Pros/cons of the non-Enphase microinverters

[juan3211]

I wanted to get some more information about all of the different non-Enphase microinverters. Both from a cost/performance standpoint as well as things like ecosystem and support

Manufacturer list

• AP Systems
• Hoymiles
• Others?

In terms of what I've found so far unique to the above.

I can see that both provide minimal direct support for DIY. AP Systems actively discourages it, but still has instructions on how to enroll as an individual. Is this discouragement more of a covering-their-ass / avoiding the support costs, or is it stronger than that? As far as I can tell, Hoymiles just ignores DIY and pretends it doesn't exist (haven't stumbled across any DIY info on their website).

Hoymiles still has 4 port microinverters while AP systems is 2 port only. My understanding is that the cost is significantly less due to the simpler circuitry vs the 2-port ones -- 4 DC inputs but only 2 MPPTs instead of 4. So there is an additional dimension for value engineering.

Hoymiles has zero-export capability with control over RS-485, and there's experience on this board on how to deal with it. I found the ModBus command list here. Note the 2-100% direct throttling (though after this it needs to be forwarded to the micros over wireless). I'm not an expert in ModBus nor power systems, but it looks pretty well thought out to my software engineer eyes.

That said, I have noticed some typos in the register map already from just looking at it for 10 min, which is a bit disappointing.

APSystems also has RS-485, I haven't found the official command list document but it is documented to some extent in the HomeAssistant community.

Random questions
Which company is more likely to have partnerships / expansion of product line to say AC coupled batteries or V2H?

Hi, what do you say 4 ports hoymiles have only 2 mppts? I though that, for example, HMS-2000 has 4 mppts and there are subversions with only 2 mppts: HMS-2000C/D-4T. But the "original" one has 4 mppt, hasn't it ?

 

[pollenface]

I bought a $100aud generic one from ebay and ran it from a battery, it lasted 3 months.

 

[zanydroid]

Hi, what do you say 4 ports hoymiles have only 2 mppts? I though that, for example, HMS-2000 has 4 mppts and there are subversions with only 2 mppts: HMS-2000C/D-4T. But the "original" one has 4 mppt, hasn't it ?

HM-1200,1500 etc are 2 MPPT 4 port models.

EDIT: I started this thread either before HMS came out, or before I knew about it.

I'm not that familiar with the HMS series, the last time I checked HMS-1600,-2000 had 4 MPPT.

I guess those 2 MPPT models are meant to be halfway in cost between the original HMS and the HM