In 2020, SolarEdge launched their newest and most versatile home inverter: the SolarEdge Energy Hub Inverter. The aptly named Energy Hub combines the functionality of all of SolarEdge’s existing inverters under one hood to provide a future-proof solution that allows you to easily integrate additional SolarEdge home energy products into the same inverter product, from home battery backup to a Level 2 Smart EV Charger to their growing line of additional smart home/smart energy options. And the best part? Energy Hub has been well received throughout the industry, with the inverter winning PV Magazine’s 2020’s Inverter of the Year Award.
Capabilities of the SolarEdge Energy Hub
Solar inverters are a vital part of any solar installation, converting the direct current (DC) electricity produced by your solar panels into the alternating current (AC) electricity that’s usable in your home. However, not every inverter is equipped to integrate an energy storage system or an electric vehicle (EV) charger out of the box, meaning that if you want to add storage or charge an EV with your solar panel output at a later date, you’ll need additional hardware and potentially pricey installation and electrical work.
Given that solar panel systems will keep producing electricity for more than 25 years, it’s a good idea to future proof your solar installation to allow you the flexibility to add storage or charge a new EV from your panels in the future. Energy Hub is designed to provide precisely that flexibility, as well as the standard inverter performance you would expect from SolarEdge. These capabilities are driven in large part by SolarEdge’s Prism Technology, which is the software that allows for integration of other tech in the Energy Hub ecosystem.
Solar inverter powered by HD-Wave technology
The SolarEdge inverters with HD Wave technology are already a very popular option among residential solar shoppers in the US. The HD Wave technology that underpins the success of those inverter + power optimizer systems allows the inverters to be smaller, lighter, and more efficient than previous iterations of SolarEdge inverters. This technology is standard issue in the new Energy Hub.
Battery inverter for DC coupled systems
Battery systems can either be AC-coupled or DC-coupled, a straightforward designation that has ramifications for both how much hardware you’ll need to purchase and install, as well as for how efficiently you’ll use and store energy from your solar panel system. Energy Hub allows for a DC-coupled battery, meaning you can take energy from your solar panels and store it directly in your battery, avoiding first inverting that solar power to AC electricity. This means higher efficiency for your solar plus storage system, and the option to oversize your solar panel system knowing you can store any excess directly in your battery.
Importantly, Energy Hub is capable of providing enough power output to backup your whole home if you add enough batteries to do so, or to even connect to a generator. This is definitely a unique differentiator.
AC vs. DC coupled systems
While an AC-coupled battery converts your solar energy first into AC energy and then back to DC energy to store it, a DC-coupled system is able to take the energy from your solar panel system and stores it directly in your battery without that first inversion. There are pros and cons to each setup, but the main difference is the number of times you have to invert the electricity: you lose some of your electricity during each inversion, meaning fewer conversions from AC to DC or vice versa produces fewer losses. To dive deeper into the differences between AC & DC coupled systems, check out our article on the pros and cons of each type of system.
EV charger connectivity
When installing a solar panel system, it’s useful to consider any potential future changes to your electricity consumption, including any plans you have for transitioning to an electric vehicle over the lifetime of your panels. You might purchase two cars during the lifespan of your solar energy system and, given the increasing prevalence of electric vehicles and state-level goals to transition away from internal combustion engine cars, it’s highly likely that at least one of those cars will be electric.
Energy Hub allows you to easily integrate SolarEdge’s Level 2 Smart EV Charger with your solar panels, allowing you to power your car with the sun.
Built in home energy monitoring
Most solar inverters provide some sort of monitoring capability for the production of solar, either at the system-, string- or individual panel-level. A few will also add consumption monitoring capabilities as either an upsell or a perk for loyal customers and installers. Energy Hub makes both production and consumption monitoring standard to homeowners, updating your app every few minutes. Since your installer will have access to this information too, they can easily perform remote maintenance and system upgrades should the need arise.
Get the Energy Hub for your home today
If you’re interested in installing the SolarEdge Energy Hub at your home, EnergySage’s network of local installers would be happy to help! When you register for a free account on the EnergySage Marketplace, we’ll gather solar (and solar+storage) quotes on your behalf from up to seven solar companies in your area. See how much you can save by going solar through EnergySage today!
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