built on Powerwall 2 technology for exceptional efficiency and reliability
- Designed to integrate seamlessly with the Tesla Powerwall and Tesla app
- Rated for indoor or outdoor installation, from -30 to 40 degrees Celsius
- 3.8 kW and 7.6 kW models available
- Meets U.S. and international safety standards
- Integrated rapid shutdown capability
- 12.5-year warranty
What Makes the New Tesla Inverter Different?
While inverters are available from other manufacturers, Tesla’s inverter is the only one on the market built to work in concert with equipment like the Powerwall. Now, it’s possible to bring Tesla’s entire solar, storage and EV ecosystem under one roof.
Until now, the inverter was the only major component of a standard solar installation Tesla didn’t produce in-house. By introducing a proprietary solar inverter, Tesla may push upfront equipment costs lower by making the components in their factories. And by manufacturing everything themselves, Tesla should generate cost reductions throughout the rest of the supply chain, including distribution and warehousing, maintaining and tracking inventory and standardizing the installation process for their crews across the board.
Another piece of good news for Tesla enthusiasts is that the inverter is already available for purchase. Homeowners who have placed solar orders through Tesla over the last couple of weeks will automatically receive the new Tesla inverter as part of their installation.
