diff --git a/solax/__init__.py b/solax/__init__.py
index 5953b06..a13385c 100644
--- a/solax/__init__.py
+++ b/solax/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from async_timeout import timeout
 
-from solax.discovery import discover
+from solax.discovery import discover, discover_single_inverter
 from solax.inverter import Inverter, InverterResponse
 
 _LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ async def real_time_api(ip_address, port=80, pwd=""):
     return RealTimeAPI(i)
 
 
+# bypass the full discovery process, and only do it for the specified inverter type
+async def real_time_api_inverter(inverter_name, ip_address, port=80, pwd=""):
+    i = await discover_single_inverter(inverter_name, ip_address, port, pwd)
+    return RealTimeAPI(i)
+
+
 class RealTimeAPI:
     """Solax inverter real time API"""
 
diff --git a/solax/discovery.py b/solax/discovery.py
index 9cfdd60..9d62d01 100644
--- a/solax/discovery.py
+++ b/solax/discovery.py
@@ -92,6 +92,37 @@ async def discover(self, host, port, pwd="") -> Inverter:
         )
         raise DiscoveryError(msg)
 
+    async def discover_single_inverter(
+        self, inverter_name, host, port, pwd=""
+    ) -> Inverter:
+        found = False
+        for invclass in REGISTRY:
+            if invclass.__name__ == inverter_name:
+                found = True
+                for i in invclass.build_all_variants(host, port, pwd):
+                    task = asyncio.create_task(self._discovery_task(i), name=f"{i}")
+                    task.add_done_callback(self._task_handler)
+                    self._tasks.add(task)
+
+        if not found:
+            raise DiscoveryError(f"Unknown inverter type {inverter_name}")
+
+        while len(self._tasks) > 0:
+            logging.debug("%d discovery tasks are still running...", len(self._tasks))
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.5)
+
+        if self._discovered_inverter is not None:
+            logging.info("Discovered inverter: %s", self._discovered_inverter)
+            return self._discovered_inverter
+
+        msg = (
+            "Unable to connect to the inverter at "
+            f"host={host} port={port} of type {inverter_name}.\n"
+            "Please see https://github.com/squishykid/solax/wiki/DiscoveryError\n"
+            f"Failures={str(self._failures)}"
+        )
+        raise DiscoveryError(msg)
+
 
 class DiscoveryError(Exception):
     """Raised when unable to discover inverter"""
@@ -101,3 +132,9 @@ async def discover(host, port, pwd="") -> Inverter:
     discover_state = DiscoveryState()
     await discover_state.discover(host, port, pwd)
     return discover_state.get_discovered_inverter()
+
+
+async def discover_single_inverter(inverter, host, port, pwd="") -> Inverter:
+    discover_state = DiscoveryState()
+    await discover_state.discover_single_inverter(inverter, host, port, pwd)
+    return discover_state.get_discovered_inverter()
diff --git a/tests/test_discovery.py b/tests/test_discovery.py
index 2f57b50..5246c30 100644
--- a/tests/test_discovery.py
+++ b/tests/test_discovery.py
@@ -11,12 +11,31 @@ async def test_discovery(inverters_fixture):
     assert rt_api.inverter.__class__ == inverter_class
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_discovery_single_inverter(inverters_fixture):
+    conn, inverter_class, _ = inverters_fixture
+    rt_api = await solax.real_time_api_inverter(inverter_class.__name__, *conn)
+    assert rt_api.inverter.__class__ == inverter_class
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_discovery_unsupported_inverter():
+    with pytest.raises(DiscoveryError):
+        await solax.real_time_api_inverter("doesnotexist", "localhost", 2)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_discovery_no_host():
     with pytest.raises(DiscoveryError):
         await solax.real_time_api("localhost", 2)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_discovery_single_inverter_no_host():
+    with pytest.raises(DiscoveryError):
+        await solax.real_time_api_inverter("X1HybridGen4", "localhost", 2)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_discovery_no_host_with_pwd():
     with pytest.raises(DiscoveryError):