One of our favorite products to talk about with customers is the Enphase Microinverter. 

Solar power production is affected by various factors such as module mis-match, obstruction shading, inter-row shading, and obstacles such as dust or debris. In addition, non-uniform changes in temperature, irradiance, and shading create complex current-voltage curves, further affecting energy harvest. This is due to the fact that in traditional solar systems the performance of the entire system is dictated by the performance of the weakest module.



The Enphase Energy Microinverter System solves solar power challenges by performing Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) at each solar module. MPPT is an algorithm used to calculate and respond to temperature and light changes detected on a solar power system, and to determine how much power to draw from the module. In contrast, centralized inverter’s MPPT algorithm sees the entire solar power system as a single module, and responds to the lowest production numbers it detects.

The microinverter shifts DC to AC conversion from a large, centralized inverter to a compact unit attached directly to each solar module in a power system. Distributing the conversion process to each module makes the entire solar power system more productive, reliable, and smarter than traditional inverter systems. This microinverter contributes 5 to 25 percent more energy harvest compared to systems with traditional inverters. It also means the module is more resilient to dust, debris, shade and module mis-match.

Probably the coolest part of this system is the ability for users to monitor power consumption from any web browser. The Enphase Microinverter works in conjunction with the Envoy communications gateway and the Enlighten website to provide regular monitoring of the system production.

Contact a Sunetric Energy Consultant to find out more about this great technology and how our clients are benefiting from it.