Deye SUN-10K-SG02LP1-EU-AM3 (10 kW) - single-phase hybrid inverter

Why ten kilowatts is the most popular choice for a large house

Ten kilowatts on a single phase covers a house of 150 to 250 m² consuming 20 to 25 kWh a day, and this is the point where you stop having to think about what may be switched on and what may not. An air conditioner, a borehole pump, a water heater, a washing machine, a dishwasher and the kitchen can run together, with headroom left for power tools or a welding inverter in the garage. The same size is often chosen for small businesses on a single-phase supply: an office of ten to fifteen desks with a server rack, a dental practice, a salon, a small shop with refrigeration. The fundamental limitation is the one shared by all single-phase models: three-phase motors — compressors, machine tools, some heat pumps — cannot be fed from it, and for those the catalogue offers the LP3 family, including the SUN-10K-SG04LP3-EU (item 2061) at the same rating. One more point: ten kilowatts is the inverter's rating, not the roof's — without a battery it delivers nothing at night, so storage has to be planned together with the inverter rather than left for later.

Six strings and an array of up to 20 kW: the point of double oversizing

Three independent MPPTs with two strings each, 26 A of operating current per tracker and short-circuit current up to 44 A — the photovoltaic side here is identical to the twelve-kilowatt version, and that is the strongest argument for this model. Rated array power is 16 000 W while up to 20 000 W may be connected, twice the inverter's output: such an array yields 3 to 5 kW in November and January instead of 1.5 to 2.5, and it is this, rather than extra battery capacity, that solves the winter supply problem. Six strings allow panels to follow an awkward roof: two groups facing south, one each east and west, another on a carport — every tracker works on its own. Clipping the surplus around midday in June and July is the normal price for that: a few per cent of annual yield is lost while the months of genuine scarcity are won. The MPPT window is 150 to 425 V, start-up 125 V, limit 500 V and rated PV voltage 370 V, so a string of ten to twelve modules lands squarely in the working range.

A 220 A battery: more from storage than the inverter rating

The battery channel handles 220 A of charge and discharge at a nominal 48 V — about 11.3 kW, more than the inverter's own ten kilowatts. The practical meaning is that the battery never becomes the constraint: the inverter can deliver its full 10 kW to the load from storage alone, and absorb charge just as quickly when the panels produce a surplus during the day. Realising 220 A takes at least two 120 A modules, for example two SE-F5 units (item 1944), or one block such as the RW-F16 (item 1931); a single module would cap the system at roughly six kilowatts, and that cap stays invisible until the moment real load arrives. Charging speed is worth doing the arithmetic on too: 11 kW of charge power means a 10 kWh bank refills in under an hour given a suitable array or grid feed. The battery channel here is galvanically isolated from the photovoltaic one, which adds a meaningful layer of safety in systems running high currents at 48 V.

45.5 A output, 60 A transit and what that means for the board

Rated output current is 45.5 A at 220 V and 43.5 A at 230 V, with a maximum of 50 A: serious figures for a domestic board, calling for 10 to 16 mm² cable to the backup circuit and a 50 to 63 A breaker. Grid pass-through is 60 A, about 13 kW, so while mains power is present more flows through the inverter than it can itself produce and the house feels no restriction at all. During an outage the picture changes: only ten kilowatts are available, so the backup circuit is designed deliberately — boiler, fridge, pump, lighting, internet and a few sockets, while the water heater and the hob stay on the general supply. The inverter can charge the battery from the grid on a schedule, which under rolling outages matters as much as sunshine: the bank refills overnight while power is available and stands full by evening. The current transformer for self-consumption metering belongs on the building's incoming line — placed wrongly, the inverter sees only part of the load and manages the flows incorrectly.

A 20 kW ten-second peak and generator support

Apparent power is 11 000 VA, and in island mode the inverter holds double its rating, about 20 kW, for ten seconds. Ten seconds is a longer peak than on the larger sixteen-kilowatt model, which holds five, and for sites with several motors that sometimes matters more than the kilowatts themselves: a pump, a compressor and a machine tool can start almost simultaneously without an overload trip. A generator input is present and configurable by time and charging current, which allows a 6 to 8 kVA set to be used without risk of overloading it. The cooperation logic is simple and useful: the generator charges the battery at its rated output while the inverter absorbs the peak surges, so the set runs economically instead of reacting to every start-up. For winter outages of eight to twelve hours this arrangement saves both fuel and generator life, since it no longer labours all night against a load that changes every five minutes.

Protection, communication and thermal conditions

The protection set is complete: earth-fault monitoring, grid monitoring, DC reverse-polarity protection, short-circuit protection, an all-pole sensitive residual current unit, type II surge arresters on both sides and an integrated DC isolator. Wi-Fi is already inside the housing, with RS485 and CAN alongside it, and control comes from a colour touch display and a mobile app: no separate communication module needs buying, a welcome exception in this price class. The operating range is -40 to +60 °C with derating above +45 °C, humidity to 100 % non-condensing, altitude to 2000 m and IP65 protection — the real constraint is the thermal behaviour of the room rather than the enclosure. Noise reaches 45 dB: a ten-kilowatt inverter is actively cooled, so a wall shared with a bedroom is a poor choice. Dimensions of 420 by 670 by 233 mm and a mass of 35.6 kg match the twelve-kilowatt version exactly, so the mounting space is planned the same way.

How it differs from its neighbours in this catalogue

Its direct relative is the SUN-12K-SG02LP1-EU-AM3 (item 2052): identical enclosure, weight, trackers, certification and interfaces, with differences only in power (12 against 10 kW), battery current (250 against 220 A), array limit (24 against 20 kW) and output current (54.6 against 45.5 A). Choosing between them is not a question of better or worse but of maximum simultaneous load: if that stays under nine kilowatts, the ten-kilowatt unit is the more rational pick and spares you upgrading the wiring for 60 A. The smaller SUN-8K-SG01LP1-EU (item 2047) has two trackers instead of three and 190 A on the battery side — enough for most houses, but with less freedom in panel layout. The larger SUN-16K-SG01LP1-EU (item 2055) offers 16 kW and 100 A of transit, yet weighs 48.5 kg and needs 25 mm² cable. And with a three-phase supply, at the same rating, the better option is the SUN-10K-SG04LP3-EU (item 2061): lower currents, balanced phase loading and the ability to feed three-phase equipment directly.

Tell us your maximum simultaneous load and whether a three-phase supply is available, and we will advise whether ten or twelve kilowatts is the right choice for your site.