I have had 40 enphase 190s on a roof with sweeping shade for 4 months now. I had no DOA units and no unit failures to date. They are part of a standard Pro Solar rack. That is about all I can say. The customer is very happy. Mark Frye Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 303 Redbud Way Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 401-8024 <http://www.berkeleysolar.com/> www.berkeleysolar.com
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Drake Chamberlin Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 1:34 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase track record 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. At 02:00 PM 11/7/2009, you wrote: I put a temperature probe under the modules almost every job, and it is always drastically lower than the module itself. A frying module at 130 might have an ambient temperature underneath in its shade of 89 degrees. the specifics are always surprisingly low relative to touching the panel and how your face feels up there. Nick Can anyone think of a more brutal environment for a piece of electronic equipment than under a solar module which day in and day out experiences the elements and temperatures of 130+ plus F? Despite any so-called accelerated life-cycle testing and estimated mean time to failure probabilities, nothing takes the place of actual time cooking under solar arrays. Having seen my fair share of controller and inverter manufacturers come and go out of business in 30+ years in the RE field, I'll be watching with great interest the great Enphase experiment unfold. And ever heard of the word "recall"? Swapping a central inverter or two is one thing. Imagine doing it with the X number of microinverters you installed six months or two years ago... But hey, other than my Eeyore-sounding words above, aren't Enphase inverters so cool with all that they can do? marco in Hawaii A while back there was a discussion about the reliability of Enphase inverters. As I understand, they have been selling like hot cakes, so a lot must be installed. Some sort of track record must be emerging. Has the promised reliability of these inverters been met? Can they be connected to a rail, under a large array without worry that the unit will need to be dug out and replaced? Should the inverters be located in an attic or other accessible location. Thanks, Drake Chamberlin Athens Electric OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP TM Certified PV Installer Office - 740-448-7328 Mobile - 740-856-9648 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.425 / Virus Database: 270.14.52/2485 - Release Date: 11/06/09 19:39:00 _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/> Drake Chamberlin Athens Electric OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP TM Certified PV Installer Office - 740-448-7328 Mobile - 740-856-9648
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
