[RE-wrenches] Enphase Micro Inverter Energy System

[Max Balchowsky]

I'm in orange county now but still do plan check and installs in the coachella valley. One concern I would have in the warmer desert climates (122 dg in summer) is the amount of heat under a solar panel.



________________________________
From: "Kelly Keilwitz, Whidbey Sun & Wind" <kelly at whidbeysunwind.com>
To: RE Wrenches listserve <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Friday, February 6, 2009 11:47:30 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase Micro Inverter Energy System

Hi Max,
We’ve done one, have one in the shop ready to go, and another on contract. Great solution for future expansion and clean installation. All mods are in parallel, but installation (with adapter cord) is end to end. No main inverter, no DC disconnect, no service or “grouped” AC disconnect required. It’s just one (or more) branch circuit to a 15A DP breaker. We’ve estimated that for systems <2.5 kW it’s more cost effective, than using a string inverter. That’s with no shading. If you have partial shading or different orientations the cost-effectiveness improves dramatically for larger systems. 

Our inspectors want a partial-cover array inspection (to check inverter listing and mounting), which is a bit of a hassle to arrange. Hopefully that will ease up once they see a few installs.

Enphase gets the customer with the web-based, subscription, system monitoring. For small systems the production will barely cover the base cost + annual fee (free for the first year).

-Kelly
Kelly Keilwitz, P.E.
Whidbey Sun & Wind, LLC
Renewable Energy Systems
NABCEP Certified PV Installer
987 Wanamaker Rd, 
Coupeville, WA 98239 
PH & FAX 360-678-7131
sunwind at whidbeysunwind.com

On 2/6/09 5:37 PM, "Max Balchowsky" <max at seesolar.com> wrote:


I've been asked to evaluate a set of plans that came accross the counter of a local municipality recently. It was the microinverter system by Enphase. I've seen this product, but this is the first actual installation I'm exposed to. Has anyone installed these?
 
Max Balchowsky
SEE Systems
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20090207/83cad1f2/attachment-0004.html>