Do grid tie inverters give off a lot of heat?

[Travis76]

Do grid tie inverters give off a lot of heat? I live in a manufactured home and I don't really want to install my inverter outdoors. Would it be okay to mount it indoors, in a hallway, or would there be any drawbacks (other than aesthetics) in doing so? eg. heat, installation issues, code compliance, etc.?

[J.P.M.]

The short answer is yes.

To a 1st approximation, the amount of heat given off by an inverter is no more than the time integrated value : (1- inverter efficiency)*(input from the array).

So, if the inverter efficiency is 0.95 and, say, 2000 watts are going into it from an array, no more than (1-.95)*(2000) = 100 W, which, if the input is sustained for 1 hour = (100 W)*(3.412 BTU/W)*(1hr.) = 341 BTU /hr. in customary heat units.

Because of other losses in the system, and other things, the amount of heat generated by the inverter will probably be less than that, but not too much less.

I'd be mindful that most inverters also produce some noise, but to put it in a closet to hide or silence it may not allow that generated waste heat to escape with the result that the confined space may become over heated. that may become a safety issue and also perhaps create problems for the inverter.

Before you do anything, see what any local building codes have to say about what you want to do and also check the inverter manual and/or give a call to the MFG to be on the safe side.

[azdave]

My inverter is fanless but not that quiet and of course it puts out some heat too. It is in my garage which works great for me but I would not want it in my house. The morning start up has a few extra clicks and sounds added when it wakes up each day. I would put it outside if those are your two choices.

[Mike90250]

Figure about 5% of the thruput power will be heat. If it's producing 2kw, then expect about 100w of heat. Some have fans that are noisy. Some are very heavy and the walls ( inner or outer ) may need additional support.