Enphase Backup Storage - DIY Self-Installer Hurdles

[DER Solar]

Enphase grew in the early days by strong support from self-installers.
Lately, they make it increasingly difficult for self-installers to purchase, install and commission Enphase battery backup systems.

Cell Modem
A Cell modem is required for commissioning. There is absolutely no technical justification for this requirement!
Other backup systems make cell connections optional and CSI EP Cube even discourages the use of cell modems.

Certification
Self-installers need to complete training and pass certification in IQ8 installation, backup installation and backup system design!
Backup system design makes sense for commercial installers, but is overkill for self-installers.
A detailed load analysis is required, geared towards selling more underpowered and overpriced batteries, also overkill for self-installers.
At the end of the course, you are required to submit a full backup system design including a professionally drawn single-line diagram.
Try out https://www.figma.com/templates/schematic-diagram-example for drawing single line diagrams!
Company was recently acquired by Adobe for $20B, you can build your own components easily.

Sunlight-Only Hype
Don't buy in to the sunlight-only backup without batteries hype.
You have to buy
IQ8's, IQ-4 combiner or a similar combiner panel with mechanical breaker lock-down,
(check MidNite Solar's Enphase 3-string combiner with intergrated LoTo switch)
IQ gateway, a cell modem, a Zigbee wireless transceiver, IQ system controller 2 and 2(!) bloated load control panels.

Best of all: no backup and power during night or low solar irradiation!

Other Backup Options
Just because you have Enphase inverters does not force you into buying Enphase storage.
There are plenty of other AC coupled options for off-grid or grid-fault backup.
Schneider XW, Victron, SMA, FranklinWH, CSI EP Cube, QCELLS Q.Home, Alpha-ESS, FOX-ESS and many more.

Check post #108 and the Excel spreadsheet by hedges

 

[zanydroid]

Thanks for the tip on Figma and SLA. Do you have any examples of drawings you've seen/done with those.

Regarding certification hoops. Do you have to pay for it?

Personally I actually think Enphase is really Tier-1 in terms of the documentation, training, and community support available for it. I was cross-shopping Enphase and HoyMiles recently to see if I wanted IQ8 or HM/HMS micros (I already have HM/HMS). Enphase kind of completely crushes HoyMiles in the amount of open documentation available in English. Both published by themselves, and by their users. That's not to say Enphase is a stand out among Tier-1, most of the other tier-1's have similar level of documentation, and some have good forum support too.

(HoyMiles does have great documentation for their ModBus interface, which is promising)

 

[OzSolar]

Thanks for the review.

Sunlight-Only Hype
Don't buy in to the sunlight-only backup without batteries hype.
You have to buy
IQ8's, IQ-4 combiner or a similar combiner panel with mechanical breaker lock-down,
(check MidNite Solar's Enphase 3-string combiner with intergrated LoTo switch)
IQ gateway, a cell modem, a Zigbee wireless transceiver, IQ system controller 2 and 2(!) bloated load control panels.

We've looked at it a few times and felt that it was an overpriced marketing gimmick complete with some severe limitations.

Regarding certification hoops. Do you have to pay for it?

I don't believe so. You go to thier university and take classes complete with tests. You may have to get approved by them to join the university. I don't recall now plus I'm an installer so I was already set up in thier system.

I forget how many classes but it was a lot (to me) and you first had to take all of the "101" classes as prerequisites before you even got the classes you really wanted/needed. Of course it's a good thing that they do that. I just found it really cumbersome.

 

[zanydroid]

I just found it really cumbersome.

Oh, well this sounds like online traffic school or mandatory day job online training… as long as it’s not that many hours it’s sadly a fact of modern living anyway.

 

[DER Solar]

Enphase Support:
Enphase support is great! They replaced every micro inverter in the past that failed - over 50% !! - with a better compatible one. You can submit a ticket and get an answer on most questions in a day or so. Or you can get phone support directly. The courses are not bad, not up-to-date with IQ8's however. And some multiple choice questions can trip you up. Self-installers can easily apply for the equivalent of an installer account and use the installer toolkit app. Applying for Enphase University is easy. Best, all of this is free, but the last step in the backup design course is the most time consuming. You should take the installer training to get full warranty.

Hoymiles Inverters
Hoymiles is increasing the heat and competition for Enphase. As with all newcomers, it will take time for them to grow their support too.
Will watch them closely over the next few years, they have the engineering know-how to challenge Enphase, especially when they'll support open standards for DER and ESS interconnect. Checkout what Todd D from https://www.ncsolarelectric.com is doing! He is a great contributor on this form, but I don't know yet how to link to it.

Figma:
Will have samples of components we've built and sample diagrams later and links into Figma where you can try it. I have hired a young sub-contractor who uses Figma and AutoCAD in school and he is building components in Figma faster than I can draw them up by hand! If we get more inquiries for this we'll make the components public and free. AutoCAD is expensive and difficult to use for newcomers. I have trouble using it if I haven't touched it for a few months. There is a lot of interest in a free tool for drawing line diagrams.

 

[Bluedog225]

Enphase seems to hate the diy community. ?

 

[DER Solar]

Another recommendation for micro-grid backup storage:
You do not need expensive LIF batteries for backup and you never run into the thermal risks that come with lithium.
Lithium is very dangerous metal! It melts at 360 deg F and reacts with water to form semi-toxic LiHO lithium hydroxide and H highly explosive hydrogen.
Will never buy Energizer Lithium batteries again:

Many 48V backup solutions allow traditional lead-acid batteries. I have 32 sealed 1.5 kWh AGM batteries that I buy from recyclers who get them de-commissioned from telecom companies. But although they are sealed you have to provide proper ventilation. You can get those for $80-$120 per kWh, depending on manufacturing date. LiFePo4 will cost at least $300 or more per kWh and Enphase batteries will set you back to about $600-$800 per kWh.

 

[zanydroid]

How much does the $80-120 need to be adjusted for depth of discharge?

 

[zanydroid]

Enphase seems to hate the diy community. ?

??? I would say Growatt, MPP, etc "hate" the DIY community in subjecting us to significantly worse documentation.

The saving grace is that if the equipment has good bones, enough people will use and document it.

Woe befall anyone who buys into a new release from them that ends up being hot garbage and abandoned by the community.

 

[DER Solar]

zanydroid: Glad you are mentioning Growatt, MPP. There are quite a few other backup/hybrid inverters available. But only a few can do FW power curtailment well, Sol-Ark is one of them.
The AGM batteries come from different vendors and you have to follow the data spec sheet for DoD. They cannot be discharged like LIF and need a battery monitor in the inverter or attached to it (not for each cell). I have Dynasty UPS 12V/140Ah. Please note that I use them for UPS style backup or grid-fault backup, would not recommend them in an off-grid setup with large Ah daily charge/discharge cycles. Century 6V 225Ah Deep Cycle is another great battery.
But you'll have similar cycle limitations on LIF batteries too if you charge them to 100% and discharge them to 20%. Limiting LIF SOC to 80% and discharge to 50% will extend live span significantly. This where you need to read the fine print on LIF battery vendor's claims to do 7000 cycles!

​

 

[zanydroid]

Glad you are mentioning Growatt, MPP. There are quite a few other backup/hybrid inverters available. But only a few can do FW power curtailment well, Sol-Ark is one of them.

I made the mistake of looking through forum threads and documentation to see which of the Growatt/MPP/Voltronics/etc are able to do Frequency/Watt… seems like you need to be a masochist or a forum saint to want to try the ones that have it right now.

LVX6048WP and Magarevo 8K, not sure which other ones.

This where you need to read the fine print on LIF battery vendor's claims to do 7000 cycles

Personally I think 10 years/3650 cycles is good enough, since we don’t really have solid calendar age data yet.

 

[OzSolar]

Oh, well this sounds like online traffic school or mandatory day job online training… as long as it’s not that many hours it’s sadly a fact of modern living anyway.

Yep, I think so.

 

[Ampster]

But only a few can do FW power curtailment well, Sol-Ark is one of them.

My SolArk does Frequency/Watt curtailment well. So far I have not been able, when the grid is down, to get it to stabilize frequency enough to allow my AC coupled inverters to power up after they were curtailed. I am going to try different scenarios with more loads.

 

[Bluedog225]

??? I would say Growatt, MPP, etc "hate" the DIY community in subjecting us to significantly worse documentation.

The saving grace is that if the equipment has good bones, enough people will use and document it.

Woe befall anyone who buys into a new release from them that ends up being hot garbage and abandoned by the community.

 

[zanydroid]

I’m sorry I fail to see an obnoxious clause other than requiring Envoy telemetry to dial home. You would be encumbered with this if you bought the system turnkey, so no difference with DIY.

Plenty of people self install Enphase and have been fine, no?

Enphase lets owner builder sign up for classes. There are so few ways to take structured classes these days.

It’s not as bad as NEP where they actively and explicitly dunk on DIY.

 

[Ampster]

I have self installed several Enphase systems in the past eight years. I have even had successful warranty returns.

 

[zanydroid]

And for the record I don’t have Enphase installed nor do I plan to add any this year. I think they are too expensive and in line for a rude reckoning.

I have learned a lot of solar equipment theory from reading Enphase documentation, etc.

 

[Ampster]

I think they are too expensive and in line for a rude reckoning.

I am getting an Enphase system installed this month on an investment property and that installer thinks highly of them. Micros do solve the Rapid Shut Down and shade issues compared to string inverters. I also have string inverters.

 

[zanydroid]

I agree that they solve a lot of issues with US code compliance, require less training to use effectively, and probably helps installers stamp out installations more quickly (since compliant string installations take just as much physical labor but more design labor). But I think the devils bargain is that the installer and owner pays the premium to Enphase for that privilege. Hoymiles etc might give 80% of those benefits for 50% of the cost, also I believe they have the edge right now for minimizing clipping on really large panels.

It’s hard to say whether Enphase doing well in the US is the cause vs the effect of high per W costs compared to Europe or Australia where strings are more common.

 

[Bluedog225]

They are essentially saying no warranty at their discretion. Hard pass.