I prefer the Microinverter for small solar arrays or when the solar panes are available in different places. But the large solar station requires the Inverter.
As an expert that designs power inverters, i'd say that single inverter vs a distributed inverter network choice depends highly on the application. For most homes, a single inverter is fine. For a large industrial system, a micro-inverter network might be better for reliability and maintenance reasons. There's also a system that uses distributed dc-dc converters on each string of solar panels and the dc from the many converters is combined in series, parallel, or series-parallel and input to a single inverter. This is a very good choice for solar due to high reliability.
It's not a question of scale, it's a question of distributed power vs centralized power. With distributed power, you get much higher reliability since if one string or micro inverter and its inverter fails, you still have power. With a centralized (single large inverter), if the inverter fails, you have no power.
The choice between inverter types is really dependent on the installation constraints and requirements. When I installed my array 2 1/2 years ago I went with a string inverter even though I do get shadowing and the microinverters would have given me much better performance. I just added extra panels to compensate. I am over half way to break even on my ROI and I generate as much power as I consume annually. If I had used microinverters it would have taken twice as long to break even. If money is no object then you definitely will get higher performance with microinverters and some level of redundancy.
This is really a question of scale. The microinverters are very attractive for smaller arrays, where as the full size inverters can be more cost effective and efficient in larger installations.
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