Growatt Inverter review
The new Growatt range of solar inverters look great (see above, model TL-XH).
The TL-X model is a single phase 5kW inverter with very good reporting via WIFI to your smart phone or web browser. 10 year parts warranty and sells for $1,100. There is also an optional smart meter for $300. Very good choice for a non battery inverter.
For $200 more
you can have the TL-XH and this is a VERY interesting new product.
Firstly it's a single phase battery inverter, plug and play ready for the LG Chem range of high voltage batteries, and secondly, if you install the Growatt BDC adaptor ($600), then you can connect the Growatt low voltage batteries instead. That's very impressive, because an LG Chem 7kWh battery costs $6,400 but the Growatt 6kWh battery is $3,650. Again, $300 for the smart meter.
There is also an existing single phase battery inverter called the SPH. This is designed to work directly with the Growatt battery, no BDC adaptor required. It sells for $1,960.
The 5kW Growatt three phase TL3 inverter is an older model, not battery capable, but at $1,500 it is certainly one of the most attractively priced three phase inverters.
There are more than 200,000 Growatt inverters installed in Australia. They first landed here in 2010. We picked up the brand in early 2011, and that is probably the main reason why we are still in business and 80% or more of our competitors of the time, are not. We were very lucky choosing Growatt as our 'cheap Chinese inverter' to offer as an alternative to German SMA who ruled the roost in those days. We could just have easily picked up disaster brands like MacSolar, Eversolar, Samil, CMS, etc that had such high failure rates that they went out of business taking their wholesalers and installers with them.
Growatt inverters have been just as reliable for us as SMA inverters. Yes, I really did write that. A first generation Chinese made inverter that after ten years has a track record as good as the German made SMAs (SMAs are now made in China, but they weren't back then).
The Growatt warranty is 5 years parts with labour costs covered for the first 5 years.
To get an extra 5 years free parts cover on top of the standard five you need to register here. http://oss.growatt.com/common/extendedWarranty
As professional solar installers we like to walk away from the job with everything set up. This means we would usually setup the WIFI reporting for our clients, but Growatt is designed for the user, not the installer to do this. We simply are not able to do it for you.
Growatt Wifi setup instructions
However, they do have a very attentive team of people who can help you with your WIFI or adjust voltage settings etc, remotely.
Email australia@ginverter.com or call 1800 476 928