What Is a Hybrid Inverter, and Do You Need One?

A hybrid inverter is an inverter that can manage solar panels and a home battery at the same time. A standard solar inverter only converts the DC electricity from your panels into AC for your home. A hybrid inverter does that, and it also charges and discharges a battery, decides where the electricity goes, and on many models can keep some circuits running in a power cut.

If you’re fitting new solar with a battery, or adding a battery to an older system, a hybrid inverter is one of the two main ways to do it. The other is an AC-coupled battery, which works alongside your existing inverter.

Key points

• A standard inverter converts solar DC into AC for the house. A hybrid inverter also runs a battery.

• With a hybrid, the panels and battery share one inverter, and solar can charge the battery directly as DC.

• An AC-coupled battery has its own inverter and sits alongside an existing solar inverter.

• New solar with a battery is usually designed around a hybrid inverter.

• Adding a battery to an older system can go either way, depending on the age of the inverter, the Feed-in Tariff and the grid connection.

• Many hybrid inverters can supply backup circuits in a power cut, but only if that is designed and wired in.

How a standard solar inverter works

Solar panels produce direct current (DC). Your home and the grid use alternating current (AC). The inverter converts one to the other, and it constantly adjusts how it loads the panels to get the most power out of them. This is called maximum power point tracking (MPPT), and many inverters have two or more MPPT inputs so that panels on different roof faces can work independently.

A standard inverter has no way to store anything. Electricity your home doesn’t use goes to the grid.

What a hybrid inverter adds

A hybrid inverter has the same solar inputs, plus a connection for a battery and the control to decide, moment by moment, where electricity should go:

• Solar to the house first, to cover what you’re using.

• Surplus solar to the battery, charged directly as DC.

• Battery to the house when the panels aren’t producing enough.

• Grid to the battery on a cheap overnight tariff, if you set it to.

• Anything left over to the grid.

To do this it measures what your home is importing and exporting, usually with a CT clamp or meter at the incoming supply. If that sensor is in the wrong place or the wrong way round, the system makes the wrong decisions. Our guide to a battery not charging explains how.

Hybrid inverter or AC-coupled battery?

Hybrid (DC-coupled). Panels and battery connect to one inverter. Solar charges the battery without first being converted to AC and back, and there is one main box on the wall. This is the usual design for a new system with a battery.

AC-coupled. The battery has its own inverter and connects on the AC side of your existing solar inverter. Your existing inverter keeps working as before. This is often the simpler way to add a battery to a system that already works well.

Our guide to adding a battery to existing solar panels goes through the choice in detail.

When a hybrid makes most sense

• You’re installing new solar and want a battery now or later. A hybrid inverter can be fitted from the start, ready for a battery.

• Your existing inverter is old or failing. If it needs replacing anyway, swapping it for a hybrid adds battery capability at the same time. Our inverter replacement page explains the options.

• You want backup in a power cut. Many hybrid inverters have a backup output for selected circuits. It has to be designed in. Our guide to what keeps working in a power cut explains how.

If you’re on the Feed-in Tariff

Replacing a FIT system’s inverter with a hybrid is allowed, but the metering has to be right so your FIT generation meter only counts electricity from your panels. Our standard practice when we fit a hybrid inverter to a FIT system is to fit a bidirectional meter, subject to checking the specific system. With an AC-coupled battery, the existing generation meter is normally unaffected. Our guides to keeping your Feed-in Tariff when you upgrade and replacing an inverter on a FIT system cover this.

Grid connection

A hybrid inverter and battery together count as generation for your network operator. Depending on the inverter’s rating, the installation is either notified after installation or needs approval first. Our G98 and G99 guide explains which applies.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a hybrid inverter and a normal inverter?

A normal solar inverter only converts solar DC into AC. A hybrid inverter also charges and discharges a battery and decides where electricity goes.

Do I need a hybrid inverter to have a battery?

No. An AC-coupled battery has its own inverter and works alongside a standard solar inverter.

Can I add a battery to a hybrid inverter later?

Usually, if the inverter is compatible with the battery you choose. Check compatibility before buying.

Does a hybrid inverter work in a power cut?

Many have a backup output, but only for the circuits wired to it, and only if the system is designed for it.

Is a hybrid inverter more efficient?

Charging a battery directly from solar avoids one conversion step, so a hybrid is slightly more efficient for that part of the job. Both approaches work well in practice.

Request a battery retrofit quotation. We’ll check your existing system and tell you whether a hybrid inverter or an AC-coupled battery is the better fit.