About Company: – Fronius are an Austrian company that is why people also say European inverter but they are one of the top inverter manufacturers in the world. With more than half a million inverters been installed in Australia so far. 2 people started this in 1945, That’s right – for 75 years Fronius have been involved in electricity generation and storage. In 1992 company has started three divisions which is Perfect Welding, Solar Energy and Perfect Charging. Currently they are suppling in 60+ countries and constantly working on innovation and quality. In 2010, Fronius opened its Australian office, based in Melbourne and from that onwards they have captured a huge market in terms of Solar inverter.Is the Fronius Solar Inverter suitable for Australian conditions?All Fronius inverters are well tested and approved by CEC and ready to install in any Australian weather condition.Fronius have SIX product lines:
- Fronius Primo Inverters- They are Between 3kW to 8.2kW Residential single-phase string inverters.
- Fronius Galvo Inverter- Again Residential single-phase string inverters, comes in size from 1.5kW to 3.1kW
- Fronius Symo Inverter – This product is 3-phase string inverters, comes from 3.0kW to 20kW
- Fronius ECO Inverters- There are only in two sizes, 25.0 and 27.0kW, but it only has 1 MPPT, making it much less flexible when it comes to system design.
- Fronius Symo Hybrid- this one is Residential 3-phase hybrid energy storage inverter.
- Last is New GEN24 Plus Hybrid Inverters which they have launched recently- This New generation Fronius hybrid inverters models comes for both 1 and 3 phase power supply and will be compatible with higher voltage battery systems.
Let’s talk about Major Features- that why you should go with this inverter
- There Unique snap-in design makes this inverter easy to install & service.
- It got 4 multi-function button and a large screen which makes one of the best interfaces as compare to any other inverter.
- They got high input current per string, in fact Fronius SC model can handle 3 aspects on the roof which allows two strings of panels to be connected in parallel.
- It got integrated inbuilt DC isolator.
- It got fan-forced active cooling system, which extracts heat at a more constant rate which increases overall performance with less power ‘derating’ in high ambient temperatures. If you know anything about electronics, you know electronics do not like heat. Every computer has a fan, for that reason,
One drawback I would say it may create little bit of noise mostly in summer time that is why If the inverter is getting installed close to residential living spaces, the noise may be noticeable and irritating. For this reason, it is advised that customers place their inverter away from living areas.
- Wifi Monitoring- Simply connect your inverter to your home Wi-Fi, and the inverter will send your data to the cloud for you to view on your phone or computer. But this feature you can find in any inverter these days.
- Fronius got their own brand of export device or smart meter which can restrict sending solar energy into the grid and shows consumptions of the house.
Let’s talk about Warranty and servicesIn Australia, all Fronius string inverters come with 5 years Fronius Warranty. However, Customers can obtain an additional free, 5-year extended warranty when the inverter is registered online via www.solarweb.com. This provides a total 10 warranty period. But warranty does not cover removal, installation, labour or transport costs but I know some other inverter companies does that as well.In regards to the service, Fronius has ranked very high for many years due to the low failure rates and great service. If a failure occurs, they usually ship replacement very fast. Fronius Inverter Cost Analysis: are they worth the cost?Although this inverter provides higher performance but it comes with high price tag value as well. Let’s take an example and the Average Price-The cost of an Fronius inverter 3 to 5kW in size only would set you back around $1300 – $1700. Yes, these inverters are more expensive than many of the competitors even with same size but you get what you pay for.If you are preference is affordability over performance then Fronius solar inverter may not be for you. As Fronius inverters are manufactured in Europe this higher quality product comes with a higher price tag in comparison to the other inverters that are manufactured in other countries.In last I would say Keep in mind that inverter costs generally between 10-20% of your total system cost excluding all rebates, Therefore, it is worth investing in a high-quality inverter which will have a large impact on the efficiency and performance of your entire system.