Did you just say G83 what?

A G83 approved grid tie inverter is the box of electronics you need to convert the electricity produced by your renewable energy source (Wind turbine, solar panels, water turbine etc) into mains electricity. When it's been converted and regulated, your household appliances can use it and if there's any left over you sell that to the electricity supply company.

G83 is a standard that all inverters must have if they're going to be connected to your household electrical network and the UK national grid. Simply put, the inverter monitors and synchronises itself to the mains voltage (230Volts) and frequency (50Hz) If it can't synchronise, or detects a problem, it disconnects form the mains; monitors the situation and tries to re-connect when possible.

Why does it need to be so sophisticated? Well, imagine the power has been turned off to your street because the electricity company wants to do some maintenance. They pop a note through your door in advance and turn it off on the day. Meanwhile you’ve a 3 Kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, with the sun beaming down on it faithfully producing loads of power for your home and exporting all you’re not using to the grid. You happen to be on holiday, didn’t read the note about the power outage and of course it wasn't your intention to electrocute a hardworking electrician!

Apart from the above safety related feature G83 approved inverters do other important things. This includes making sure that the power you are producing has the same alternating current (AC) frequency as the grid, so all those devices in your house that need that frequency don’t crash, make funny noises or develop faults.

Other European countries have different standards/regulations but most inverter manufacturers have country specific versions or inverters that are made compatible by changing their settings.

The pictures on this page are inverters by Mastervolt and SMA; just two of the leading manufacturers in Europe of G83 compatible, grid tie inverters.

If you’d like some more information please contact us here