Solis Inverter Review: Reliable and Affordable

Overview

Solis (Ginlong Technologies) is a publicly listed company and one of the top-five global inverter manufacturers by volume. They ship millions of inverters annually, primarily to commercial and utility-scale projects, but their residential hybrid range has been growing in the UK market.

Solis's approach is the opposite of GivEnergy's — minimal software polish, maximum hardware reliability at the lowest possible price. If you want a workhorse that converts DC to AC without fuss, Solis delivers.

Hardware

The Solis RHI series is the main residential hybrid range:

Build quality is good — Solis has the manufacturing scale and experience to produce consistent, reliable hardware. The units aren't flashy, but they're solidly built.

The value proposition

Solis's main appeal is straightforward: it's the cheapest reputable hybrid inverter you can buy in the UK.

A Solis 5kW hybrid + Pylontech 4.8kWh battery combination can come in at £2,500–£3,500 for the hardware — £1,000–£2,000 less than an equivalent GivEnergy setup. Over a 10-year warranty period, that's significant.

The question is whether the savings justify the compromises.

Where Solis falls short

Monitoring and app

SolisCloud (the monitoring platform) provides basic data:

• Daily generation and consumption
• Battery state of charge
• Import/export figures

What it lacks compared to GivEnergy/SunSynk:

• Less granular historical data
• Limited remote control options
• Fewer scheduling capabilities
• Basic user interface design
• Limited API access for third-party integration

For users who just want to check their system is working and see rough daily figures, SolisCloud is fine. For data enthusiasts or Predbat users, it's frustrating.

Smart tariff integration

Solis has limited built-in smart tariff support. Basic time-of-use scheduling works (set a charge window for overnight), but the Agile price-following intelligence of GivEnergy isn't available natively.

Home Assistant integration exists but is less well-supported by the community. Running Predbat on a Solis inverter is possible but requires more effort than on GivEnergy.

EPS backup

EPS is optional on most Solis models, requiring an external ATS (automatic transfer switch) at additional cost (£200–£400). This contrasts with SunSynk, where EPS is built in.

Reliability

This is Solis's strongest argument. With millions of units installed globally, Solis inverters have an excellent track record. Manufacturing quality control at their scale is well-established, and failure rates are low.

The 10-year warranty is standard and backed by a substantial public company. Unlike smaller brands that might struggle to honour warranties long-term, Solis's financial stability provides confidence.

Who should choose Solis?

Choose Solis if:

• Budget is the primary concern
• You want proven, reliable hardware
• You don't need smart tariff optimisation or advanced monitoring
• Your installer recommends and has experience with Solis
• You're comfortable with a basic app experience

Look elsewhere if:

• You want the best monitoring and app experience (choose GivEnergy)
• Smart tariff integration is important (choose GivEnergy or SunSynk)
• You want built-in EPS backup (choose SunSynk or Fox ESS)
• You plan to use Predbat or Home Assistant extensively

The verdict

Solis is the Honda Civic of solar inverters — unexciting, reliable, affordable, and it does the job without complaint. If you're on a tight budget and just want panels + battery working effectively, Solis is a perfectly sound choice.

The money you save on the inverter could fund an extra panel or two, or a slightly larger battery — both of which might deliver more value than a fancier monitoring app.

Solis RHI-5K-48ES-5G Hybrid Inverter 5kW

£950

rated power kw

5

max pv input kw

7.5

mppt channels

2

battery voltage v

48V

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