The SolarEdge Home Hub Inverter: What you need to know

In 2020, SolarEdge launched its newest and most versatile home inverter: the SolarEdge Energy Hub Inverter. The aptly named Energy Hub, later rebranded as the "Home Hub," combines the functionality of all of SolarEdge's existing inverters under one hood.

It provides 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 smart home/smart energy options. And the best part? The Hub inverter has been well received throughout the industry, winning PV Magazine's 2020's Inverter of the Year Award.

Solar inverters are a vital part of any solar installation, converting your solar panels' direct current (DC) electricity into the alternating current (AC) electricity 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. Home Hub is designed to provide precisely that flexibility and the standard inverter performance you would expect from SolarEdge. These capabilities are driven mainly by SolarEdge's Prism Technology, which is the software that allows for integrating other tech in the Home Hub ecosystem.

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 a standard issue in the new Home Hub.

Battery systems can either be AC-coupled or DC-coupled, a straightforward designation that has ramifications for how much hardware you'll need to purchase and install and how efficiently you'll use and store energy from your solar panel system. Home 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.

Notably, Home Hub can provide enough power output to back up your whole home if you add enough batteries to do so or even connect to a generator. This is a unique differentiator.

When installing a solar panel system, it's helpful 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.

Home 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.

Most solar inverters provide some monitoring capability for solar production 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. Home Hub makes both production and consumption monitoring standard for homeowners, updating your app every few minutes. Since your installer will also have access to this information, they can easily perform remote maintenance and system upgrades should the need arise.

If you're interested in installing the SolarEdge Home 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!