Comments on: Microinverters: A major advancement in solar energy technology

By: CF Poet

CF Poet — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:33:45 +0000

Man,great site really. However, I think Emiliano Jordan has a good point. A year and no page edit? Also, Mark has some good points; 1.”they are installed in the worst possible area being on the roof behind the modules.”

By: Standtall6

Standtall6 — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:56:39 +0000

Micro-Inverters really are not a new technology. In the mid 90’s Micro inverters were all the craze. “PV’s solution.” Problems arose when every one of the micro-inverters failed with in two years. Needless to say the business creating them also failed. The inverters are truly the work horse of the a PV system. When you put them in extreme weather conditions they are sure to suffer. Now because of great marketing and some improved technology by enphase specifically, Micro-inverters are back on the scene. Great article in Photon Magazine November 2009 talks in more detail about history of Micro-inverters.

By: Dan Hahn

Dan Hahn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:15:48 +0000

Hi Ken,

I’m really only familiar with Enphase, and just from knowing about their initial reliability studies and engineering team brought over from the cell tower industry, I don’t believe you should be looking anywhere else.

- Dan

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:33:03 +0000

I am looking for microinverter, other than Enphase, which model or brand name you would recommend me to find out more about it?

By: Micro-inverters

Micro-inverters — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:37:12 +0000

[...] September 9, 2008 by Dave Llorens. Categories: Solar Trends.A few weeks ago, Dan wrote a post about micro-inverters for beginners, comparing them to the inner-workings of a Peruvian diamond mine. This article is [...]

By: Micro-inverters

Micro-inverters — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:04:44 +0000

[...] 9, 2008 by David Llorens. Categories: Solar Trends.A few weeks ago, Dan wrote a post about micro-inverters for beginners, comparing them to the inner-workings of a Peruvian diamond mine. This article is [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:41:19 +0000

Inverters have always been the weakest link in the system. In terms of reliability, operating temperatures and temperature cycling play major roles to life. With these micro inverters, they are installed in the worst possible area being on the roof behind the modules. I do like the idea of the micro inverters as the scalability is ideal but can’t support them until they have a chance to prove the reliability.

More Points:
1: They have only been on the market for a little more than a year- no track record in the field.
2: The potential for 1 problem ( 1 inverter) vs as many problems as there are panels on a roof.
3: If a microinverter panel is installed in a non-optimal location because it can tolerate shading, why install it at all if it doesn’t have a chance at working efficiently to begin with.
4: Degredation from heat and cold exposure.
5: Here’s a big one: I an inverter goes bad, you have to take a panel off the roof. What if multiple inverters go bad in intervals. The installer would have to come back all the time to replace them as they go. Who pays for this service? If it’s after the 15 year warranty period, the customer will have to pay the installer to get up on the roof every time an inverter goes bad. You can replace a single inverter in less than an hour.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:15:12 +0000

I’m building my own solar panels, will your micro inverters work with any panels or do I have to make a specific watt panel, can they be used with a battery storage bank for when there is no sunlight?

By: Dan Hahn

Dan Hahn — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:24:06 +0000

Hi Patrick,

Good question. For large installations, it could be sensible to include a mix of conventional string inverters as well as microinverters to bring the cost down. If you own a business and are considering this, give me a buzz.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:04:03 +0000

How does the cost compare to traditional inverters? Obviously on an individual basis they would be cheaper. Is there a point where an installation gets large enough that the traditional inverter is the cheaper way to go? Not debating value at the moment, just upfront cost.