Hello solar enthusiasts!
Have you been wondering which inverter to use on your upcoming solar project?
If so then this next video is for you!
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Solar panels get all the glory, but it’s the inverters that do all of the work in the
solar energy system.
Central string inverters that came with solar systems of the past, let’s say up until
2018 used to manage the conversion of DC to Ac voltage that you can use I your house for
the entire solar system.
That meant if one panel went down because of shading or mechanical issue, the entire
system would not produce very effectively.
Then microinverters were developed out of Fremont, California by a company called Enphase.
These guys were working on the central string inverters for a big company until they decided
to go out on their own and figure out a way to make n inverter that would convert the
energy produced by the panel into usable AC voltage for your house.
Nobody else is doing this, and it’s really thrown the central string inverter companies
for a big loop because these new inverters are warrantied for 25 years instead of 10
years.
The undeniably best thing about Enphase is their inverters are double insulated and small
enough to be placed at each individual panel.
NOW each panel has its own inverter and if a panel goes down because of shading or some
mechanical, then just that panel goes down.
All your other panels will continue producing clean energy for you.
These microinverters are UL Listed relating to voltage and frequency, synchronization,
disturbances, faults, and reconnect time.
This UL Listing ensures that your grid direct system meets IEEE 1547.1-2005 which specifies
the type, production, and commissioning tests that have to be performed on these microinverters.
To me it’s so interesting how one company can change the composition of an entire field
like Enphase has done with solar.
The old DC inverter companies are now trying to play catch up.
The way they are duplicating Enphase technology is by creating these “DC optimizers” at
each panel acting just like a microinverter in the way that allows the rest of the your
solar system work even if one or two panel goes down.
They had to!
I was talking to my territory manager who gets me my solar parts and equipment in Sacramento
and he said his top 3 grossing solar companies all use
Enphase microinverters.
DC inverters were getting dropped quickly as outdated technology.
Happens all the time…
Fox Family installs Enphase microinverters because they are the best technology for today’s
quality driven customer.
The price comes out to be the same.
The industry did a good job of pricing them similarly.
We also use Quickmount PV flashings and racking.
I’ll leave a link to Enphase and Quickmount PV in the space below here if you want to
go visit them.
Both companies are engineered right here in California.
They are produced in China, but there isn’t one inverter company manufacturing their own
inverters here in the US, unfortunately.
I’ll have a video about Quickmount PV flashings soon as I’m super excited to be using the
industry’s most weatherproof flashings to mount your new panels on!
Okay, just to geek out a little bit, I wanted to point out a couple of things I really like
a bout Enphase microinverters?
Probably the most important is since they are located right at each panel, the maximum
power point (MPP) of each module is tracked and sent to your monitoring app on your phone.
Enphase’s is called Enlighten.
I’ll have a video out soon about Enlighten and the cool features it has like monitoring
your production.
Of course we already talked about how
Shading only affects those modules, not the whole system.
The Solar panels can be installed at different angles and azimuth orientations unlike central
string inverters that require all the modules in each source circuit to be at the same tilt
and orientation.
We’re not running high voltage DC circuits through your attic or across your rooftop.
We are running AC voltage instead.
You know how your central string inverter is probably gonna go out after 10 years right?
If one microinverter were to go down before its 25 year warranty, the rest of the system
keeps producing lowering your down time, lowering your production time.
☹ Sad face…
If you’d like to see Fox Family installing one of our recent projects, I’ll place a
card up above here and you can see us in action.
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the right inverter for their upcoming solar project.