I just had a 8KW system installed by an installer. Now I don't trust them...

[derekc]

Well, this came straight from Enphase customer support. "TED and Envoy do not play well together".

They also said Envoy does not like to travel long distances, especially for ground mounts located far away.

When you have to install your envoy near the solar subpanel and if there is no ethernet or wifi (if you use a client bridge like TP-LINK TL-WR702N) access there, then one way is to use ethernet over powerline AND THAT IS HOW PEOPLE (INSTALLER?) GET CONFUSED mixing that idea with the powerline communication between the envoy and the micro inverters. A powerline can handle both "ethernet over powerline" and the 144Khz communication between envoy and micro-inverters but they are TWO different issues.

[DanS26]

Really, why would that matter? I have a Sunpower com. system, two eGauge units and a PC all on separate sets of PL modules. Not a spec of trouble. Powerline is crude and rude but gets the job done when homes don't have the necessary Ethernet jacks in the right places. Is this something specific with the PL modules supplied by Enphase? I use Netgear PLC units.

Well, this came straight from Enphase customer support. "TED and Envoy do not play well together".

They also said Envoy does not like to travel long distances, especially for ground mounts located far away.

[derekc]

Yeap, another way is to cut that 3/4" pipe and insert a 1 gang box. There are 4 wires inside the pipe - black red white and ground for 240V. Wire the black, white and ground for 120V for the envoy. It will not be to the code but it will work (and that is not easily reversable and might "void" the warranty should the installer come back, or get me in trouble if the city inspector comes back.)

I just bought qty ten torroids. I will put one on the defending circuit first. Hopefully there is just one defending circuit.

[control4userguy]

OP-You don't need a "slot". Just sneak it in under the existing breaker heading up to the roof. Also, if you already know what circuit is causing the interference, why not tackle that first? I guess I don't get this argument...

Yeah, that's what I was saying- you don't need a separate breaker for something drawing mAs...

[inetdog]

Yes, I figured that out after reading the troubleshooting guide. The problem is the subpanel has no slot for more breaker. Now I could only isolate the interfering circuit, if I can find it, by a ferrite toroid or just put one on each other circuit. That was the installer's job, wasn't it.

Since there is no more room in the panel, why not get a receptacle wired into the PV output wires themselves before they enter the panel? As long as the CB is 20A or less, an electrician should be able to do that easily. If the CB is larger, then there must be an AC combiner panel closer to the inverters. Then
put the ferrite isolator between that point and the breaker?
As for eliminating the source of interference caused by your light fixtures and your house wiring, I do not feel comfortable putting the entire responsibility for correcting that on your installer. Working with you to identify the problem, sure, but not fixing everything that is wrong in your house wiring as a zero cost part of doing the installation.
Getting power line communication to work properly is something of an art.

[derekc]

Overall, there are many things one can try to get comms up&running. I get the feeling like if you don't want to DIY, good luck then. At least try to eliminate the possibility that the PLC units being supplied with Enphase could be crap. Easy way to find out is to piggy-back their junk on top of a set of Netgears and see what that gets you. I do that with Actiontec units (major junk) and they work fine no matter where they are placed.

piggy-back their junk on top of a set of Netgears? Again, the ethernet side of the envoy (or the internet, wifi, access point, router, client bridge, cable gateway, etc) are perfect. The problem is the notorious power line side.

[control4userguy]

Overall, there are many things one can try to get comms up&running. I get the feeling like if you don't want to DIY, good luck then. At least try to eliminate the possibility that the PLC units being supplied with Enphase could be crap. Easy way to find out is to piggy-back their junk on top of a set of Netgears and see what that gets you. I do that with Actiontec units (major junk) and they work fine no matter where they are placed.

[control4userguy]

Do you have another energy monitoring system installed? Like a TED system? Or some other PLC system? Envoy does not like to play well with these other guys.

Really, why would that matter? I have a Sunpower com. system, two eGauge units and a PC all on separate sets of PL modules. Not a spec of trouble. Powerline is crude and rude but gets the job done when homes don't have the necessary Ethernet jacks in the right places. Is this something specific with the PL modules supplied by Enphase? I use Netgear PLC units.

[control4userguy]

No.

Edit: Wait a sec, where are seeing per-inverter reporting on a public site? The only place I see that is in Enlighten Manager.

Never said that. Up at the top of the page, number of modules not sending data is listed.

[DanS26]

Do you have another energy monitoring system installed? Like a TED system? Or some other PLC system? Envoy does not like to play well with these other guys.

[sdold]

I now learned that envoy is bad design. Communication over power line is simply not reliable.

It is when it's engineered and installed correctly. Mine has been working perfectly since I took care of the problem, the way I had hoped you would be able to do. Good luck with your system.

[sdold]

BTW, I go on Enphase's public sites often and notice jobs with one or more micros not talking. Is that what you can expect with Enphase?

No.

Edit: Wait a sec, where are seeing per-inverter reporting on a public site? The only place I see that is in Enlighten Manager.

[derekc]

BTW, I go on Enphase's public sites often and notice jobs with one or more micros not talking. Is that what you can expect with Enphase?

I now learned that envoy is bad design. Communication over power line is simply not reliable. I was not told about that and half of the time there is no data collected (lost!) when I paid in full price for it is simply not acceptable. Oh, I can't even see the per panel info? If the installer (they can see) don't tell me one panel has no output (like when a tree branch is on it), how do I know? What is the point of buying a monitoring device?

Oh, check out amazon reviews. Everyone is complaining how sporadically envoy works.

[control4userguy]

BTW, I go on Enphase's public sites often and notice jobs with one or more micros not talking. Is that what you can expect with Enphase?

[control4userguy]

A mechanic helps you to put a new engine in your car. When he says he is done, he shows you the new engine working but the speedometer is not working. He insists there is nothing he can do and wants full payment. Do you pay? Then you later read up and learn that it might be just a cable loose, do you fix it yourself or keep calling him to ask him to fix it (while you are looking right at the loose cable)? Or fix it yourself and dispute the charge and deduct the money for the time you spent doing his job and possible a value for warranty?

I don't like analogies. This is something much less complicated. Your system of micros talks down to the head unit. Get the head unit in direct shot of the micros and it will work. That is if your equipment isn't DOA to begin with.