Most electric water heaters on the market have 2 heating elements, called dual-element or double-element water heaters. Popular and well priced, GE 40- and 50-gallon water heaters are sold for around $500. In the U.S., AC from a standard 30A branch circuit with 240V is connected to the water heater to supply power. The following picture illustrates that an off-grid Inverter is connected to deliver solar energy to the lower heating element. The temperature setpoint for the lower element can be purposely set much higher than the upper element. This way, the upper element that consumes grid power does not turn on unless a lot of hot water is used within a short period of time. Since the grid power can heat the water quickly from the upper heating element, hot water will always be available. Connecting the Inverter output to the lower heating element is easy and the steps are well documented in the Inverter H Model Installation Guide.