Oversizing Solar Systems Generally have 3 components;

Oversizing your solar inverter

Installing solar panels which have a greater capacity than the inverter is known as ‘oversizing’. While it may sound counterintuitive, this method can not only save you money, but it’s also a clever way around some of the Australian restrictions on inverter size that you’re allowed to connect to the grid.

More commonly, the capacity of the panels is exactly matched to the capacity of the inverter. It makes sense in theory, because you’ll never be generating more power than your inverter can handle. In short, you’ll never be wasting power.
But, there’s one big problem with this logic: solar panels rarely generate as much power as you would expect them to, or as their rated capacity advertises. Adding a few extra panels (in fact, you can add panels with a capacity up to 133% of the inverter) can actually dramatically improve your energy efficiency, so that this benefit vastly outweighs the small amount of energy being lost.

Calculating your capacity

To find the total capacity of your rooftop solar system, just multiply the number of panels by a single panel’s rated capacity (in watts).

To find the total capacity of an inverter, just inspect your product. There should be a number, like 3000W or 4000W somewhere on your inverter, or you can research online.

Financial assistance

By oversizing your inverter by 133%, you’ll still receive financial assistance via the solar rebate, which can pay for around half of your entire system. But beware, you cannot receive the rebate if your panel capacity exceeds that of your inverter by more than a third. This is the magic number.

Inverter capacity

Despite having a specified capacity, Australian-designed inverters can safely manage far more energy, and so one-third more is not every going to be cause for concern. As long as the voltage and current never exceeds the limits, which, if properly installed, oversizing never will, then you will have zero problems.

Inverter efficiency By oversizing your system, you can increase inverter efficiency. When panels consistently supply less that 30% of the inverter’s capacity, the overall efficiency falls sharply.

Don’t be tempted to choose a small inverter, thinking that you’ll save money upfront as well as through oversizing. The difference in cost between inverters is minimal compared to the potential energy output, so it makes more sense to choose the maximum inverter size for your location.

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