[RE-wrenches] Enphase / Inverter failures

Thu May 9 14:56:36 PDT 2013

Let me tell everyone about my Enphase M190 experience. I installed 113 of them on a roughly 25kw array several years ago. About 3 months after installation the inverters started to piecemeal fail, until the replacement count was close to 20. Mind you they were replaced at $150 a pop, which Enphase paid. So after this $3k debacle, I called to tell Enphase this was silly and for everyone's sake they really should consider replacing all remaining inverters in bulk. They immediately agreed. And they upgraded all 113 inverters to M215's. All inverters, new trunk cable, and accessories were supplied free of charge and shipped for free. Plus we negotiated a labor cost of $9k to do the job. So they ultimately paid $12k plus all the materials to make it right. They could have, like others in this industry, refused to move a muscle to resolve the situation. But they did everything necessary to correct an ugly situation and keep me recommending and installing their product as a result. That is exemplary customer service. 

Rant on
Don't try to tell me Enphase are warranty slackers, please. Instead of stonewalling, or blaming the installer or customer, they stepped up to the plate. Perhaps some of the OEM reps on this list could learn something from them.
Rant off

Ps. I have 500 remaining M190's across multiple installs in the field. I have no other failures.
 Of the now 700+ M215's installed, I have not had 1 failure.

Kirk Herander
VSE

On May 9, 2013, at 4:45 PM, Troy Harvey <taharvey at heliocentric.org> wrote:

> All of my enphase failure are in the desert (Utah)
> 
> We have had Power-one units in the field for 5 or 6 years.
> 
> 
> - Troy Harvey
> 
> 
> 
> On May 9, 2013, at 10:28 AM, August Goers <august at luminalt.com> wrote:
> 
>> This is fascinating - the majority of the Enphase failures reported on this list seem to be near coastal areas. I know that is true for us. We've had extensive failures on the M190 and M210 units close to the ocean. We have yet to have a single M215 failure so I have my fingers crossed.
>>  
>> SMA has continued to be the most reliable for us but I worry that slowly their fans will fail. The first gen Fronius units have been horribly unreliable and have all been replaced. Fronius was excellent in dealing with the warranty claims. The 2nd Gen Fronius have been pretty good with just a couple of units DOA and no long term failures yet. Power One, which is the most interesting to me, is still too new to judge. We've had two Power One failures so far. I understand that the first 10 and 12 k units sold in the US had really bad problems but those are fixed now. Xantrex was horrible but we still have over 100 units in operation after the capacitor recall.
>>  
>> It's a real crapshoot with all these inverters!
>>  
>> Best,
>>  
>> August
>>  
>> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Mike & Jessica Nelson
>> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 8:45 AM
>> To: RE-wrenches
>> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase / Inverter failures
>>  
>> Wrenches,
>> I have had extensive failures on 3 installs that are situated right on the coastal bluff in Northern California. Once you replace more than one inverter at one site on one day, the compensation goes from $150.00 per inverter, to next to nothing for the remaining. Enphase actually sent out their field services tech, and did a complete swap out on these 3 systems (with my assistance). It was a long day. But now, 2 years later, we are seeing more failures. One has had 4 micro failures to date. Once I get away from the coastal edge, with it's corrosive effect, the failure rate goes way down. I have asked Enphase to upgrade these 3 systems to the newer M215 system, and am still waiting for a response. I am to the point where I won't install Enphase within 1/2 mile of the ocean.
>> Michael D. Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar
>> 
>> On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 8:31 AM, Will White <William.White at realgoods.com> wrote:
>> It’s funny because I’ve had a very different experience from everyone else.  I’ve had lots of Xantrex inverters fail and a few Fronius but not to the extent that everyone else has.  I’ve only replaced a few Enphase inverters and they were usually dead out of the box.
>>  
>> Thanks,
>> Will
>>  
>> __________________________________________________________________________________________
>> Will White
>> Regional Field Operations Manager – New England
>>  
>> Real Goods Solar
>> 64 Main St.
>> Montpelier, VT 05602
>> Tel: (802) 223-7804
>> Cell: (802) 234-3167
>> www.realgoodssolar.com
>>  
>>  
>> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Troy Harvey
>> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 11:06 AM
>> To: RE-wrenches
>> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase / Inverter failures
>>  
>>  
>> I don't enjoy the PLC interference problems, which are rare. When they have occurred, Enphase provided continuous technical support, including factory evaluation of line filters and enhanced system analysis.  Did you know that each Enphase system has a built in spectrum analyzer? Tech support can provide a printout of interfering signals to help in troubleshooting. Installing a separate AC load center to accept the AC return breakers helps with solving these problems.  I understand that the next release of Enphase inverters will be Wi-fi, eliminating the PLC protocol entirely.  When the communication works, (which it does most of the time) it is a very valuable resource.
>>  
>> I find we have several times the service calls on enphase due to the customers thinking their system isn't working, when in fact it the flakey PLC network. And all that monitoring is only really telling me about the inverters or their networking, since the long term failure rate of the panels is several orders of magnitude better than even the best inverter on the market.
>>  
>> I have only seen 2 Xantrex string inverters go out in the last 5 years (no surprise there) out of all of the string inverters, and all of the brands. But I've seen failure at everyone of our Enphase installs, and usually failures every year (1 or 2 dead micros per year per site).
>>  
>> There is no argument that micros improve flexibility. And the potential for a micro to have a higher MTBF is believable. But first they need better design, more market experience, and will never reach 25 year lifespan like they say until they take electrolytic caps out of their designs.
>>  
>> thanks,
>> 
>> Troy Harvey
>> ---------------------
>> Principal Engineer
>> Heliocentric
>> 801-453-9434
>> taharvey at heliocentric.org
>> 
>> 
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>>  
>> -- 
>> Michael & Jessica Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar Inc.
>> Office: 707-884-1862
>> Cell: 707-684-0064
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