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 <ma...@berkeleysolar.com>
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@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-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@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
<nickv...@ymail.com>
To: wrenches <re-wrenches@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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