[RE-wrenches] Enphase M190 current limiting

Nick Soleil nsoleil at enphaseenergy.com
Mon Feb 8 09:02:54 PST 2016


Hello Wrenches,

As several Wrenches notices, Enphase did recently perform an optimization
firmware update to a subset of legacy products for which it was unintended.
This caused a minor delta in energy-production on some units. The problem
was quickly identified and we worked diligently to correct the issue.  We
sent out firmware updates to the affected sites on Friday, which should
have corrected these issues.  We apologize for any inconvenience this has
caused.

On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 8:25 AM, Louis Woofenden <louis at woofenden.net> wrote:

>
> FYI, our affected systems with Enphase M190s are back to normal as of
> Saturday morning. I hope that's the case for others as well.
>
> Cheers,
> Louis
>
>
> Rebecca Lundberg wrote:
>
> Thanks for the reply. I reported it to Enphase but have not heard back
> yet. Since one of these updates happened 5 months ago I was surprised the
> manufacturer hadn't notified installers in the interim before they did a
> more wide spread update, which is why I wrote to this list. I'm not in tech
> support, but seeing what it did to our inverter back 5 months ago I
> certainly wouldn't have continued the 'upgrade' and pushed that firmware
> update to the rest of the units! I think most people didn't notice so they
> just went ahead. I know MN temperatures are more extreme than other parts
> of the country so perhaps we've seen more failures than others have. But
> this site with 8 M190s was doing just fine before the 'update.'
>
> Rebecca
>
>
>>
>> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On
>> Behalf Of Louis Woofenden
>> Sent: Wednesday, 03 February, 2016 11:48
>> To: RE-wrenches
>> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase M190 current limiting
>>
>>
>> Hi Rebecca and all,
>>
>> We're experiencing the same thing on several M190 sites, though not all.
>> Interestingly, M190s that have been replaced are not having the same
>> problem.
>>
>> According to Enphase, it is a software problem. My understanding is that
>> they are rolling back software updates on affected devices to solve the
>> problem, but I'm not clear on the exact order that will happen.
>>
>> Not sure if being a squeaky wheel on particular systems is going to hurt
>> or help. Kind of disappointing that they didn't properly beta test any
>> software updates on all types of microinverter devices before rolling them
>> out to all customers. Seems like that would be common sense.
>>
>> Best,
>> Louis
>>
>> --
>>
>> Louis Woofenden
>> Engineering Director
>> Net Zero Solar, LLC
>> 101. W. 5th St., Tucson, AZ 85705
>> Arizona ROC #248710, 259756, 259521
>>
>> Phone:  <tel:520.207.4053> <520.207.4053> 520.207.4053 Ex. 2
>>
>> Cell:  <tel:520.237.5040> <520.237.5040> 520.237.5040
>> Fax:  <tel:520.203.7230> <520.203.7230> 520.203.7230
>>
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional?
>> NABCEP Certified Solar Heating Installer?
>>
>>
>>
>> Luke Christy wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Rebecca,
>>
>> After you posted this I looked at the power production history for
>> several of our Enphase sites with M190s, and the same thing is happening.
>> Inverter output is being clipped at 140W across the board.
>>
>> This seems like a pretty big deal in terms of potential lost production
>> for a lot of users.
>>
>>
>>
>> Have you brought this up with Enphase?
>>
>>
>>
>> -Luke
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional?: Certification #031409-25
>> NABCEP Certified Solar Heating Installer?: Certification #ST032611-03
>> CoSEIA Certified PV Installer
>>
>> Solar Gain Services, LLC
>> PO Box 531
>> Monte Vista, CO 81144
>> sgsrenewables at gmail.com
>> 719.588.3044
>> www.sgsrenewables.com <http://www.sgsrenewables.com/>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 31, 2016, at 21:08, Rebecca Lundberg <
>> rebecca.lundberg at powerfullygreen.com> wrote:
>>
>> I just noticed that several of our sites with Enphase M190s are current
>> limiting at 140 watts. These units used to clip at 199 watts so I feel like
>> our customers just lost a potential 30% of their power output. It appears
>> to be related to a firmware update 520-00008-r01-v01.08.00. We've got one
>> site with just 8 units, 1 of them got this firmware update back in
>> September and has been limiting to 140w since then, 5 of them got this
>> update in late January and have been limiting to 140w since then, the other
>> two are at a previous firmware version and are performing as we would
>> expect up to 199w. Have any of you noticed this same thing? Do you know
>> what this is about? It doesn't feel very fair on the user end of things.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>> Rebecca Lundberg
>> Powerfully Gree
>>
>> ? n?
>>
>> Minnesota
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>> --
>> --
>>
>> Louis Woofenden
>> Engineering Director
>> Net Zero Solar, LLC
>> 101. W. 5th St., Tucson, AZ 85705
>> Arizona ROC #248710, 259756, 259521
>>
>> Phone:  <tel:520.207.4053> 520.207.4053 Ex. 2
>>
>> Cell:  <tel:520.237.5040> 520.237.5040
>> Fax:  <tel:520.203.7230> 520.203.7230
>>
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional?
>> NABCEP Certified Solar Heating Installer?
>>
>>
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-- 

Cordially,

Nick Soleil
*Enphase Energy* | Field Applications Engineer

office 707-763-4784 <%28707%29%20763.%204784> x7267
cell 707-321-2937

<http://enphase.com/>

*Powering What’s Next*™* | *The Enphase Energy Management System
<http://ow.ly/HbVS3>


NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer #03262011-300

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