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  • Solar edge vs enphase

    Has anyone here used the solar edge inverters and optimizers?
    And have you seen any inverter efficiencies any where near the 99% they are claiming?
    NABCEP certified Technical Sales Professional

    [URL="http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?5334-Solar-Off-Grid-Battery-Design"]http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showth...Battery-Design[/URL]

    [URL]http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html[/URL] (Voltage drop Calculator among others)

    [URL="http://www.gaisma.com"]www.gaisma.com[/URL]

  • #2
    nope, but I'd be interested in knowing if they cost about the same or more.
    Enecsys, and Siemens are two other competitors you might want to check out.

    Comment


    • #3
      I have solaredge Optimizers/inverter

      I have a solaredge rig but I have no idea how to know how efficient it is. I do know I am beating the pvwatts estimates .. but many settings were left at default (overall fudge factor .77 )..

      I have had no issues with it.. Well.. one issue.. ONE day.. the central inverter did not come on.. so i made no power on an otherwise perfect day. They said they have seen some latch up issue that they have a fix for and they would install it if it happens again. It never did. They said they would even pay me for the power lost if I told them how much.. For $5.. not gonna bother.. but it was a good customer service move.

      I use their web portal as well as send data to pvoutput.org from my (currently flaky) TED5000. I have data coming out of my ears..

      I can share more general observations.. but not much on any comparison of this vs enphase ..

      Comment


      • #4
        no they look interesting though

        No they look interesting though. We've always used Tigo optimizers with minimal overall benefit (with SP panels) but more useful for specific installations, shade, funky sizes, orientations, etc.

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        • #5
          Power One has microinverters capable of 250W and 300W, so you don't get the clipping of voltage with Enphase 190s and 215s.
          PowerOne 3.6 x 2, 32 SolarWorld 255W mono

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          • #6
            Dear Sir
            Have a nice day!
            you can refer to Sungrow ,sunteam, SMA, on-grid inverter, plus Wotech solar panel.
            Read Forum Rules. No advertising in signatures.

            Comment


            • #7
              Compare the price of that system with the solar edge Vs an enphase system. If you are using 60 cell panels in the 250 or less range there should be no clipping unless your panels are tilted up very much and there is an appreciable amount of snow or water to reflect from when it is cold.
              I have compared system costs and the end result is about the same with either.
              NABCEP certified Technical Sales Professional

              [URL="http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?5334-Solar-Off-Grid-Battery-Design"]http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showth...Battery-Design[/URL]

              [URL]http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html[/URL] (Voltage drop Calculator among others)

              [URL="http://www.gaisma.com"]www.gaisma.com[/URL]

              Comment


              • #8
                An engineer can be confident because he did the study/calculations - whether his work or assumptions are correct can be a different story.
                [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by russ View Post
                  An engineer can be confident because he did the study/calculations - whether his work or assumptions are correct can be a different story.
                  The Quality Assurance / Test Engineer, on the other hand, can be much more confident because he has faithfully simulated all the stresses on the system that the Design Engineer has told him about.
                  The environment and the user are under no such restrictions.
                  SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Naptown View Post
                    Compare the price of that system with the solar edge Vs an enphase system. If you are using 60 cell panels in the 250 or less range there should be no clipping unless your panels are tilted up very much and there is an appreciable amount of snow or water to reflect from when it is cold.
                    I have compared system costs and the end result is about the same with either.
                    My 235 trina panels will clip my M215s on sunny days. Tilt 34 deg lat 40 deg.
                    Best solar day 80 kwh. Online solar 4/10/2012.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Solaredge info

                      https://picasaweb.google.com/vtkahns...eat=directlink

                      is a link to the photos I took during my install of solaredge optimizers.. No problems except for 1 day.. it did not turn on.. perfectly sunny. They said there was a known rare latch up issue that if I saw again, they would replace the central inverter. It never did. They actually asked me how much $ of power I should have made that day and they would pay me for it.. I didn't take them up on their offer for my $5 but it was quite a gesture.

                      No clipping here with a 4300 system and their 5000W central inverter.. the power boxes have an output that is not limiting my 240W panels.. I did actually get toe 5000W on a few days early on.. really perfect cold weather.. but it was just short transient spikes.

                      Obviously I can't speak to longevity but they made a very big deal about the # of components and grade of those components in the power optimizers on the roof as compared to the enphase product available at the time. Ceramic capacitors vs electrolytic (which i think enphase has now changed ) .. for one example. I believe there are 1/2 the component count than an enphase microinverter. The inverter in the basement does not have to do the MPPT stuff.. just invert.. is small, light.. simpler... The shut off switch that is in those photos is from the incoming solar feed I believe.. before the inverter.. and perhaps also after it.. i think the wires go up and back to it.. and then to the dual pole breaker in the box.

                      I hear a hum on a sunny day.. and it does put out some (not a lot) heat. They once said about the same as as 60 watt light bulb..

                      All I know.. but so far.. happy.. but have no way to know how a comparable enphase system would treat me.. other than the clipping I might get past 225W ( i hear the 215 model has 225 max output) ... For me with snow melt and drifts that vary across my roof.. at least my winter output is improved with having something other than a standard string setup.. I do wish I had been told that panels in portrait mode .. with snow melt.. produce NOTHING until all the snow has completely melted.. vs what I think would have been better in landscape once 2 columns (then rows ) of cells would be fully clear.. and give me roughly 1/3 of the panel output.. then another 1/3 when the next 2 strings are exposed.. and that last little bit.. would take out 1/3 until all gone.. That's my theory anyway.. know a guy here with enphase and landscape panels of similar model to mine that I am curious to see if the theory holds.. Could get up there and prove it now if you wanted to by just blocking the panel in places and seeing the affect..

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Well done Steve - Great show and sharing for all members.

                        Russ
                        [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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                        • #13
                          My setup with solaredge

                          I have solarworld mono 240s and their 5000W US inverter.. and the appropriate optimizer (forget even if there were choices )

                          The installer had never used it before and was eager to try it. The feature of getting 1V out of each box as you wire them up .. and then knowing if you get 18V you have all 18 hooked up right was simple. Also.. without power applied, the output is save supposedly.. along with some fire safety selling points .

                          The inverter connects to wired ethernet directly (nothing more to buy ) and pushes data to their portal easily. There have been no outages in a year and a half that I have had it.

                          While they do offer some extended warranty to add onto the 12 years on the central inverters... the price of it ( I asked once.. think it was like $1K ) ... may not make sense when for $1600 or so you can get a new one... They projected average lifespan I think to be 18 yrs... Food for thought for anyone looking at going with them.

                          If anyone has any questions, let me know and I can try to make up an answer.

                          Steve

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                          • #14
                            Monitoring with Solaredge - and other stuff

                            My public portal is here..
                            http://monitoring.solaredge.com/sola...name=GoSolarVT

                            Not much capability there.. just the basics. Once I log on, I can get to the panel by panel data. charting temperature, wind speed, and Humidity over top of any data for a single panel (or any # of panels) or all combined..

                            The info I had jotted down before my install was this :
                            3 year free at module level data monitoring
                            revert to total system monitoring after 3 years.. still free forever..
                            to maintain discreet panel monitoring, $5 / kw / year .. - = $20 / year for 4kw system.

                            I have not inquired in a while but just checked their web site and found this :

                            The SolarEdge module level and inverter web based monitoring is free for 25 years.

                            The free basic service includes:

                            Inverter and module level real–time monitoring, including performance visualization: layout, playback, charts
                            10 minute resolution data of both inverter and power optimizers. The high resolution data is stored for 12 months.
                            Lifetime historical data, aggregated daily.
                            Monitoring portal access by mobile devices (smartphones and tablets)

                            Additionally, the following capabilities will be free for 18 months:

                            Reports generation
                            Alerting mechanism

                            So.. I guess the rules changed a bit.. for the better.. The reports and alerts I don't take much advantage of since I watch it so closely anyway.

                            Here is a snow melt day example of a graph of all the panels and how they were generating..solaredge-portal-snow-melt-day-20111218.jpg
                            and a photo superimposed on another day showing the graphical enphase-esque colorization solaredge-portal-snow-melt-day-20111224.jpg

                            All in all... I am very content.. sunny cool day today.. for a change. .been one awful October in the N.E. US.. I'm about 50 kwh off of the prorated monthly estimate. Need some nice days..

                            By the way. off topic but I use pvoutput.org to dump data from my system as well.. using a TED5000 I have.. Really dig the analytics there ...

                            Link to my page there.. free.. i've stopped being obsessed with it but its a fun place .. http://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?p=...m&gs=0&v=1&s=1

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                            • #15
                              I'm about to pull the trigger on a 24 panel array of about 6000w.

                              So here's a summary of my research on this subject, experts please point out where I'm wrong.

                              Enphase 215s generate a maximum of 215w, even if you have a 250w panel on a bright sunny day, right? My understanding is that we usually match Enphase 215s with panels that have higher wattage ratings so that with partial shading and degradation over decades of use, the panels will still be up around 215w of generation, because theres sort of a generation cliff after that. Is that correct?

                              Enter SolarEdge, which has cheap 250w and 300w optimizers and a single big inverter that has effectively solved the string sizing and partial shading problems that older inverters had. You can get panels up around 300w and you won't be wasting power like you do with the Enphases, as long as you stay under the total wattage of the inverter.

                              So to recap:
                              Above about 20 panels, SolarEdge wins on price, but it's close.
                              SolarEdge can handle a wider range of panel types.
                              SolarEdge starts at 250w, and hits 300 for an extra $10 or so per optimizer/panel.
                              Enphase is a little older, and the company (might be) healthier.
                              Enphase wins with a 25 year warranty vs SolarEdge's 12.

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