For households in Lagos running two air conditioners, a refrigerator, a freezer, and a home office through daily outages that now stretch to 18 hours or more, the combined cost of generator fuel and Band A electricity bills has become one of the biggest monthly expenses in the house — and it compounds every time petrol prices rise. The EP5500-48L 5.5kVA Hybrid Inverter is built to absorb that entire load: a 48V system with 96% peak solar-to-inverter efficiency, 11,000VA surge capacity, full LiFePO4 lithium battery support, and the ability to run directly from solar panels without a battery installed at all. SMK Solar has been designing and delivering complete solar systems for Nigerian homes and businesses since 2016, and this inverter is one of our most complete options for anyone ready to replace a large generator with something quieter, cheaper to run, and built for the long term.
The EP5500-48L is a 48V hybrid inverter rated at 5.5kVA — and because it operates at a power factor of 1.0 for standard home and office loads, its 5.5kVA rating equals 5,500 watts of real, continuous usable power. The kVA figure describes the maximum total electrical load the inverter can manage at any moment; the watts figure is what your appliances actually draw from it in practice. For this unit running typical Nigerian household loads, those two numbers are identical. Think of it like a water reservoir with a 5,500-litre capacity — the size of the reservoir determines how many taps you can open simultaneously, not how fast the water flows from any single tap. At 5,500W, this inverter has enough capacity to keep two air conditioners, a refrigerator, a freezer, a full home office, and whole-house lighting all running at once without pushing the system to its limit.
What “Hybrid” means:
A hybrid inverter is an active power manager, not a passive backup device. It monitors three sources simultaneously — solar panels, a battery bank, and the national grid — and automatically selects the most available and cost-efficient source at every moment based on the priority setting you choose during installation. When sunlight is strong, solar powers your appliances and charges the battery at the same time. After sunset, the battery carries the load. If the battery runs low and NEPA supply is present, the inverter draws from the grid to maintain your appliances and recharge the battery for the next cycle. The EP5500-48L extends this further by operating without a battery when solar generation alone is sufficient, and by activating a lithium battery from either solar or mains supply — giving you full flexibility whether you are starting a new system or upgrading an existing one.
With 5,500W of continuous output and an 11,000VA surge capacity to absorb compressor startups without tripping:
The EP5500-48L does not support parallel connection, so two units cannot be combined to push total output beyond 5.5kVA. If your load now or in the near future includes three or more large air conditioners running simultaneously, industrial refrigeration equipment, borehole pumps above 1HP, or any single appliance drawing more than 3,000W continuously, a parallelable inverter system is a more appropriate choice. This inverter requires a 48V battery system — four 12V batteries wired in series, two 24V batteries in series, or a purpose-built 48V lithium pack — meaning existing 12V or 24V battery banks from a previous inverter cannot be carried over without significant expansion. Electric cookers, water heaters, and pressing irons remain unsuitable for any inverter system of this class, as their heating elements draw 1,500–3,000W continuously and crowd out every other appliance on the circuit. Our team is available to review your complete appliance list and confirm the right fit before you invest.
The EP5500-48L operates on a 48V battery system, requiring four 12V batteries wired in series, two 24V batteries in series, or a single 48V lithium battery pack. It supports both LiFePO4 lithium and lead-acid tubular batteries, with full RS485 lithium communication enabling the inverter to interface directly with a compatible battery’s BMS — the battery management system that governs safe charging and discharging — for precision charging and active overcharge and deep discharge protection. The EQ charging function extends lead-acid tubular battery life by periodically balancing individual cell charge levels, preventing the capacity loss that builds up over months of uneven cycling. At 5.5kVA with a 48V system, battery bank sizing is the variable that determines how many hours of full-load coverage you get through an overnight outage — our team can calculate the exact capacity needed based on your specific daily load and the longest outage window typical for your area in Lagos, Abuja, or elsewhere.
The EP5500-48L is engineered for households and businesses that need 5,500W of verified, high-efficiency output — not a nominal rating that shrinks under real load conditions — with the lithium battery compatibility and batteryless operating mode to support every stage of building a complete solar system.
A Lagos household running a 4kVA petrol generator for 8 hours daily at ₦1,500 per litre, consuming roughly 2 litres per hour, spends approximately ₦720,000 per year on fuel alone — before oil changes, spark plug replacements, and repair bills that come with a generator working that hard through daily outages. Replacing that daily runtime with solar-charged battery power through the EP5500-48L, drawing from up to 5,500W of solar panels, eliminates the majority of that annual cost and typically delivers full system payback within 18–24 months for high-consumption Lagos and Abuja households.
The EP5500-48L converts solar panel input to inverter output at 96% peak efficiency — meaning for every 100 watts your panels generate, 96 watts reach your appliances rather than being lost as heat inside the inverter. Over a full day of solar generation, that efficiency gap compounds: a less efficient inverter at 88% on the same panel array delivers 240Wh less usable energy per 3,000W-hour of generation — energy that would otherwise go toward charging your battery or running your loads. Combined with pure sine wave output that protects inverter ACs, refrigerator compressors, and sensitive electronics from the waveform damage that modified sine wave alternatives cause, the EP5500-48L extracts and delivers more from your solar investment at every stage.
At 7.6kg and 433 × 310 × 125.5mm, the EP5500-48L is notably lighter and more compact than other inverters at this capacity level — making wall mounting easier and freeing up installation space in utility rooms, storerooms, and service corridors where space is limited in Lagos Island and Abuja terrace properties. The dual RS232 + RS485 communication interface, optional WiFi monitoring module, and four priority modes give a qualified installer everything needed to configure and monitor the system remotely without additional hardware.
Our team will review your full appliance list and show you exactly what a complete EP5500-48L system covers and costs for your home or business.
Spec | Value |
Model | EP5500-48L |
Capacity | 5,500 VA / 5,500 W |
Nominal Input Voltage | 230 VAC |
Acceptable Input Range | 170–280 VAC (PC); 90–280 VAC (Appliances) |
Input Frequency | 50/60 Hz (Auto sensing) |
Battery Voltage | 48 VDC |
Floating Charge Voltage | 54 VDC |
Overcharge Protection | 63 VDC |
PV Input Voltage Range | 60 VDC – 500 VDC |
Max PV Array Open Circuit Voltage | 500 VDC |
Max PV Array Power | 5,500 W |
Max Solar Charge Current | 100 A |
Max AC Charge Current | 80 A |
Max Total Charge Current | 100 A |
Output Waveform | Pure Sine Wave |
Power Factor | 1.0 |
Surge Capacity | 11,000 VA |
Transfer Time | 10 ms (PC); 20 ms (Appliances) |
Peak Efficiency (PV to Inverter) | 96% |
Peak Efficiency (Battery to Inverter) | 93% |
Lithium Battery Activation | Yes (by PV or Utility) |
Lithium Battery Communication | Yes (RS485) |
Batteryless Operation | Yes |
EQ Charging Function | Yes |
Output Priority Modes | UTL / SOL / SBU / SUB |
Communication Interface | RS232 + RS485 |
Remote Monitoring | Optional WiFi |
Environmental Protection | Detachable dust cover |
Dimensions (D × W × H) | 433 × 310 × 125.5 mm |
Net Weight | 7.6 kg |
Warranty | 18 Months |
The EP5500-48L provides 5,500W of continuous output, which comfortably covers two 1HP split-unit air conditioners, a full-size refrigerator, a chest freezer, up to 15 LED bulbs, four ceiling fans, a large television, three laptops or desktops, a WiFi router, and a water dispenser all running simultaneously. A combined running load of those appliances typically sits between 3,500W and 4,200W — well within the inverter’s continuous ceiling with genuine headroom remaining. Electric cookers, water heaters, pressing irons, and borehole pumps above 1HP fall outside the practical range of this system and should not be connected.
Yes. The EP5500-48L operates in batteryless mode, drawing power directly from solar panels to run connected appliances during daylight hours with no battery bank present. This allows buyers to commission the system with panels only and add a 48V battery bank later when budget allows, without any hardware changes to the inverter. At night or during extended cloud cover without a battery, the inverter will draw from grid supply if NEPA is available, or suspend output if neither source is present.
Yes. The EP5500-48L functions as a full battery backup inverter using only a battery bank and grid supply, with no solar panels required at installation. It charges the battery from the grid whenever NEPA supply is present, and switches to battery power automatically when the grid fails — in 10 milliseconds on PC mode and 20 milliseconds on Appliance mode. Solar panels can be added at any later stage; the built-in MPPT controller will begin harvesting energy immediately once panels are connected, with no additional hardware or reconfiguration needed.
The EP5500-48L requires a 48V battery system — typically four 12V batteries wired in series, two 24V batteries in series, or a single 48V lithium pack. It supports both LiFePO4 lithium and lead-acid tubular batteries. Lithium batteries are the stronger long-term choice at this capacity level: they last 8–10 years under regular deep cycling, charge faster, and tolerate deeper discharge without degrading — which matters significantly when a 5.5kVA system is powering a heavy household load through a 20-hour outage every day. For buyers using tubular batteries, the built-in EQ function extends battery life by balancing cell charge levels over time.
The EP5500-48L carries an 18-month manufacturer’s warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship under normal operating conditions. The warranty does not cover damage from incorrect installation, overvoltage from an improperly sized or wired solar array, physical damage, water ingress, or use with batteries outside the inverter’s specified 48V range. SMK Solar supports warranty claims for customers who purchased through our Lagos store or authorised channels — retain your purchase receipt and record your installation date before making a claim, as both are required.
A standard inverter converts stored battery power into AC electricity and recharges the battery from the grid when NEPA is available — that is its complete function. It has no solar input capability, no source management intelligence, and no ability to reduce your electricity bill. The EP5500-48L adds 5,500W of solar charging, full LiFePO4 lithium communication and activation from both solar and mains, batteryless operation, four output priority modes, and an EQ battery maintenance function — making it an active energy management system that works continuously to reduce what you spend on fuel and grid electricity every single day.
Peak efficiency of 96% (PV to inverter) means that at its optimal operating point, this inverter converts 96 out of every 100 watts generated by your solar panels into usable AC power for your appliances, losing only 4% as heat. In practical terms, a 5,000W solar array on a clear Lagos afternoon feeding a 96% efficient inverter delivers approximately 4,800W of usable output — compared to roughly 4,400W from an 88% efficient unit on the same array. Over a full charging and usage day, that efficiency difference accumulates into meaningfully more battery charge and more appliance runtime, especially during the shoulder hours of morning and evening when solar generation is lower.
The SBU (Solar → Battery → Utility) priority mode makes the EP5500-48L specifically effective for households and businesses on Band A tariffs in Lagos, currently at approximately ₦206–₦225 per kWh. In SBU mode, the inverter exhausts solar and battery before drawing a single unit from the PHCN grid — meaning your electricity meter stays inactive for the majority of any day with adequate sunlight. A household running 4,000W of load for 8 hours on grid power under Band A pays approximately ₦6,600–₦7,200 per day in electricity; replacing that with solar-charged battery supply through this inverter reduces that daily grid cost close to zero on clear days, with the system typically paying for itself through combined fuel and electricity savings within 18–24 months.
Yes — the EP5500-48L is one of the most practical options for communities in Benin City, Uyo, and parts of Kano where grid supply is absent for 18–22 hours daily. In SBU mode, any brief NEPA supply period is used to top up the battery as a reserve rather than power loads directly, preserving every available grid unit. Paired with a 48V, 200–300Ah lithium battery bank and 4,000–5,500W of solar panels, this system can realistically power a full large-household load through a 20-hour outage on a day with good Lagos or Abuja sunlight, with the battery entering the night period at or near full capacity.
Yes, without exception. The DC battery wiring in a 48V system at this capacity carries up to 100A of charge current — undersized cables at that level generate sustained heat that creates a real fire risk inside your building. The AC output circuit connects directly to your property’s wiring and carries live voltage to appliances throughout. Both circuits require correctly sized cables, correctly rated fuses or breakers, proper earthing, and a qualified solar electrician who understands both DC and AC wiring. The EP5500-48L’s all-in-one design reduces installation complexity by eliminating a separate charge controller and transfer switch, but the job requires professional execution. SMK Solar can connect customers in Lagos, Abuja, Benin City, Uyo, and Kano with certified installers in their area.
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