Microinverters Built Into Individual Solar Panels
Enphase Energy is releasing a solar power system that has mini-inverters on each solar panel. This will allow the user to view performance on individual panels. Very cool. Now you don’t have to wonder which panel is under producing or failing.
The inverter is typically a large gadget (looks like a big car audio amplifier) or set of gadgets that you have in addition to the solar panels on the roof.
Enphase Energy will also have a gateway to transfer the panel performance data to the web for remote viewing.
This technology WILL be the future and is headed in the right direction. The start-up company has already raised 6.5 million in funding. The company has already launched beta units with Solar installer Borrego Solar.
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Checking their site reveals an alarming amount of corporate doubletalk and enviro-thinkspeak… What is missing are HARD NUMBER comparissons of energy consumption and costs. There are also gems like, “Having a single inverter for an entire array creates a single point of failure”. Right and Obvious, but having multiple inverters then create multiple points of failure? Sprinkled here and there other oddities like “NEMA 6P rating” – being an exposed electric OUTDOOR gadget one would sure as hell hope its watertight – DUH… Overall I understand what is being offered, what would really sell me on this would be something akin to a side by side factual comparisson with them number thingies.