I have a 5.5kW Enphase microinverter equipped system that is 7+ years old. Last year half of the microinverters quit for no apparent reason and Enphase agreed to replace them after some investigation. Their local installer completed the job all good. The rub was the significant difference between Enphase allowance for installation and the actual cost which I was invoiced less the Enphase contribution.
I think Enphase figure the time to replace microinverters by doing the job on a bench in a workshop. Pay close attention the the layout of your installation as access to replace microinverters is critical. In our case we had to remove about 20 panels to access all the failed units and provide scaffolding for access as the panels had been installed very close to the edge of the roof leaving no way to access the fittings other than to remove all the panels from the top or to scaffold.
Small issue you will loose all the detailed data from your system unless you back it up for each micro inverter which is replaced although the total power production and use figures remain. It took about 5 months from the failure until the system was fully operational again 3 months of this was due to the local representative being very busy and the people who did the original installation went out of business some years ago so I guess I as not number one priority.
I have to say that the remainder of the Enphase microinverters kept working throughout this period so yes there is that aspect of redundancy in the system. Unless you have significant shading issues I would probably go for a conventional inverter or even two inverters in parallel on separate strings of panels if you are concerned about redundant capacity.
I think Enphase figure the time to replace microinverters by doing the job on a bench in a workshop. Pay close attention the the layout of your installation as access to replace microinverters is critical. In our case we had to remove about 20 panels to access all the failed units and provide scaffolding for access as the panels had been installed very close to the edge of the roof leaving no way to access the fittings other than to remove all the panels from the top or to scaffold.
Small issue you will loose all the detailed data from your system unless you back it up for each micro inverter which is replaced although the total power production and use figures remain. It took about 5 months from the failure until the system was fully operational again 3 months of this was due to the local representative being very busy and the people who did the original installation went out of business some years ago so I guess I as not number one priority.
I have to say that the remainder of the Enphase microinverters kept working throughout this period so yes there is that aspect of redundancy in the system. Unless you have significant shading issues I would probably go for a conventional inverter or even two inverters in parallel on separate strings of panels if you are concerned about redundant capacity.
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