How to connect two 400 W solar kits

Plug & play solar kits are getting increasingly popular everywhere in Europe, not only in Germany and France. The advantages are huge in terms of savings, energy autonomy and environmental impact. And as prices have come down rapidly over the past years, kits are now extremely affordable. Yet, some customers want to try a smaller kit first, and then expand their installation once they have seen the benefits. We get asked by customers of our Performance 400 kits, if they can just plug in two such kits in a row (called “daisy chain” or “parallel” installation).

How to plug 2 solar kits of 400 W together

If you have a 400 W solar kit already installed, like our Performance 400, and you want to add another kit of 400 W, you have two ways to do this:

• You can plug the second kit into another socket, and operate both kits with separate connections. This installation might make sense if you install one kit with an eastern orientation and another one to the west, to have a lower but more constant production of both kits during longer hours of a day. Technically you are operating two installations with 400 W output each.
• You can connect the two kits to each other, using just one Schuko-Betteri cable to connect one micro inverter to your home’s socket. It’s as easy as plugging the outgoing cable of the first micro inverter into the incoming cable of the second one. Technically this creates one installation with 800 W output, the limit in Europe for plug & play solar kit installations that can be self-installed.

In both cases you need to add the second micro inverter to your Tsun mobile app, and you can monitor their production independently. A 400+400 W installation with 2 micro inverters has the advantage that each panel has its own micro inverter, and should one panel be affected by shade, the other panel’s production is not affected.

Conclusions

Adding a second 400 W plug & play solar kit to an existing 400 W installation is very easy. You can test if a plug & play solar kit is for you with one kit, and if you’re convinced just add another one. Or you might have different locations in your home where you can install a solar kit, and with an east-west installation of two separate solar kits increase the time throughout the day that you produce your own solar energy. In both cases, installing a kit is the right decision if you want to lower your power bills and reduce your CO2 footprint for many years to come.