Enphase's Envoy, my experience

[foggysail]

Before I tell about my issues, I want to be very clear about my Enphase opinion. My system was installed last September, activated in October and consists of 28 400W Canadian panels mated with Enphase's IQ8A inverters. So far I am very pleased with this match and have seen 350-360W of AC power produced per panel at times. No bitches here. It is a well-thought-out system.

Now lets get to their Envoy which communicates between the system and the user for monitoring. I have filed numerous complaints with Enphase about its reporting problem. They advertise this dog reports the system's performance every 15 minutes! Yeah but only sometimes! My system loses the WIFI connection almost EVERY DAY REQUIRING MANUALLY RESETTING THIS DOG. It connects to my home's WIFI system via a range extender located about 5 feet away with a wooden building wall between it and the Combiner Box where their Enovy is mounted. I firmly believe there is a software deficiency in their design. I was promised a software update is coming someday but my problem remains.

IMHO, that stinking Envoy is the only flaw and it should be fixable. So be warned about what to expect if you plan to use Enphase. Check around, maybe Google for instance. Final comment, I also highly suggest (others I am sure will disagree) using an AC system over a DC system but the choice is yours. An AC sinewave passes through 0 volts at twice the line frequency and therefore reduces arcing problems to almost ''0''. Not so with DC. And all DC wiring by code must be placed inside of metal tubing which maybe is not a big deal. Make your choice only after weighing all aspects of any planned system and good luck.

Foggysail

 

[goldserve]

I haven’t heard many problems about Wi-Fi connection to the envoy. Then again, I have great Wi-Fi everywhere so maybe I’m good. What about the Ethernet connection?

 

[BentleyJ]

WiFi extenders can be randomly problematic in my experience. The first extender purchased for home use a few years ago was nothing but problems, I threw it away after a few weeks of wasting time moving it around and testing. Was my fault for buying based on price not reviews.
The range extender being used now is so much better but not perfect as there have been a couple of incidents where our whole wifi network just quit working and would not respond with the range extender ON. Removed the range extender and reconnected those devices close enough to the router. Few days later plugged in the range extender and everything works, not sure what happened. May be worth trying a different brand and model extender.

Another potential issue could be with PowerLine Communication interference between the microinverters and the Envoy. Addition of a powerline filter may be beneficial. Its possible you've been so focused on the WiFi aspect and didn't notice the PLM issues which seem to be much less obvious.

 

[foggysail]

The interruptions started soon after the system became operational when the WIFI was directly provided from my Verizon router. To ensure there was enough signal strength, I purchased an extender with the same results. I thought possibly the extender might not be doing its job so I next purchased another one, a Netgear EX3110 which is now connected.

I will search again for a better extender but even if the signal gets lost, the Envoy should be able to re-establish the connection without manually rebooting.

 

[DirtybumOak]

+1 for Ethernet. You can run a long Ethernet cable. It solved a lot of my home wifi issues

 

[400bird]

You don't install an extender 5 ft from the device, it needs a good signal to extend. Try putting it halfway or 1/3 of the way back towards the router. Or better yet, Ethernet. Anything I need stable communication to get hardwired. I don't have an envoy, but I did hardwire my inverters to the router.

 

[foggysail]

You don't install an extender 5 ft from the device, it needs a good signal to extend. Try putting it halfway or 1/3 of the way back towards the router. Or better yet, Ethernet. Anythi

able communication to get hardwired. I don't have an envoy, but I did hardwire my inverters to the router

Sorry for the above screwup. Back to my extender. I have already been there as far as its placement. I have moved the thing over 5 places trying to get the max signal to the Combiner box. It is not a placement issue. As far as connecting my 28 inverters hardwired to my router........... with Enphase IQ8A inverters?

Yes, Ethernet is the best connection but will be a colossal PITA wiring project for my installation.

 

[400bird]

Sorry for the above screwup. Back to my extender. I have already been there as far as its placement. I have moved the thing over 5 places trying to get the max signal to the Combiner box. It is not a placement issue.

Ok, glad you tried it. Some don't realize how an extender works. I think they're better at doing email than a constant connection for IOT stuff.

As far as connecting my 28 inverters hardwired to my router........... with Enphase IQ8A inverters?

I don't have Enphase equipment, I hardwired my two inverters. But, unless I'm mistaken, there are not Ethernet ports on each micro inverter, right? Oh, God that would be a pain, for sure unreasonable!

We're suggesting to hardwire Ethernet to the Envoy.

 

[thewilliam]

I gave up on my isp provided router a year or two ago and bought my own. Wish I had done it sooner. I was able to get rid of one of my extenders.

My combiner/Envoy connects to my router through one interior wall and one external wall (stucco with metal lath). Sounds like your Envoy might be quite a distance from your router.

My system has been running for a few weeks. I have noticed times when the data is behind when looking via Enlighten but it always catches up. I think I read somewhere that the Envoy can cache up to three days of data. I don't see any "Gateway not reporting" in the Event Log - except when my router did a firmware update and reverted to defaults settings. Are you seeing those events when it drops the wifi connection?

 

[foggysail]

Ok, glad you tried it. Some don't realize how an extender works. I think they're better at doing email than a constant connection for IOT stuff.

I don't have Enphase equipment, I hardwired my two inverters. But, unless I'm mistaken, there are not Ethernet ports on each micro inverter, right? Oh, God that would be a pain, for sure unreasonable!

We're suggesting to hardwire Ethernet to the Envoy.

Yes, I understand the hard wire suggestions. It will be a BPITA getting Ethernet cable of which I have plenty, from my router to the combiner box

I will give more thought to a direct connection. I have a bunch of connectors along with the needed tool so that is the easy part.