August, One quick note about your last sentence. I know you are talking about swapping black and red on an Enphase branch circuit, which is not a problem. However, landing L1 from string 1 with L2 from string 2 on a 2-pole breaker and vice-versa does matter. For correct OCPD operation, you need to land the pairs on the right breakers. I have seen this mistake before. Circuits that were expected to be de-energized still had one hot leg. Not good...
On Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 12:20 PM August Goers <aug...@luminalt.com> wrote: > We've installed lots of Enphase, SolarEdge, and the various string > inverters over the years. As far as Enphase goes, our experience is not too > far from what Jason described - we had thousands of the M190/M210 > generation installed and experienced a very high failure rate. Our failure > rate on those older systems seems to have stabilized. I think we're doing > maybe one Enphase micro replacement site call per month or so, which is > quite manageable. I do expect to continue to have a trickle of failures, > but they are now not too far out of line compared to our string inverter > failure rates (SMA/Fronious/ABB/Xantrex/Etc). > > We've been installing SolarEdge on our small and medium commercial system > for the past few years with success. I don't think we've had a single > failure, but we don't do a ton on commercial, we have 20 sites in our > SolarEdge portfolio. > > I think it's good to focus on features, price, reliability, service, > bankability, etc and continually reevaluate the companies and products on > the market. We have certainly stopped installing Enphase back in 2013 when > were seeing peak failures which was a good decision. But the newer > equipment has been solid. SMA, which had classically been our go-to string > inverter choice, just hasn't kept up with the market and their choices are > too complicated compared to the SunPower AC modules (with Enphase micros > built in) we're now installing. I'm sort of over DC systems for residential > projects, especially if thinking about the KISS model of trying to keep > everything as simple as possible. The wiring on an AC system is just > getting basically as simple as it gets - just two hots to wire up and it > doesn't even matter if you mix up the phasing. > > Good luck out there everyone! > > August > Luminalt > > > On Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 8:37 AM Jason Szumlanski < > ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote: > >> Enphase's early failure rate was ridiculous, but we are finding that once >> the faulty M190's were swapped after the first few years, the ones that >> didn't fail have been relatively solid. In other words, let's say >> (unscientifically) 30% of the M190's on a job installed 10 years ago failed >> in the first 3 years. After that, we had a VERY low failure rate on that >> system. I can't remember the last time I replaced an M190, and we have a >> lot of them floating around out there. In each successive generation (M215, >> M250, IQ6, IQ7) we have seen progressively lower failure rates in the first >> 1, 2, and 3 years, which points to a dramatic increase in initial >> reliability. If history is a guide, the IQ series looks like 10 years from >> now we will be calling it a huge success. Of course, only time will tell. >> >> Micro replacements are a nuisance, for sure, but we haven't 'lost' much >> money on replacements. I have lost lots of money struggling through string >> inverter replacements due to unknown complications (physical, electrical, >> monitoring, etc). A micro swap is a known entity and minimal complexity. I >> can send a minimally trained (lower cost) individual to handle it and deal >> with the administrative (monitoring) part in the office. >> >> The bottom line is that I am doing far FEWER micro replacements today >> than I did 6-7 years ago when I was maintaining less than 1/3 of the units >> I have now under supervision. My impression is that if micro is going to >> fail, it's going to fail early on. Let's hope I'm right. >> >> One last point... despite a couple of bumps in the road with service hold >> times and warranty replacement waits, Enphase's customer service has been >> second to none over the course of the last decade. Their front-line staff >> are well trained and knowledgeable, and access to second-tier support has >> been phenomenal. SE gives you the same runaround as Fronius (don't get me >> started on IGs) and other string inverter manufacturers when an HD Wave >> goes down (have to be on site, provide a bunch of mostly irrelevant voltage >> readings, check fuses, looks for signs of burned components, and so on to >> get warranty satisfaction). >> >> Jason >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 7:21 PM Kirk Herander <vtso...@icloud.com> wrote: >> >>> I gave up on Enphase a long time ago for the same reasons many of you >>> are dumping on SE now. High replacement rate etc. Any of you in this biz >>> longer than ten years knows how horrible the first several generations of >>> Enphase was. So should I trust Enphase over SE now? Will you trust SE years >>> from now if this board finds them acceptable again(over Enphase)? Just >>> sayin' >>> >>> On 7/23/2020 6:30:29 PM, Jason Szumlanski < >>> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote: >>> Not to sounds like a Fanboy, but Enphase in a small commercial setting >>> is a real option. Owners love the monitoring aspect, the serviceability, >>> the warranty, etc. There is a good safety argument to be made. Replacing >>> micros on a flat roof is usually a cakewalk if necessary. Dealing with >>> roof-mounted equipment shading issues makes micros a good option if >>> optimizers are off the table. >>> >>> I'm adding an 80kW Enphase IQ array to an existing M-series 70kW system >>> very soon. Here's Phase 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvXyGiUlALw >>> <https://mailtrack.io/trace/link/e621215add968f0948515658225581e82c26a3dc?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEvXyGiUlALw&userId=1613865&signature=f16f16a5c6e710f0> >>> >>> This one is 208Y/120. For 480V you're looking at a transformer, which >>> changes the calculus. >>> >>> Jason Szumlanski >>> Florida Solar Design Group >>> >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 5:06 PM AE Solar <autonomousenerg...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> interested to know if folks are having issues with specific models or >>>> it's all across the board? if it's all across the board, i (like jay) would >>>> be interested to know what people are moving on towards. especially for >>>> smaller commercial 3phase projects. >>>> adam >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 11:57 AM MiJo Nels <spaceshipnels...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> We also, have found this to be the case. Now I feel like I'm in a bad >>>>> marriage with them. We consistantly wait longer than we are told for >>>>> replacement product, constantly hearing the same repetitious verbiage from >>>>> them "just wait a little longer, we'll be able to control your coffee >>>>> maker >>>>> with your inverter soon".. or the old "Q1 Q2 Q3" promises for equipment or >>>>> to get thru beta testing.. .. I too. . . am "Done". . . >>>>> >>>>> Joe Nelson >>>>> >>>>> Project Manager C-46/C-10 >>>>> Sustainable Energy Group Inc., A California Corporation >>>>> >>>>> CSL# 868816 >>>>> www.SustainableEnergyGroup.com >>>>> <https://mailtrack.io/trace/link/6b7b0262fe824d4a60142b89f3ef035f2777a24e?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.SustainableEnergyGroup.com&userId=1613865&signature=0719ace1f988001d> >>>>> 530-273-4422 (Office) >>>>> >>>>> 530-217-8385 (Cell) >>>>> >>>>>  >>>>> >>>>>     >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>> *From:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org> on >>>>> behalf of Jay <jay.pe...@gmail.com> >>>>> *Sent:* Thursday, July 23, 2020 7:47:31 AM >>>>> *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> >>>>> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Solar Edge...continuous saga of 181/183 >>>>> hardware failures...moving on to another inverter. >>>>> >>>>> Hi Scot and others >>>>> >>>>> I’ve heard these horror stories about SE >>>>> >>>>> What is the best replacement for SE at this point? >>>>> >>>>> Thanks >>>>> >>>>> Jay >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Jul 23, 2020, at 5:57 AM, scot.a...@solarcentex.com wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Time has finally come to move on from SolarEdge. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Now replacing the THIRD inverter for one customer alone that has the >>>>> infamous 181/183 hardware failure error code again. First one replaced in >>>>> Sept 2019. Second failure and RMA July 6th 2020, and now this third >>>>> failure on that replacement inverter. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> We have had 24 total RMAs at quick count and it is eating into our >>>>> credibility. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Solar Edge provided a briefing to me about two months ago >>>>> acknowledging that their manufacturing quality control issues bordered on >>>>> a >>>>> recall, but opted to stay silent and let the installers keep suffering for >>>>> their materiel and design issues. I was advised that the batch of >>>>> deficient >>>>> inverters and their manufacture time frame meant I just needed to get >>>>> through this summer…perhaps but not another summer ever like this. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> No more. Au revoir, Solar Edge. >>>>> >>>>> >
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