650watt with Enphase M215 micro - What's the reality of clipping/saturation?

[PenguinSolar]

So evaluating a bid using Suniva OPT265-60-4-1B0 (All black panel) with a PTC rating of 237.4w. My understanding is the Enphase M215 inverter only outputs max at 215w.

So during peak day I'll be losing out at 22.4w when it hits the PTC rating.

How real is this concern? Is PTC determined under ideal conditions?

Should I either try to increase the inverter or down-size the panel so I can use all the generation the panels might be able to produce?

Don't really want to pay extra for higher-efficiency panels that I can't harvest the energy out of.

Thanks so much!

[megalo]

The M215 will actually output 225W before clipping - and even if it does clip, it will be for a very short period of time. I found this paper pretty interesting: http://enphase.com/wp-uploads/enphas...ightsizing.pdf. All black panels will also derate quicker due to temperature, so the reality is that you'll see the rated power even less frequently.

Figure 4 shows the total hours that the M215 spent throughout the year at
each output power level, when paired with a 260W module in Denver, CO. As can be seen, the
microinverter operated below its maximum output rating for more than 99.5% of the year.

I have 265W panels and M215s sitting in my garage right now waiting to be installed.

[PenguinSolar]

While we're on micro any truth that you get LONGER harvest times with micro inverters due to the low voltage to "wake up" and operate?

Have one sales guy saying it's like 12hrs vs 6hrs --- really don't think that's possible but have read about micro waking up faster and going to bed later.

Looking for actual data, guess could try to poke around PVOutput for a real world example but wondering if anyone here has personal experience and what's the real world experience/benefit (if any).

Let's say there's minimum shading so it's strictly harvest time.

Been playing with the CSI an PvWatts calculators but don't think it really factors this in.

Thanks!

The M215 will actually output 225W before clipping - and even if it does clip, it will be for a very short period of time. I found this paper pretty interesting: http://enphase.com/wp-uploads/enphas...ightsizing.pdf. All black panels will also derate quicker due to temperature, so the reality is that you'll see the rated power even less frequently.



I have 265W panels and M215s sitting in my garage right now waiting to be installed.

[russ]

While we're on micro any truth that you get LONGER harvest times with micro inverters due to the low voltage to "wake up" and operate?

Have one sales guy saying it's like 12hrs vs 6hrs --- really don't think that's possible but have read about micro waking up faster and going to bed later.

That salesman is a shyster making it up as he goes! A few seconds if anything at all.

[inetdog]

While we're on micro any truth that you get LONGER harvest times with micro inverters due to the low voltage to "wake up" and operate?

Bogousity quotient approaching 1.0.
The voltage from a panel does not increase significantly with the amount of light, just the current.
Waking up one microinverter may take less power than a string inverter in the same situation, but there would only be one string inverter needing power.
If there is a detectable effect it would only be if the sun creeps very slowly across the array as it rises. (Really bad shading...)