Originally posted by rickj
View Post
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Zero feed into grid with Enphase?
Collapse
X
-
OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH -
Is there a firmware difference between the (earlier) M250-60 and (later) M250-72 Inverter ?
M250-60.... 4th Generation Inverter
M250-72 ... ?th Generation Inverter ( old 4th Gen or new 5th Gen ? )
S280 ...... 5th Generation Inverter
IQ 6 ...... 6th Generation Inverter
I found only one website that stated the M250-72 was 5th Generation.
I have not been able to find the Enphase Feature Matrix
2008 - 1st Gen
2009 - 2nd Gen
2011 - 3rd Gen
2013 - 4th Gen
2015 - 5th Gen <- Smart Grid Ready
2016 - 6th Gen <- Smart Grid Ready
I think, but I have no proof yet, that "Zero Export" is a firmware feature since the 5th Generation InvertersComment
-
Originally posted by ButchDeal View Postwhy go with enphase since they are not very helpful and in such financial issues?
I've always intended to install a pv system, but right now I'm forced to bring a choice forward, as I've installed a swimming pool, and found out the pump uses 1.2kW (9 hours a day)! We still have to decide if we will switch cooking from gas to electric, and what else we'd like to go solar for. So I'd like to start small, and extend much more, later. That is easy with micro-inverters, but not with a line inverter. Those have a limited range of minimum and maximum input and output power.
I also can imagine a company cannot respond to an enquiry of a single prospective private customer that will buy only 20 inverters while they are selling millions elsewhere. I can imagine they are not interested in Europe. I can imagine lots of reasons. A lousy customer relations dept is no reason to slag off a company. (Been there myself.) Actually a solar installer should know, or do the inquiries for me (they now are doing that), and not me, the private customer. It's not an easy question either, I can imagine it takes time till it reaches someone who knows and understands.
It's also that I am stubborn, and don't like to take no for an answer, unless I really understand something I want is not possible. I'm an engineer, I can read data sheets, but Enphase's are just vague enough that I cannot decide whether it will work or not. I'm not alone, given the confusion in this thread
It's also a bit my location and the difficult power company here. Spain is trying to protect the power company's interests with unreasonable measures. They are being told off by the EU, but it'll take time till that is all resolved.
All in all, I haven't given Enphase up, yet. They could learn from this thread, too.
r.
Comment
-
you seem to have missed the entire financial issue of the product.
you also seem to be under the impression that the micro inverters last longer than other inverters as well.OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNHComment
-
Originally posted by ButchDeal View Postyou seem to have missed the entire financial issue of the product.
Originally posted by ButchDeal View Postyou also seem to be under the impression that the micro inverters last longer than other inverters as well.
rick
Comment
-
Originally posted by NEOH View PostIs there a firmware difference between the (earlier) M250-60 and (later) M250-72 Inverter ?
[FONT=courier new]M250-60.... 4th Generation Inverter
M250-72 ... ?th Generation Inverter ( old 4th Gen or new 5th Gen ? )
I found only one website that stated the M250-72 was 5th Generation.
rick
Comment
-
Originally posted by rickj View Post
Are you willing to enlighten me?
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ENPH/financials?p=ENPH
https://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...force-and-Plan
https://seekingalpha.com/article/407...ancial-trouble
OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNHComment
-
Originally posted by ButchDeal View Postsure here you go
Even if Enphase stops this could be a reassurance that it is still possible to get replacements later:
https://seekingalpha.com/news/327444...ense-agreement
Comment
-
One possibility would be to AC couple your microinverters to an Outback Radian operating in grid-zero mode. (Outback has an informative web page on this.) You could use a relatively small AGM or LiFePo4 battery, just enough to let the Radian hybrid inverter slosh current back and forth as it keeps up with your loads and turns the microinverters on and off in response to the loads.
It would be interesting if you could split the microinverters into groups that each get their own remote operated breaker so that not all would need to be turned off at once. The Radian has a couple of AUX outputs and could possibly be programmed to use more than one for this. Probably not something that would be supported or terribly practical, though.Comment
-
Originally posted by BackwoodsEE View PostYou could use a relatively small AGM or LiFePo4 battery, just enough to let the Radian hybrid inverter slosh current back and forth as it keeps up with your loads and turns the microinverters on and off in response to the loads.
an AGM might if not too small but the heavy cycling would likely kill it shortly.OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNHComment
-
Originally posted by BackwoodsEE View PostOne possibility would be to AC couple your microinverters to an Outback Radian operating in grid-zero mode. (Outback has an informative web page on this.) You could use a relatively small AGM or LiFePo4 battery, just enough to let the Radian hybrid inverter slosh current back and forth as it keeps up with your loads and turns the microinverters on and off in response to the loads.
It would be interesting if you could split the microinverters into groups that each get their own remote operated breaker so that not all would need to be turned off at once. The Radian has a couple of AUX outputs and could possibly be programmed to use more than one for this. Probably not something that would be supported or terribly practical, though.Comment
-
Originally posted by rickj View PostApparently the Enphase inverters are very good at monitoring phase and voltage of the grid the are connected to, and shutdown very quickly if the specs are not met.
Many systems have the capabilities of zero grid feed in.
SolarEdge seems like the best fit since you are considering micros. It is built in and works well.
Any hacked system is unlikely to meet code or be approved as a zero feed in solution.
OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNHComment
-
Originally posted by BackwoodsEE View PostOne possibility would be to AC couple your microinverters to an Outback Radian operating in grid-zero mode. (Outback has an informative web page on this.) You could use a relatively small AGM or LiFePo4 battery, just enough to let the Radian hybrid inverter slosh current back and forth as it keeps up with your loads and turns the microinverters on and off in response to the loads.
Comment
-
Originally posted by ButchDeal View PostOutBack is very clear about the size of the battery being large enough to handle the full charge from the AC coupled system. A small LiFePo4 is unlikely to handle that.
an AGM might if not too small but the heavy cycling would likely kill it shortly.
Let's say the sum grid-tie inverter output is 6 kW, near 80% of the Radian's 8 kW capacity. If all that got converted to 50V DC for a charging battery assuming for the sake of discussion that there were no losses, you'd have 120 A of charging current. For an AGM or LiFePo4 I understand that C/4 is OK, maybe even C/3, so that would mean a battery in the upper 400 Ah range. Yeah, I guess that's not exactly small, is it? Even doing C/3 with a LiFePo4 would be a very expensive (around $8000 for CALBs) 360 Ah.
Ouch. Batteries suck.
The cycling you're referring to--does that also happen when AC coupling in grid-tie mode (not an option for the OP, I know)? I'd hope the Outback is smart enough to leave the battery alone when it has the grid to feed to and draw from.
Comment
Comment