Guest Alphonsox Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Are there any great differences between different makes of PV inverter ? We have been offered Fronius, SMA and Solis so far and its difficult to choose between them based on technical data. Has anyone got any thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Mine is a Fronius. Has a display on it where you can cycle through all the options and gives you a graph charting the day's generation. Can put a USB stick into it and download more detailed data if you feel the need. Works away and has given no reason for concern so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I'm having the exact same dilemma. Seems almost impossible to distinguish between them. One supplier is recommending the Emphase micro inverters but now has asked if my sparky has a 'Enphase Envoy' for commissioning. Looking at the website I can't even work out what the hell that is! Another email/phone call. Solar PV is a right ball ache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) We used to install SMA's and Fronius, both are good and you can get the data off either. Unless you have shading problems, I cannot see any advantage of micro-inverters. Edited June 1, 2016 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Has anyone any views on the best value/reliability when it comes to microinverters? I'm after just a single microinverter to fit to a single 250W panel that's going to be the lid of the stone box I'm building to house the treatment plant pump and alarm. It's not going to be used for FIT, just as a way to provide a lid for the box that's both weather tight and useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alphonsox Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 The Enphase ones are the only ones I've come across - A friend has a system with them installed - They have only been in a year but seem to be working well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Thanks, the Enphase ones seem a bit simpler than the SMA ones for what I have in mind; all I really need is the simplest sort of microinverter, I've no need for any of the fancy data transmission stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackers Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 I'd prefer the micro inverters. Less DC wiring and some very good efficiencies. You also get MPPT per panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 On 5/31/2016 at 21:39, Barney12 said: I'm having the exact same dilemma. Seems almost impossible to distinguish between them. One supplier is recommending the Emphase micro inverters but now has asked if my sparky has a 'Enphase Envoy' for commissioning. Looking at the website I can't even work out what the hell that is! Another email/phone call. Solar PV is a right ball ache The "Envoy" is the hub that the microinverters communicate with. It basically receives information from each panel, piggybacked on the power lines. I'm very surprised that someone is supplying microinverters without the hub, and even more surprised that they're asking whether your electrician has one (unless he or she is a PV specialist and would be expected to know about these things). We have an enphase microinverter setup. The units came with a 20 (or maybe 25) year warranty, which seemed pretty impressive. A good PV supplier should be able to do an accurate survey of your site and model the output and FiTs to determine whether micro or regular inverters are the best option for you financially. The guy who did ours was on our roof for over an hour doing the survey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexphd1 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Had a guy on site yesterday and he recommended enphase micro inverter, apart from extra cost whats the negatives on these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 (edited) I am completely Solaredge for individual panel optimisation and inverters, which is a different technology to microinverters. Somebody else will have to explain the pros and cons since I can no longer remember :-) . I seem to recall that the extra cost was fairly minimal, and since I have variously shaded parts of my array and may rearrange the panels in future, it seemed a small amount extra (5%?) to pay. Ferdinand Edited April 15, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 I think the basic concept is that any module that is not working at the optimal performance for the conditions i.e. shading, is bypassed. This stops the module being heated up by the other modules i.e. self consumption. This can cause a power drop for the whole system. Micro inverters do the same thing and convert the wild DC current and voltage to regulated AC. If you don't have a shading issue (or only a minor one), there is nothing to be gained by using individual module optimisation. Let a normal inverter deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 No disrespect to anyone here but most experience will be with your own individual inverter. Why not post the OP question over on TEF: https://talk.electricianforum.co.uk You'll get @binky come along and give his honest opinion as someone who fits loads hence has wide experience of different makes. He is to PV what Nick is here to plumbing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Onoff said: No disrespect to anyone here but most experience will be with your own individual inverter. Why not post the OP question over on TEF: https://talk.electricianforum.co.uk You'll get @binky come along and give his honest opinion as someone who fits loads hence has wide experience of different makes. He is to PV what Nick is here to plumbing. I'd agree, having done hundreds of installs, I've fitted mostly SMA or Fronius at the better end, and loads of other cheaper stuff for jobs on a budget, but haven't done much domestic PV for maybe 3 or 4 years now, mostly only larger commercial or farms recently, so haven't felt qualified to comment, whereas Binky does these on a weekly basis so is up to speed with the latest kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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