Introduction to Enphase Ensemble, a grid-agnostic solution
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Ensemble is an “always-on” energy management technology by Enphase. It is truly the future of energy, as it can power traditional grid-tied, grid-agnostic microgrid, and fully off-grid solar products.
The Ensemble suite includes Enphase IQ series microinverters, the Enphase Encharge IQ8-based battery, the Enphase Combiner and the Enphase Enpower Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) with fine-grained load control, and the powerful cloud-based Enphase Enlighten monitoring, communications, and control system.
Our FAQs list covers the various aspects of Ensemble: bit.ly/2R1cuHL
Additional details here: bit.ly/2I2FXNz
Sign up for Ensemble updates: bit.ly/2I1l1GF
We have been closely monitoring all your questions and doubts. Here is a list of FAQs and their answers covering the various aspects of Ensemble - bit.ly/2R1cuHL
Thank you for the info!
So, if I want to install a system this year w/full 30% tax credit and you're not releasing till Christmas, I'll have to move forward with the iq7 setup.
PS - Please lobby Congress to extend the tax credit.
I have seen a lot of manufacturers on TH-cam ignore the comments from their viewers. This is the first time I’ve seen them turned into a FAQ and the first time that I’ve seen the questions addressed in a meaningful way! This response is amazing and honestly I was leaning heavily towards a hybrid approach until just now.... Now I’m wanting to go straight to IQ8!
You have to have a battery as part of this setup to run when the grid is down, correct?
Tes Tos to operate solar when the grid is down you need some form of device that disconnects you from the grid for safety and regulatory reasons. That is the MID or switch as they call it. The MID also contains a neutral forming transformer which the micros need to generate 240V when off grid. If you have a battery solution using a hybrid inverter design, the device has the switch built in which is why it typically has 3 inputs - grid, battery, generator.
Tes Tos MID is Microgrid Interconnect Device. EnPhase calls its their Enpower Switch. Think of it as an isolator that disconnects you from the grid and enables you to run off grid. Since the IQs don’t provide a Neutral, it has a Neutral Forming Transformer that gives you a neutral. As for quoting it, the rough method right this second is to price out the Tesla Powerwall on their site and double that price and you have what its going to cost for the Encharge-10 and Enpower at this time. Since you have the IQ Envoy and IQ6/7 micros, you only need to add the Encharges and the Enpower. You have to match the Encharge 1:1 to your solar array size at this time as they haven’t fully tested any oversubscription.
Getting electricity off the grid is superb!! Thanks for making & improving the tech here!!👍🔌⚡️
It's about time someone made a grid-agnostic microinverter system. How much$$$$? Can the Enphase Enpower (ATS) be used with existing storage batteries and or other microinverters? If so what battery types will they work with, Lead Acid, AGM, Lithium (Tesla, Chevy, Nissan)? I recommend Enphase all the time. The dreaded will it work when the grid goes down question can now be, Yes!
How can it work when grid goes down IQ8 not out yet
We just went live with our new Enphase Ensemble system today 🥳 Just in time for Hurricane season here in Southwest Florida.
I checked the FAQs but nobody talks about price?
So yeah what’s the cost for all this?
I think it's a great idea to have system grid-agnostic. Imho, the adoption of the Ensemble will depend on the total cost of the project.
I own grid tied system, as a backup I plan to install portable generator and transfer switch to cover critical circuits of my house. If the cost of new Ensemble is around $1-2k, it's a no-brainer. If more, I will stick to my generator. If they price it like Tesla Powerwall it's a NO-GO for me.
Yuri Kiev I’ve ran the numbers and compared to my propane bill when running on a whole home (38kW) generator, the batteries will definitely pay for themselves in no time.
Looks great! However, my system is brand new (only been on about a month) and I do not think I have all those things included. Not ready at this point in time to add on to the already pricey system I am just starting to pay off. Unless of course adding the necessary items to make this happen is not pricey at all? But I kind of doubt that...
We added an Outback inverter and a bunch of batteries to our system years ago, and have achieved the same thing (without the cool monitoring). We've gone thru 1 to 4 day outages with power to the critical items the entire time. However, a new set of batteries will be needed soon since we used lead-acid. Will need to see if the Enphase battery will work.
Diana Robson Enphase batteries are AC-coupled. You wouldn’t need the outback inverter or any charge controller. So you would end up with some stranded assets. There are drop in replacement lithium iron phosphate batteries that could be a good option for you.
Been putting off my system for over a year now waiting and waiting for Ensemble, even bought Stocks hoping this become a reality
too expensive. Needs to be half the price for feasibility.
Hey Enphase... I love the Ensemble solution, but it’s way out of line on pricing. I called my distributor the other day and it’s double the cost of the Powerwall for less capacity and less output power. What’s the reasoning behind that? I could understand a small premium for the modular design, but not double! Can you give us some insights into the pricing strategy?
Tesla mobbed up most of the important patents on this type of battery tech years before everyone else got in the game. They have a strong first comers advantage for sure.
@@MichaelMiller-ip3lg tesla batteries are not Lithium Iron Phosphate....
Word has it Powerwalls are nearly impossible to get now. It seems Tesla devoted their resources to their cars as priority.
And yeah, Powerwalls are Lithium ion, not LiFePO4. Some will dispute this, but over the past couple years I've heard read read too many incidents of LIon batteries failing in spectacular fashion. That's why Chevy Volts and other E-car manufacturers have a huge recall on right now.
Very nice, but, the Enphase batteries are very expensive: I have an Enphase system (installed Oct 2015), was subsequently quoted for supply / install 3 (or was it just 2?) Enphase batteries, the only compatible, £6500. Ouch. Given that we only use about £240 electricity per year, that would equate to a 27 year payback. And that is assuming no on costs, deterioration or failure, therefore not realistically viable.
I've had an Enphase system since January 2013 and still can't find a local dealer to even think about installing Enphase batteries. I'm sure it would be the same if I went to upgrade with this new technology. Which I would love to do because it has always seemed really stupid to have to run a generator when the power goes out and the sun is shining.
Which country do you live in? There is a solar battery installer in Leicester, UK.
@@theondebray Thanks but I'm in USA, New Mexico.
Have had 3 panels out for over 4 years. Same problem. Dealer network useless.
Oh dear, sorry I can't help.
An Enphase battery is AC-Coupled. Anyone with half a brain cell can install it.
Too many "En" labels for one system … need to simplify it !!
Wow, I’m glad I invested in you guys and I will continue to invest
look forward to grid agnostic Enphase to be available in Australia. I have a new Enphase install (16 panels, S270 microinverters, no batteries yet) and intend replacing when needed to a full agnostic system. Doubt I will replace too early though.
Will we be able to use existing battery banks?
Interesting technology. BTW Puerto Rico is part of the US.
Yes, but US stands for United States and Puerto Rico is not a state.
@@MrFlyslow PR is not a state but it is part of the US (USA): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States.
Maybe Enphase has all the business in PR sewn up. But if I were a marketing person and looking for business in PR, I'd avoid suggesting PR not part of US. I think it is a very sensitive issue there.
@@markatkins6874 Agree; whether or not they're looking for business in PR, it's an inaccurate statement and they look foolish.
Aidan Skoyles next time I go to Puerto Rico I'll tell the airport I'm going to USA hope I get there! .. Lol it's geography
love all of this but the pricing is ENormous.
Given an existing Enphase IQ 7plus system, what would it cost to upgrade to IQ 8/Ensemble, on a per panel basis?
See 3:30.... it says IQ6 and IQ7 are compatible
@@1marmanley Compatible if you want to add a battery which is thousands of dollars. If you don't want the battery and just want to run solar for power when the grid is down during the day, you can do that with the IQ8 microinverter without a battery, but not with the IQ7. You will need to purchase the enCharge battery to do that so bobkster's concern is legit.
Long Enphase!!
why would you need/want An Envoy with this system?
What if there is no battery. Grid has failed. Will this IQ 8 will still work?
Can this be available in Cameroon? Amazing job! I stay long with my stocks. Here is the future!
What if the cloud is not available?
How much would it cost to install. I have 18 ground mounts, but none of the other pieces.
Interesting but we have very few power outages, so I doubt it would be cost effective.
There is also the issue of getting regulatory approval. One of the reasons solar is grid dependent is that when power goes down, power companies/utilities do not want lethal power being fed into the grid while maintenance crews are trying to repair what they think are dead lines.
They will need assurances that the isolation is fool-proof.
It will use the same technology as back up generators that are in wide use, the trusted transfer switch, no further regulatory approval needed.
Yah they already have approval and are NEC compliant
whats the difference between iq7 and iq8 then?
Is anaphase actually doing this now?
What is the usable capacity of the battery?
Is there something wrong with your map of China?
can i three phase? and ups??
iq7 not do this?
Already have standby generator, but takes 30-45sec to kick in. Can this system works as a whole house UPS so power don't get interrupted since it have battery? Even better if it know battery is running out to fire up generator to recharge if it is at night when it run out of battery power....
It does act like a whole house ups and would give you instant backup. Future generations are also supposed to be able to turn on/off your generator for you if necessary. Also with consumption metering you will have an instant feedback on how long the battery will last in an outage.
@@ABC-wz2db nanoseconds! 😉
Is it David hayter??
Will this battery be compatible for string inverters and also do you accept pre orders I’m going to go door to door selling this system like hot cakes
This battery is compatible with any system.
Can we do the same setup on iq6+
See 3:30 in the video
I did something similar with Avasva solutions.
Is the IQ8 compatible with the iq7 micro I verters??
Nice 😃
so, like a Tesla Powerwall, but less cool?
No, I don't think you need to buy the battery backup for the system to work?
@@rebeccacran6900 No sun, no lights. I get some kickback from the electric company because I fed them some back but it still is not worth the money for a normal household.
If the inverter in your Tesla power wall fails you are done. Inside each Enphase Encharge are multiple inverters. If one inverter fails the battery will still keep producing power at a reduced rate but at the full remaining capacity. Very Cool.
Rebecca Cran That will be true with the second iteration of ensemble. So ultimately will be cheaper than buying batteries but won’t produce power at night. Great option for my dad in hurricane alley. just enough power during the day to run water pumps and keep the food cold. Maybe some ac with a larger system. All without batteries.
sc St Look again sc. Enphase IQ8. Batteries not included or required.
Solar is nice but the payback is really not worth it yet. If i could truly be allowed to go off grid, i would do it.
Payback depends on many factors. But i have been seeing 5-7 years. The more you use the faster it pays off. Start driving on sunshine.
@@ABC-wz2db when i ploted it out for how litt)e my average bill is...i didnt start to see a payback until the 19th year...not sure i would still be in this house and who is to say the panels will even last 20 years. The moment i would have to replace or repair a broken panel then the 19th year would go up further. I will wait till I can be allowed to go off grid and have rebates still.
@@StarrlaRo Maybe you have gotten some outrageously high quotes or financing costs since I have not seen anyone get a payback time period that high unless they have chosen either the wrong installation company or they are looking to get way more panels than needed. I don't know where you live, but quotes in Florida, US at least, average less than 2.50/watt, often much less. I know a company that installs now for 1.65/watt in my area. But I think our costs are very high compared to other people I chat online with. Consider looking if there is a solar co-op starting in your area that can help you with information about going solar and details about reasonable pricing. The co-op gets together, chooses an installer and is able to negotiate for better pricing and is able to support you for warranties. There are still charlatans in the solar industry though. The co-op I know of that operates in many states is Solar United Neighbors (www.solarunitedneighbors.org) but there are likely others. There is a Facebook group, a google groups listserv and their own website where you can learn more and register to learn more at a info session from your local group. There is even a question on the Florida google group now with a few people with some pretty low electric bills that are going solar or considering it that are chatting about their situations. If you have an electric bill to pay, I can't see how installing solar for a comparable amount of usage could not be a benefit. Yes there will still be a grid connection fee that would need to be paid to the local power company in most areas I would guess but that I would think would be small. In addition I can't imagine that you would be replacing a panel at 19th year, there are panels operating for 40+ years.
Rainna Ensemble will allow off-grid use...so u won’t need to wait long. Also adding an EV can significantly lower payback time. I can make power for around$ 0.04 per kWh. One kWh will get you around 3 miles. A modest array can probably cover your commute daily. Look into a used Nissan leaf. Going completely off grid and powering an ev would require a more expensive system due to battery costs...unless you work night shift and can charge during the day or charge at work.
Guys plain & simple.. How many times do you lose electricity?.. < thats the only time you will use these add-on... i bet you think about buying a generator for when you lose power, but then you realize that it does not happen that often and you change your mind...
This only benefit you if you lose your power, it will not save you money.
I live in Southeast Florida. When bad weather happens, you can loose power for hours, days or even weeks. If you've ever had to deal with the heat, humidity, and rotting food after loosing power for an extended period of time, I can assure you of the misery. As others suggested, it comes down to price. For me 1-3k is worth the price tag. I have a brand new system that will be compatible (according to the video).
@@DVDRWEB i also live in fl, maybe i am lucky since i dont loose electricity many times to force me to get a gen.
@@ruddyteck I hear you. If you're lucky in that respect, it's all good. I'm on the coast and know residents last year that lost power from a minor hurricane for 1-3 weeks. I can't imagine the imposition on friends and family. It's not always about the money, but maintaining a standard of living. Cleaning up after a storm is bad enough. Doing it with no place to retreat from the heat is terrible.
I agree that the financial case is hard to make unless having uninterruptible power is important, and outages are frequent. However, in CA we also have Time-of-Use rates, so simply exporting power to the grid in the middle of the day means you are getting compensated at a low mid-day rate, but purchasing power from the grid in the evening when the rate is 2-3x higher. Ensemble can also handle that use case - charge from your excess production during the day, and consume it locally in the evening. In that context, the "add-ons" will be used every day, making the financial case more compelling.
@@mentat102 i have a 15.6 k w system, some people would think it is enough to run a house when it is not the case, between my AC and the water heater i am almost to 12kw, batteries would help but not a good deal when you have to worry about their charge level.
The best would be getting a gen, switch off the main coming in, run the gen, make your solar think there is power coming in from the elect company when in reality is the gen, cool/heat your house during the day as much as possible and use the gen at night alone if needed.
You have to make sure you are disconnecting the solar from the electrical company
I have 16 panels, 2 attic fans for a 1640 Sq ft house. Save your money. Call your locate electric company and talk to them. They will tell you if it is worth the money. The salesman is also very pushy.
"Off-Grid Solar systems are too expensive" is an absurd lie. It makes the rest of your info suspect. My entire off-grid system was 5-10x less costly than an equivalent system using Enphase. Purchasing it now with all the new tech means off-grid could be 12-15x cheaper.
There is a lot of comments saying the grid doesn't go down that often, that is only one part of the benefit of this system. In many states the Utility companies, like ours are complaining they are losing money because of residential solar systems. So they want them to be on a different cost basis and up charge on the meter fee. Basically the power companies want solar owners to pay 3x-4x what you pay for not having solar, but they also want to take that power and be able to sell it on the open market.
Basically in the cooler months where you have longer days, but weather is not hot enough to require AC, the power companies are raking in free power from the grid and selling it as a commodity on the open market, IE profiting off of others via the stock market. Remember, the US power grid is made up of separate corporations who sell power across the grid as needed based on demands. Power is traded on the stock market as a commodity and power companies are almost all for profit corporations. The exception to this is your "Public Utility" which is tax payer owned.
The Enphase system allows a person to control when power is going to the grid, IE you can bank the power into a battery and have it set that it cuts off the grid and runs on backup power only. You would do this in the evening when AC usage is high in summer, which could cut the required power from the grid.
Instead of over producing power during the day, and the Power company using it, then wanting to charge you even more, you could bank the power and essentially the power company gets nothing from you.
As these systems become more popular they will start asking governments to outlaw them as well. Some states and county officials, allow power companies to run unfettered in "Fees" but raising and lowering rates is a different discussion.
In our state, the power company has been lobbying the State for 2 yrs asking to increase rates but it is falling on deaf ears for now. As a person with Solar who does over produce at periods of the day, I can see a benefit to this system beyond the power going out. For me, it is a big middle finger to the power company who wants my power and also wants to charge me for them to have it.
Lucky for me, I just got my system installed in January and I have the IQ-7 microinverters.
Also for those people who say, you will never pay off a solar system, that is a good debate, because, like Gasoline, none of us can predict the market year to year, let alone month to month. People who buy solar to me fall into two categories, the ones who think it is good for the environment, and the ones who hate giving money to the power company. I am the latter of the two.
This is a very interesting argument. Where I live, the power company is phasing in different rate schedules that are at the maximum $$ in the early evening when solar panels are going offline and people are using electricity more. A battery could kick in during that time of day and get you past that "hump" even if it just lasts a few hours.
Yep. power companies aren't seeing the continuous upwards curve that their bean counters want to see. This is mostly due to gains in efficiency in LED lighting. So they are throwing more costs to a minority of users (people with grid intertie PV systems) by increasing the monthly connection charge. Classic dick move.
IQ-7 will run if the grid goes down??
Ive been holding out for IQ8 Ensemble
We are preferred partners with Enphase in Arizona! Visit our page to install your Enphase grid agnostic system.
The next step in this system would be to control "smart breakers" so non-critical large loads (dryer, hot tub etc.) could be automatically disconnected. Sonnen has this technology, but only works with Eaton breakers.
Tom Hutchison sonnen is packaging an energy management solution from PanTech Design for their solution. It’s not cheap but it’s pretty powerful.
Thank you Enphase! It should be noted that some "soft marketing" strategy is used here. After all, most of the market is already offering grid/hybrid systems, and Enphase caught up with it by adding the IQ8 switching box and charge controller, which I'd imagine is a simple anti-islanding solution. So please please please, do not mislead the public with bigger promises that you can deliver, simply state the truth - you have now caught up with the marketplace using your unique architectural design of AC coupled systems.
Well done Enphase for coming up with new products that align with the majority of residential PV solutions.
Yariv Edery it’s actually more complicated than that. Other battery systems fail in that they shut down PV production when there’s no grid and not enough load. That’s why hydro systems require a load cell which is basically a resistance based space heater because they produce electricity while the water flows regardless of the presence of a load. Here they have built a solution that dynamically measures load and pulls power from both PV and battery as needed and will shut down micro inverters as the load subsides thus eliminating the requirement for a load cell because there’s never more generation than utilization. There’s another video that demonstrates this by booking a power strip directly to the back of a panel and an IQ8 micro. It’s very interesting how it balances its output to match the required draw. There’s also a good blog post out there on their ability to use the IQ8 to back feed the grid in a manner that it corrects the power factor of the power companies transfer switch. These are things that require massive coordination between micros and advanced microelectronics that I’ve not seen from any other off grid or battery solution.
@@adorsett pv does not need a dump load. Only wind and hydro need a dump load
Been a solar installer for 12 years.
Joe Sidebottom when fully off grid and AC coupled batteries are charged 100% and usage is less than PV output you need to shutdown the inverter and kill PV output, or you need a load cell to dump the excess into, or you need to throttle back the inverter production to match the consumption. DC coupled batteries don’t have this problem because they throttle the PV production in the inverter/charger. But AC coupled batteries like the Tesla Powerwall and others have to communicate to the micros to curtail production if there’s nowhere to take the excess. This is why the PW increases its frequency as it reaches 90-100% SOC to force the array to either throttle back or curtail production. By default most inverters will shutdown completely as they sense freq out of range. There’s some great graphs out there showing PV bouncing on and off as a PW hovers around 90% SOC because the array is producing more than the batteries can absorb when off grid. But with the IQ6 and newer, EnPhase can apply a profile to the micro that will ramp down micros, even forcing some offline to match consumption to the production. The IQ8 has advanced capabilities that takes this concept even further as demonstrated in some very interesting videos where they straight powered AC devices right off the micro off-grid and the IQ8 senses the load in near real-time and throttles production accordingly. This is the magic of the IQ8 versus the older generations. Traditionally nobody has done AC coupled batteries in off-grid for these very reasons because it would either require a comms channel between battery and inverter, or it would require a load cell to absorb excess and keep the array running at 100%. The IQ8 changes this paradigm completely as it’s self organizing and has near real-time load monitoring built-in.
Here’s a thread on PW2 with EnPhase and the application of the right profile settings on both sides to curtail production as the PW reaches 100% SOC.
teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/my-grid-outage-frequency-issue-is-resolved.155552/page-3
Joe Sidebottom I’ll add that wind uses a dump load because brakes are expensive to keep replacing for slowing down the turbine blades to match the load so they just let them spin and push the excess to a load cell. Hydro has the same problem except in reality you could throttle back your water flow and control the speed of the turbines by water volume. The problem there is it would require solenoid valves and the relationship between water volume/pressure and power output is not linear. Plus if a solenoid fails to close you could end up with a fire from the over production of the turbine. Therefore it’s easier and cheaper to just take it into a load cell to absorb the over production. But to your point nobody uses load cells on PV because in the past they haven’t designed AC coupled systems for off-grid usage. But with the popularity of the Tesla and now the EnPhase Batteries, AC coupled systems are gaining popularity and you have to have a communicating system (enPhase), or another communication method such as output frequency (Tesla Powerwall, SolarEdge), or you have to install a load cell if you don’t want to just keep cycling your array on and off every few minutes.
Enphase setting the bar high , truly making its battery affordable , easy to install and understand.
Love to see a company come out that will make solar panels that any lay person can install. Something as easy as putting together a shelving unit piece of furniture.
@@StarrlaRo ACM plug and play baby!
Here's my question... Are the solar panels actually powering directly to the house when the grid is down or just the battery? If I lose power for a week or 2, the battery will only last a day or two, right? Yeah the solar is charging the batteries when the sun is out but the battery should only be the backup to the solar panels when the grid is down. Split phase to keep the power steady and the batteries pick up the difference. I want this system, but I want it where when the grid is down, the panels are powering the house or at least 1-2 rooms in the house on their own while the sun is out and the battery is only used for night, power fluctuations, and cloudy days. This is only for grid down scenarios. Is that how your system works? If it is I'll make an appointment tomorrow. If I'm only relying on the battery, that doesn't help me when I'm needing to replace it every 5-7 years because of capacity loss or we get into the realm of an attack where the grid is down for a year or more. Those panels need to do the bulk of the lifting for me. Not just the battery.
How was this video from 5 years ago but they talk about the new IQ8’s?🤔
I presume it switches into independent mode (i.e. disconnected from the grid) fast enough to avoid interruptions to computers etc. that are running inside the house?
Only if you have batteries.
@@beverlywalker6494 Great point good news if it works!
This is great and all but how often are we detached from the grid? Not very often. So I personally don't think it's worth it.
Depends where you live, some places don't even have a grid
Spoken like someone that hasn't been part of one of the recent extreme weather events. Good luck avoiding all of them in the not too distant future.
It does happen, especially in the hotter climates. Everybody runs their ac and puts a big load on the grid and does have some power outages. I'd want to get this for my mom because usually it happens every year during the summer months.
Now more than ever it happens frequently. You must be living under a rock if you don't know that PG&E are now turning off the grid supply during days that have high heat which is fairly frequents in California so if you live in California your power might just be turned off for 4 hours during the day for no reason during the middle of the day when you need to work from home on your computer be a sure you don't need solar or backup grid
Grid forming inverter mode also known as ‘islanding’ stateside.
Existe t'il une version française?
Iq6 micro inverter available in Pakistan?
That's good to know and sweet
Love it.
The panels will stay up to 120-130 mph winds if you are lucky.