Overview of Sungrow – Company History
Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. was founded in China in 1997 by Cao Renxian, a professor at the Hefei University of Technology. Professor Renxian founded Sungrow after learning about the dire state of electrical availability in rural western China.
Sungrow has since grown to be one of the largest solar inverter manufacturers globally. Sungrow has manufactured over 100GW to 60 countries giving them a worldwide market share of 15%. This has contributed to the company’s valuation of $1.5 billion.
Sungrow entered the Australian market in 2012 and has stated that they have captured around 15% of the inverter market. Sungrow specialises in research and development, taking pride in being an innovation leader within the solar industry. This commitment has resulted in more than 1,600 patent applications as of June 2019.
A Brief Rundown on Solar Inverters
A solar system’s inverter is the point at which the DC electricity produced by solar panels is turned into grid-compatible AC electricity. There are four types of solar inverters, these being string inverters, hybrid inverters, micro inverters, and power optimisers.
String inverters have traditionally been the standard in the solar industry. They send the power produced by solar panels to a central inverter that changes it from the DC electricity to the usable AC electricity that powers homes.
Hybrid Inverters have the same characteristics as a string inverter with the additional feature of a charge controller, this is used to manage a battery system. Charge controllers can also be bought as an additional unit, but hybrid inverters provide the option of an all in one device.
What is PV Evolution Labs Top Performer?
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) with support from DNV GL has been independently testing Solar Panel reliability since 2014, and for the first time in 2019 have tested solar inverters. It is a voluntary test which manufacturers have to pay to be a part of.  The solar panel testing is considered internationally as an excellent indication of solar panel quality. It’s expected that the inverter testing will have the same recognition. To read the full PVEL scorecard click here.
Sungrow Inverter Efficiency
An important aspect of getting the most value out of a solar inverter is to choose an appropriately sized inverter to optimise the solar panel system efficiency. To read about the importance of inverter sizing and system efficiency click here.
Residential inverter efficiency standards are generally 95 to 98 percent. Sungrow’s CEC Approved inverter models range in max efficiency from 97.7% to 98.6%, with the majority of the models over 98%. This places Sungrow Inverters towards the top of residential inverter market based on efficiency.
Sungrow Inverter Costs
The majority of Sungrow inverters are manufactured in China, this means that they will generally be cheaper than European manufactured competitors.
Indicative pricing
| Sungrow Inverter Model | Indicative Price Range |
| Sungrow SH5.0RT 5kW Hybrid Inverter | $3,000 to $3,250 |
| Sungrow SG5K-D-Premium 5kW Inverter | $900 to $1,100 |
| Sungrow SG10KTL-MT 10kW Inverter | $2,000 to $2,200 |
Keep in mind that inverter costs generally only run between 10-20% of your total system, so often it is worth investing in a high-quality inverter given this will have a large impact on the efficiency and performance of your Solar Power project.
Compare quotes from up to 7 installers in your area now.
Sungrow Inverters – Point of Difference
The Sungrow CEC approved Inverter range differs from other inverter manufacturers as they offer different types and configurations in the typical power range. Sungrow manufactures both string and hybrid residential inverters, with the following string inverter models coming with Multi-MPPT; SG5KTL-MT, SG10KTL-MT, SG10KTL-M, & SG12KTL-M. All of the CEC approved Sungrow Inverter range are Transformerless Inverters, which contributes to their high efficiency.
Inverter Monitoring
Sungrow provides users the ability to remotely monitor inverter performance, as all inverter models come with WIFI capabilities. Users can monitor performance from their phone through the app iSolarCloud, which is available on both iphone and android.
Sungrow Inverter Warranty
In Australia, the majority of CEC approved Sungrow inverters come with a standard 5 year manufacturer’s warranty. The Sungrow Premium Inverter Range comes with a 10 year manufacturer’s warranty. With the warranty period commencing on the date the inverter is installed, or 6 months after the date of production, whichever occurs first.
The standard 5 year warranty is rapidly becoming one of the shortest inverter warranties offered in Australia with many of the growing Chinese companies like Sungrow starting to offer a standard 10-year warranty. As we’ve discussed previously, a warranty is only worth something if the company providing it is still around and there is an accessible route to claiming it if your Solar Installer is no longer around. Sungrow is well established in Australia with an office in North Sydney, NSW.
A Full Range of Sungrow Inverters Available in AustraliaÂ
The majority of Sungrow’s Inverters are approved by the Clean Energy Council for the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, which is Australia’s home solar rebate program.
These are the following models:
| Sungrow SH10RT | Sungrow SH8.0RT | Sungrow SH5.0RT |
| Sungrow SH5K-20 | Sungrow SH5K-30 | Sungrow SG5KTL-MT |
| Sungrow SG10KTL-MT | Sungrow SG10KTL-M | Â Sungrow SG12KTL-M |
| Sungrow SG5KTL-D | Sungrow SG3K-D Premium | Sungrow SG5K-D Premium |
| Sungrow SG8K-D Premium | Sungrow SG2K-S Premium | Sungrow SG2K5-S Premium |
| Sungrow SG3K-S Premium | Sungrow SG3KTL-S |
Sungrow Inverter Comparison
| Â | Sungrow 5kW (Hybrid)
SH5K-30 |
Sungrow 2.5kW
SG2K5-S |
Sungrow 5kW
SG5KTL-MT |
| Inverter Type | Hybrid | String | String |
| Rated AC Power Output | 5000W | 2500W | 5500W |
| Maximum Continuous Output Current | 22.7A | 11.3A | 8.5A |
| Maximum DC Voltage | 600V | 600V | 1100V |
| Maximum Inverter Efficiency | 97.7% | 98.2% | 98.4% |
| Dimensions with Safety Switch/Connection Unit | 457 x 515 x 170 mm | 300 x 370 x 125 mm | 370 x 485 x 160 mm |
| Weight | 22kg | 8.5kg | 20kg |
| Warranty | 5 years | 10 years | 5 years |
| Operational Temperature Range | -25°C to 60°C
|
-25°C to 60°C
|
-25°C to 60°C
|
| Made in | China | China | China |
Example of a Sungrow Commercial Solar ProjectÂ
Sungrow’s 1500V Central Inverter Model SG3125HV-MV were installed at Kristal Solar Park, located in Lommel, Belgium. The 100MW solar park has nine different plots covering 227 Acres and is the largest in the Benelux region. The solar park has been grid-connected since Q4 2019 and is expected to generate 85 GWh annually.
The three-level topology design of the Sungrow SG3125HV-MV contributes to the inverter maximum efficiency of 99% and Europe efficiency of 98.7%, guaranteeing premium yields for the solar park. Due to the 20-foot container design, the Sungrow SG3125HV-MV has low transportation and installation costs.
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Reviews from Australians who have installed Sungrow Inverters
The daily amount produced stopped showing correctly and is now showing 0W constantly. Apart from that the inverter is working well.
SG8.0RS-ADA quiet and small dimension.
Looks neat and tidy. Working well.
Installed in 2018 by another company and have operated satisfactorily since
Good performing inverter with a informative phone app
There were some issues with the monitoring system but nothing major. it works great now.
Excellent Inverter!
Also installed a second Growatt inverter which was unwanted, but overall seems fine, the controls on the inverter are a bit hard to control and not documented for power users, so requires going through many forums online to find how to do things
Operating trouble free from the outset.
Love the app you can see in real time how much power you are using and the state of your batteries . We can use up to 10 KW directly from the panels in full sun. Maintains the system well and has a great warranty
Seems to be doing the job. Albeit needed a software upgrade before we could use the app to see its functionality.
This inverter is brilliant.. nice slick look and is nice and quiet. I got the monitoring app and communication device. Would definitely recommend this inverter
Great tracking of usage
So far so good. Telephone app wrks well.
Excellent performance todate
Minor annoyance: you lose access to the inverter's wi-fi dongle when the sun goes down, so you can't check live power consumption at night. The inverter failed after 26 months. Sungrow say there was an overvoltage alert after power was restored following an outage but it was about 5 days afterwards it started throwing internal module failure alerts. Raised a warranty claim with Sungrow on 28/10/22 and the replacement inverter arrived on 3/11/22.
Good quality at an affordable price.
Look great compact
The first inverter failed and after 25 days was replaced. The second failed to work as designed. Over time we learnt of the cabling issues, the wiring issues and the very likely possibility of programming issues. We also learnt that the inverter and battery pairing as wired would not provide WOHEPS nor would the pairing of the BYD battery and Inverter do so. In early 2021 Sungrow twice offered (Stag) to replace the Sungrow inverter. Stag did not take up those offers. Later on Sungrow offered (us) to replace the inverter. We declined as they could not confirm that the third inverter would not have the same issues as the first two. In fact an email from Sungrow advises that it would perform in a manner to the previous units. BYD Sydney and then China confirmed that the battery inverter pairing as was, could never in fact provide WOHEPS. • How is it that neither Sungrow or Stag appeared to know of this or when informed of it, failed to act in a positive manner. 10kW Sungrow Hybrid Inverter was replaced twice, fails to pair well with the BYD battery for Whole of House Emergency power supply, the reason the system was initially purchased. Sector specialists and a CEC sourced expert review found that the system as wired would never produce a whole of house EPS. • Further, only one circuit was connected for EPS. • Several specialists advised that the Sungrow / BYD pairing would not / could not provide WOHEPS. • Further, BYD Sydney and then BYD China confirmed that the BYD 11.2 kW battery and the 10kW Sungrow Hybrid Inverter when paired together would not in fact produce WOHEPS. • How is it that neither Sungrow or Stag appeared to know of this or when informed of it, failed to act in a positive manner.
Not much to comment on, we can monitor generation of energy on an app, unfortunately that loses connection to our network occasionally but I believe that has more to do with our network (which at the moment is temperamental) then with the inverter. The app provides lots of info by the way which is (in a nerdy way) quite interesting.
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Great looking inverter without a fan therefore has very low noise transmission and is barely audible
Had to update firmware a couple of times, but this was done remotely relatively painlessly
App is great though can be a bit confusing at first. Allows us to track usage and profits made by feeding back to the grid.
One of the best in the market
Only a week in so hard to say,the read out is not totally intuitive and the apps not bad.
Hassle free inverter that has an excellent phone app to show all the aspects of the solar system
Easy to read the panel has WiFi connection to an App
Very quiet
Good (but not amazing - better export functionality would be beneficial) online portal to track solar output, feed-in, load etc.
The unit functions perfectly but the wifi monitoring could be a bit more informative
Had some problems with the iSolarCloud App initially but all seems to be working properly now.
all working well at this time
I can log on via an app on my phone and see what is happening and look back at previous days. It predicts the weather for the next two days.
NO COMMENT REALLY. IT JUST SITS THERE.
No comments
Works OK, Clear and easy to interpret display.
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Works well not very old yet
Early days, but so far, so good!
