Enphase IQ6 Plus solar microinverter overview 

She's such a credit to the industry :) In a few month I'm erecting my system. I'm going to call these guys and say 'Put Amy on the line.' 'But sir we can handle your call.' 'Put Amy on the line.' 'Sir she's busy right now.' 'I'll wait.' I have very specific goals and for my system personally, most the money I've saved throughout my life will be on the table so yeah, no mistakes allowed. 'Put Amy on the line.' I'm sure she's a busy lady and doesn't have much time, so at least I've taught myself what I'm after, I'll just need her to navigate to the best optimizer/inverter combos, I plan to leave some in DC hence the optimizer must.

Amy Beaudet great video. It's nice to hear someone using the correct terms and who really understands the product. Thank you!

As we said in the video, the old Enphase inverters will not work with the new Envoy. I haven't gotten enough info on the battery yet. I'll do a video on that as soon as I do.

You answered the question yourself. The Panasonic voltage is too high for the Enphase. It is generally used with SolarEdge and their P400 DC optimizer, which is for 72/96 cell panels.

Oversizing the DC input is very common. There are a few reasons. Solar panels are rated at standard test conditions, that are very rarely met in real world. So unless they are installed at the perfect angle, perfect direction, 100% sunlight all day, and 77F (25C) temperature, the panel is likely outputting less than it is rated for. As a result, especially in the morning and late afternoon, if you can over power the input, you will maximize the output. The amount of time that you get the output clipped to the max output of the inverter is so small, that the additional output you get the rest of the time more than makes up for it. Seeing the DC/AC ration of 1:1.4 is often used. So that is 290W in and 406W out.

As soon as we have the IQ7. We are waiting for them to arrive.

Yes. The combiner box is on the roof with the solar panels. This allows you to combine the multiple branches and transition into wire in conduit to safely leave the boundary of the solar array.

When you are measuring short circuit current, the voltage is at 0V. Likewise, when measuring Open Circuit Voltage, the current is at 0A. The Maximum Power is measured when the volts and amps are at their highest combined. That is Max Power Volts (Vmp) and Max Power Amps (Imp).

Take a look at the IV Curve on a datasheet. It shows you the volts vs amps. The elbow is where the Max Power is. www.altestore.com/static/datafiles/Others/Canadian_SolarCS6U-Mono%20Datasheet.pdf

Thank you so much Solar Queen - would u b kind enough that why we need to OR have to put FUSE in series (as written on the solar panel sticker that Fuse rating is so n so Amps) I am asking because the sola rpanels are connected in series 10 of them all are producing 8 amps at max and bcz they are in series so volts are adding not the amps but still the sticker is saying fuse 15 amps to put ! want to know the logic , Why we need to put fuse when the panel cant produce more than 8 amps at max even in short circuit situation . please shed some light over this . Thank you again .

Yes. All grid tied solar inverters have to produce pure sine wave to match the grid.

The output will be limited to 290W. But, that is not a bad thing. With overpowering the solar input, your system will turn on earlier in the morning, and stay on later in the afternoon. On partially sunny days, the output will be improved. It is rare for conditions to be perfect to have a panel actually output its rated power, so the amount of time that the inverter might clip the output is more than made up for the increased output the rest of the time.

I'm using 330watt panels and I'm getting about 2kwh a panel a day on nice sunny days

Enphase's newest microinverters will soon have an optional battery that can be installed inside for when the grid is out or at night time. For existing systems, there is also the option to install AC Coupling, we've done several videos on this. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Wz7rJV0DMok.html

They are just available as 240V (aka 220V).

So are they commercial only? How do you get 110V?

It is just like the grid that delivers 240 to your house into your main breaker box with Line 1, Line 2, and Nuetral. Inside your breaker box, you break it out to Line 1 to Neutral, and Line 2 to Neutral for 110V or Line 1 to Line 2 for 220V.

Absolutely. That's a perfect size for it.

The IQ6 is strictly grid tied. It does not work with any battery unless it is AC coupled.

That's called AC Coupling. We have several videos on that too.

It will not support the Panasonic HIT panel. The panel's voltage is too high. Enphase is listed for max volts in at 62VDC, the Panasonic has a Voc of 69V. For Panasonic, you need to use SolarEdge P400 or P700 optimizers with a SolarEdge inverter, or a string inverter with properly sized series string length.

You have to understand how a solar power system actually works. Rule number one, you will rarely, if ever, see the wattage rating out of a panel. Rule number 2, you're panel degrades over time. Rule number 3, to maximize system efficiency (and not waste power) you want your inverters running at max for as long as possible. Sizing your inverter to exactly match your max system is a waste of money and power, as it will almost never reach max output, and the chance of that happening gets worse as the panels age. Your systems peak efficiency happens when the system is at it's max. If you're panels aren't spending most of their time at max power to match the inverter, you're system isn't being efficient. However, on an overmatched system, sure you may lose a little to clipping during the few peaks you may get but you're system will spend a lot more time maxing the inverters, keeping them at peak efficiency. This is especially useful in the winter time as the solar angle is low and there is a much shorter period of time where your panels can hit max anyway. The key here to building the best solar installation is to find the right balance between the panels and inverters so as to maximize the system for the longest time possible. That isn't going to happen if you put a 300 watt inverter on a 300 watt panel. Then again there is no hard and fast rule to overmatching as every installation has it's quirks. Things to keep in mind.

Rule number 1 : Get panel which accommodates and perform designed output of micro inverter ! Which means 350W monocrystaline panel with 72 cells is doing top efficiency on 300W micro inverter ,because you will never ever get the output they selling it for.You buy solar panel by watt, but this output is measured in lab under max conditions, so in real world you getting out of 350W panel during solar noon about max.300W most of the time during solar window and that must be the most efficient solar cell on the today's market...Thing to keep in mid..:)

Sometimes a big leap forward means letting go of the past (oh, how profound). Think about when Apple switched cables, everyone thought it was the end of the world. We survived.

@@AltEStore Lol, that analogy might stand if it were launched at a layman, but it wasn't. Apple moving the USB C was prompted by market demands for higher bandwidth and functionality. Do you really mean to argue that the minute amount of data needed to report the relevant states of a microinverter suddenly required a total overhual due to market demands or that this problem couldn't be solved in software? I'm fairly certain that there's no need to transmit large amounts of data over new interfaces when your most complex data point is a phase angle and the old system apparently works just fine.

Technically you could if it doesn't get colder than -4F (-20C). But, with an inverter output of 290W, it seems like a bit of a waste to connect a 490W panel to it. You'll be throwing away 200W during peak sunlight.

Does anyone make micro inverters for 96 cell 48V panels?

It is a great inverter for a 325W panel. It is a good idea to oversize the panel a little bit, even as much as 25 to 30%. The panels very rarely output full rated value, and even then is for a short time during mid day. Oversizing the panel allows you to output more power during the morning and afternoon, as well as partial sunny days. It's just the 490W panel they were asking about was over 60% oversized. That's a bit excessive.

Do you have shading issues that is forcing you to do microinverters with the 490W panel? If not, you would be able to get full power out of that panel with a string inverter.

I should have also mentioned that the SolarEdge 400W DC Optimizer with string inverter would also be a good fit for those panels.

If you look at the output of a solar panel throughout the day, it is very rarely, if ever, putting out its full rated wattage. That rating is under standard test conditions, 25C (77F), perfect angle, perfect direction, perfect noon time sun. So panels are regularly oversized to the inverter to compensate. This allows more power generation when the panels are outputting less. The amount of time that the AC output is clipped, actually cut off to 290W is minimal, compared the amount of time the inverters are putting out more AC power than it would with say a 300W panel due to the bigger panels. Over the course of the year, you will see more gains than losses. Many tests have been done by many companies to prove this.

I have 330watt panels on these inverters and maybe, if I'm lucky I will see max amps. For an hour a day. Having those extra 40 watts sure helps in the morning and late afternoon.