How to Choose an Inverter for Home Solar: Hybrid, On-Grid or Off-Grid

The inverter is the heart of a solar plant. A mistake here costs 30–50% of the system budget, so let's go through it carefully. Three types. On-grid — cheapest, works only when grid is up. In Ukraine's outage reality — useless. Hybrid — connects to both grid and batteries, keeps critical loads running during outages. The Ukrainian standard since 2024. Off-grid — fully autonomous, no grid tie. Makes sense for remote sites without power lines. Capacity. Pick an inverter with a 20–30% margin above panel peak. For 6 kW of panels, take a 5–6 kW inverter (with battery upsize later). Don't skimp on capacity — an undersized inverter will clip your production during peak hours. MPPT inputs. Cheap inverters have 1 MPPT — all panels in a single string. One panel shaded — the whole string drops. Take a minimum of 2 MPPTs for a typical roof, 3+ for complex geometry. First-tier brands: Deye (market standard, value), Huawei (premium, best monitoring ecosystem), Victron (off-grid benchmark), Solis. Avoid no-name and cheap clones — their MPPT controllers burn out and warranty service is non-existent. Warranty. Factory 5 years is the minimum. Premium brands offer up to 10 years. Warranty work for Deye/Huawei is well established at service centres in Ukraine. Before buying, check the grid certificate (needed for officially connecting a bi-directional meter). Without it — island mode only.