[RE-wrenches] Enphase track record

Sun Nov 8 14:11:15 PST 2009

Clearly, we all have an opinion about this product and its efficacy moving forward, or its reliability today.

Much can be said about alot of the products we see filter through our hands over the years.

As we all look back to being pioneers in the this industry, one thing stands out- we take risks. 
Whether it be regulatory challenges, manufacturer's new products, O&M of a installation etc, it all comes down to being creative and be willing to educate ourselves and our client base.
In some ways, this is similar to the computer industry- some products make it and some don't. Kind of Darwinian, but the market will decide what the market wants.

I recall when the OK4U inverters hit the street, it was exciting to see the simple concept be applied to a modular one to one aspect of our industry. This was especially important, as the cost of modules back then was prohibitively expensive and this idea of an inverter to a module was an economic way to buy your system/green power incrementally.

So, it seems that Enphase has done the same and married computer/telecom technologies with the inverter topography to make a great product. Sure there will be others to follow with similiar and or solid state platforms and the like in the future and we should all welcome innovation and be mindful of the environments these products are subjected to and monitor their lifecycle.

In the next few years as more adoption of this promulgates, we will see the dc-ac conversion occur on the back of the module as it simplifies things on a host of fronts. One of them that has not been mentioned in this thread is the levelized cost of energy. Deploying systems that will meet the grid parity that we all seek to obtain. I'm not suggesting that reliability and potential premature product failures won't be in the way, because the proclivity of this to exist is real. I don't think anyone on this list can point to any inverter manu that has had its moments regarding efficacy for any continuous amount of time, like 10 years in a row without challenges. Pick any inverter manu, and we can all identify their challenges, as we have deployed their technology and at times had to go back to identify why it was or wasn't working as we expected. Anyone who installed a XR Sun Tie can remember......

They key is how do we all work together to meet the challenges when they come up and provide feedback to the makers of these innovative products to make them better. We have an opportunity to revolutionize the way we use energy in the world and the dynamic forces at work around the globe to make it more efficient and easily deployable are welcomed as it speeds the adoption of self generation to the masses.

So, if the Enphase product has a glitch, I'm confident they will step up and address it as they and everyone here agrees the market for these products are immense. Sure they could be acquired and make the industry wonder about warranties being not honored, but usually this coverage is part of the sale.

If any of you had the opportunity to go to Anaheim last week, you can see by the doubling of exhibitors and people who went to the show that this is serious business that is not going away but only growing as it is a truly bright star in our economy. With the attention that the administration is giving to us, coupled with state programs maturing for incentivizing our behavior changes in how we use energy, expect more innovative products in the future. They will come with technology glitches, but my view is they (manus) will identify that making it right will cost less and provide more market share and therefore improve upon what we are previously used to in our industry. This is good for all.

We need to decide whether balancing the risk of the new products into your offering, exceeds the value they represent.

Aloha

Keith

________________________________
From: Mark Frye <markf at berkeleysolar.com>
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Sun, November 8, 2009 11:32:21 AM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase track record

One weakness did present itself to me during my installation 
of Enphase inverters. Enphase makes some hay with the "no single point of 
failure" topology.

However, all the individual inverters share common AC buss 
wires. These are built by daisy chaining AC leads from inverter to inverter 
and then to the branch circuit.

The weakness is that if any single AC Tyco connector 
connection fails, all inverters upstream of that connector will be 
effected.  Sort of gets you back to the weakness of module to module 
connections in a string system. 

Interesting to me that we can talk much about the life cycle 
testing of the inverter, but in this case it all comes back to a connector 
to connector connection.

So a real question becomes, how will the Tyco connectors hold 
up over time in real world applications.

Mark Frye 
Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 
303 Redbud Way 
Nevada City,  CA 
95959 
(530) 
401-8024 
www.berkeleysolar.com  

________________________________
 From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org 
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Nick 
Soleil
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 12:19 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase track 
record

Hello 
wrenches:
    Enphase is an excellent, reliable product, with 
many advantages, but a few minor bugs.  I have managed many Enphase 
installations, have been involved in Beta Tests with them, toured the facility, 
and I have attended customer feedback sessions with them.  I will give you 
a quick overview:
        - Being able to 
monitor individual module output is priceless.  Antony's experience is 
valid, his problem was related to the bad module.  When I do system 
testing, I will frequently find module issues related to a failed string of 
cells, on one modules.  I think this is a common problem, which is rarely 
found.
        - The inverters are very 
reliable.  I have never had a failure on an Enphase Inverter or 
Monitor.  At Enphase, here in Petaluma, they place the inverters in 
life-cycle testing beds, which apply continuous 160 degree temperatures to the 
units, while placed on a vibrating plate.  

    - I had an inverter communication error once, and called 
Enphase, they connected to the monitor and uploaded the softare to it remotely, 
and resolved the issue.
        - The 
monitoring system and Enphase web-based monitoring system is easy to work 
with.  Enphase does all the work to set it up for you!  
        - Availability has been extremely 
tight since late April.  They really blew it when they discontinued the 175 
watt inverter, and ended up not having any replacement for months.  By 
then, they were really back-ordered.
        - 
They hired a few of the guys who made the technical support at SMA so great 
(Kent Sheldon, Marv Dargatz, and others.) 

    - The biggest issue with using Enphase is that communication 
errors will occur between the modules and inverters.  Most of the time it 
is fine, and the inverters will continue to produce power, but the monitor will 
lose connection with 1 or more inverters, and the website will post 0 watts 
output for those modules.  Once the communications are restore, the daily 
and monthly outputs will be corrected, but the graphs and time-lapse show will 
be in-accurate.  This can lead to some customer calls, but the customers 
are normally accepting, because it is so impressive, it is easy to accept the 
occasional glitch.

 Nick Soleil
Project Manager
Advanced Alternative Energy 
Solutions, LLC
PO Box 657
Petaluma, CA 94953
Cell: 
707-321-2937
Office: 707-789-9537
Fax: 707-769-9037 

________________________________
 From: Nick Vida 
<nickvida at ymail.com>
To: wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Sat, November 7, 2009 6:04:40 
PM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] 
Enphase track record

I
That's interesting Drake, about the accessible groups. 
Are there clearance issues for thermal concerns or anything?
It sounds like you could run your dc wires up the rows and have
all your inverters grouped on the top rail. That a one man call to
trouble shoot a system which has been a big concern from many voices 
all along. Maybe those guys can offer several whip lengths or something... 
i don't know I haven't worked with the gear yet.

nick vida

I'm also concerned about the issues brought up here.  I have two 
possible projects that would benefit from Enphase due to the fact 
that the modules will go on more than one roof, with significantly 
different orientations.  In one case, there are shading issues as well.

Supposedly the Enphase units are selling fast. 
 Someone
 must be 
installing them.  They have been out long enough that there must be 
some data as to whether or not the units are surviving.  The long 
term will not be known until the inverters have been out for many 
years, however if they are having issues in the short term, then we 
know they have issues.

One idea that Enphase tech support said was acceptable was to mount 
the inverters in accessible groups.  The DC leads would need to be 
extended, and some loss would occur.  Also the inverters can be 
mounted in vented attics.  Having the inverters in a group in an 
accessible attic would make maintenance easier than tearing apart an 
array to get to a dead inverter.
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