Comments on: Micro Inverters (My Turn)- the boring technical stuff

By: Christof

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:08:31 +0000

Agree, nice piece. I’m inclined to think micro-inverters are the way to go — but it’s too late for us (I think), we signed on to a system from REC Solar (to be installed in June 2010) with a Sunny Boy central inverter. For me, the big thing is the durability. It’s disturbing to me that I know that we’ll be shelling out $3,000 or $4,000 grand for a replacement central inverter in year 12 or so. What’s also disturbing is that many solar proponents (and companies) don’t calculate this major cost into the long-term cost projections of a solar system. That, to me, seems fundamentally misleading, and, when I get a chance to, I’m going to do a piece on this issue for my website, SolarChargedDriving.Com. Thanks again guys for putting up good stuff!
.-= Christof´s last blog ..‘EV Nut’ sticks it to Big Oil, fills up with sun =-.

By: Drifty

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:51:59 +0000

I am new to microinverters, and would like to learn more about the way in which they work. I am an electrical engineering student and would of course like to construct one. Any links to sources of that type of information would be greatly appreciated.

By: Silver

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:37:50 +0000

Good article David. We are moving into grid-tie systems from the off-grid becuase the grid has been extended to reached the off-grid areas. The micro inverter provides a way of utilizing PV energy into the grid using existing small PV system. Will the Enphase work under our 230VAC 60H system?

By: Dane Ericksen

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:36:29 +0000

So how “clean” is the AC generated by each micro power inverter? That is, is the output a good representation of a 60 Hz sine wave, or are we talking about a stepped inverter with lots of harmonics? What about RFI in the AM broadcast band?

By: Ye Old Solar FAQ & More

Ye Old Solar FAQ & More — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:56:05 +0000

[...] Popcorn “AC” energy. Dave also wrote another post devoted to what’s called micro-inverters. You may be seeing a lot more of these little guys in the coming years. They’re so cute and [...]

By: Greennose

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:19:34 +0000

Great article. The big reliability issue in micro-inverters is aluminium electrolytic capacitors – they’re chemical reactors in a can. That’s why the warranty on inverters is so much lower than the warranty for modules. At couple of companies are shooting to solve the problem buy the end of this year.

By: Jouvet

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:18:43 +0000

Solar Magic has been out for a month now. Any comparisons? Also what about SolarEdge?

By: Randy

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:03:12 +0000

I echo Kevin’s concern. Going directly to the EMU appears to only give you summary data – not at the individual inverter level (per screen shots at the Enphase web site). The money Enphase wants to charge for the monitoring of individual module data cuts into the ROI of the PV system over its entire life span. Given the extra cost of these inverters I feel the data access should be free.

By: KNSato

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:47:23 +0000

We are looking at microinverters but have one concern. Batteries are not so great now, but are probably going to become more and more efficient and economical in the future. What if eventually we want to attach a battery so we can have power during a blackout or be completely off-grid? Isn’t that not possible with a microinverter system as it is now?

By: Kevin

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:11:31 +0000

I received a reply from Enphase on my question and found that I was incorrect in my reading of the information from the website. The EMU can be monitored by directly browsing to it. So you do not have to rely on the Enlighten website monitoring, however the Enlighten monitoring can setup alerts and provides additional features. Also the Enlighten Monitoring is free for the first 90 days and is recommended for initial setup to help identify any install issues early on.