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String or Hybrid Inverter: Which One Do You Need?

•1 min read
If a battery is even a maybe, buy the hybrid. Here is why the cheaper box can cost more later.
Light-grey 5 kW string inverter with a finned heat sink

Every roof kit needs an inverter to turn the panels’ DC into the AC your house runs on. The choice that matters is whether it can talk to a battery.

String inverter

Simple, efficient and about $500 cheaper. Perfect if you will never add storage and your roof gets sun on one plane.

Hybrid inverter

Runs the panels and a battery from the same box, with two MPPT inputs for roofs that face two ways. Adding a Keeper battery later is a plug-in job, not a rewire.

Four out of five kits we ship now include the hybrid. Most of those owners added a battery within two years.

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