Enphase Energy

Enphase Energy is a NASDAQ-listed energy technology company headquartered in Fremont, California. Enphase designs and manufactures software-driven home energy solutions that span solar generation, home energy storage and web-based monitoring and control. Enphase has shipped about twenty million solar microinverters, primarily into the residential and commercial markets in North America, Europe and Australia. Microinverters convert the direct current power from the solar panel (DC) directly into grid-compatible alternating current (AC) for use or export. Enphase was the first company to successfully commercialise the microinverter on a wide scale, and remains the market leader in their production.[3]

Enphase Energy, Inc.
Public
Traded asNASDAQ: ENPH
S&P 400 Component
ISINUS29355A1079
IndustryRenewable Energy, Solar Energy, High tech
Founded2006
FounderRaghu Belur and Martin Fornage
HeadquartersFremont, California,
United States
Key people
Badri Kothandaraman, CEO
Productsmicroinverters, home energy storage
Revenue $316.16 million (2018)[1]
US$5.73 million (2018)
-US$11.63 million (2018)
Number of employees
500+
WebsiteEnphase.com
Footnotes / references
Financials from Enphase Energy [2]

History

Enphase Energy pioneered the concept of a microinverter. The basic idea behind a microinverter is to convert, manage and monitor energy per panel, rather than the entire array of panels. This reduces the size of the inverter that can be placed on the back of the panel, producing an "AC panel". Such a system can be connected directly to the grid, or to each other to produce larger arrays. This contrasts with the traditional central inverter approach, where many panels are connected together in series on the DC-side and then run en-masse to a single larger inverter.

In the aftermath of the 2001 Telecoms crash, Martin Fornage of Cerent Corporation was looking for new projects. When he saw the low performance of the string inverter for the solar array on his ranch, he partnered with another Cerent engineer, Raghu Belur, and they formed PVI Solutions. The two tapped Paul Nahi to be CEO at the end of 2006, and Fornage, Belur and Nahi formed Enphase Energy, Inc. in early 2007. Thereafter, the first prototype microinverter was developed. With approximately $6 million in private equity by 2008, Enphase released its first product, the M175, to moderate success. Their 2nd generation product, 2009's M190, was far more successful, with sales of about 400,000 units in 2009 and early 2010. Enphase quickly grew to 13% marketshare for residential systems by mid-2010, aiming for 20% by year-end.[4]

They shipped their 500,000th inverter in early 2011,[5] and their 1,000,000th in September of the same year.[6] The 3rd generation M215 was released in the summer of 2011,[7] and had sold over a million of all models in 2011, bringing their installed base to 1.55 million inverters and 34.4% market share.[8] A 4th generation, the M250, was released in 2013.

As of 2012, their inverters captured 53.5% market share for residential installations in the US, which represents 72% of the entire world micro-inverter market.[9] This makes them the sixth largest inverter manufacturer, of any kind, worldwide.[10] Enphase has experimented with the European market starting in France and offering sales in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy.[11] However, they had considerably more success in the UK, and later, Australia. As of 2013, approximately 20% of their sales is outside North America.[12]

In 2012 and 2013, Enphase experienced increasing pricing pressure due to rapidly falling prices in the inverter market. Market leaders faced market share erosion in the face of newer companies, most of them from the far east.[13] However, in 2019, Enphase remains the leading supplier of solar microinverters globally.

Products
An Enphase M190 mounted and grounded.

All Enphase microinverters are completely self contained power converters. In the case of a rooftop PV inverter, the unit will convert DC from a single solar panel into grid-compliant AC power, following the maximum power point of the panel. Since the "S" series microinverters (e.g. S280) all Enphase microinverters have been both Advanced Grid Function and Bidirectional power capable. This allows a microinverter to produce power in the DC-AC direction, for solar applications, or in the DC-AC and AC-DC directions, for battery use. The microinverter(s) in the Enphase battery products are exactly the same units as installed on the roof, with only software settings changed.

Legacy Products

The M175 was their first product, released in 2008. It was designed to output 175 Watts of AC power, but is capable of up to 5% over that. The M175 was packaged in a relatively large cast aluminum box, similar to the boxes used on cable tv amplifiers seen on telephone poles. Wiring was passed through the case using compression fittings and the inverters connected to each other using a twist-lock connection. A limited number of M210 models, based on the same generation system, were also available for a limited time.

Due to a high level of failures the M175 was recalled and replaced by the M190 in 2009. The M190 offers a slightly higher power rating of 190 Watts (peaking to 199). The system was packaged in a much smaller case, this time filled with epoxy potting material to handle heat dissipation, and built-in cable connections replacing the earlier compression fittings. The system was otherwise similar, using the same connectors and cabling as the M175, and the two designs could be mixed in a string. Like its predecessor the M175 the M190 has also been plagued by a high failure rate.

Around the same time the company also released the D380, which was essentially two M190's in a single larger case. For small inverters like the M190, the case and its assembly represented a significant portion of the total cost of production, so by placing two in a single box that cost is spread out. The D380 also introduced a new inter-inverter cabling system based on a "drop cable" system. This placed a single connector on a short cable on the inverter, and used a separate cable with either one or three connectors on it. Arrays were constructed by linking together up to three D380s with a single drop cable, and then connecting them to other drop cables using larger twist-fit connectors.

In 2011 the entire lineup was replaced with the 3rd generation M215, combining the features of the M190 and D380 while improving reliability. Like the M190, the M215 was a single inverter, now in a much smaller box. Like the D380, the M215 used a trunk cabling system with short connector cables on the inverters. However, instead of one or three-drop cable, the M215's Engage system, used a long roll of cables with connectors spliced into it. The installer cuts the Engage cable to the required length, and then caps the open ends that result.

In 2013 the M250 was released, offering a new grounding system (Integrated Ground - IG) that eliminates the otherwise NEC - required external grounding conductor, increased reliability, and increased efficiency (96.5%), along with a rating bump to 250W. Whereas previous models were all named after the maximum power rating, the M250 actually refers to its peak power. Using the same convention the M190 would be called the M199. The M250 is otherwise identical to the earlier M215 (which also was upgraded with IG) and compatible with the same Engage cabling system.

All Enphase models use power line communications to pass monitoring data between the inverters and the Envoy communications gateway. The Envoy stores daily performance data for up to a year, and, when available, allows Enphase's Enlighten web service to download data approximately every 15 minutes. Customers and installers can review the data on the Enlighten web site.

Current Products

In 2015 the company launched its fifth generation of products. The S230 and S280 microinverters have the highest efficiency for module-level power electronics at 97%, offer advanced grid functionality like reactive power control, and comply with regulatory requirements like Electric Rule 21 in California and Rule 14H in Hawaii. The next-gen Envoy-S offers revenue-grade metering of solar production, consumption monitoring, and integrated Wi-Fi. The company also moved into home energy storage with its Storage System featuring an AC Battery, a modular, 1.2kWh lithium-iron phosphate offering aimed at residential users that is part of a Home Energy Solution. The Home Energy Solution launched in Australia in mid-2016.

2017 began the introduction of the new IQ architecture, which uses a new cabling system. Two conductors, down from four, are integrated and compliant with electrical codes due to the use of GFCI, no need for a neutral and no conductive materials in the enclosure. The initial products were the IQ6 and IQ6+, followed in 2018 by the IQ7. In 2019 the IQ8 series will enable continuous power production during grid outages during daytime without the need for batteries. [14]

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References
  1. "Enphase Energy, Inc".
  2. Enphase Energy
  3. Eric Wesoff, "Enphase Dominates the PV Microinverter Channel: Where’s the Competition?", Greentech Media, 17 July 2013
  4. Kerry Dolan, "Enphase's Rooftop Solar Revolution", Forbes, 21 October 2010
  5. ""Enphase Energy surpasses 500,000 solar PV inverter units shipped"". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  6. "Journey to the 1,000,000th Microinverter"
  7. "Enphase Energy Launches 215-Series Microinverter", BusinessWire, 6 June 2011
  8. Eric Wesoff, "Enphase S-1 Update: PV Microinverter Sales Soar", Greentech Media, 25 February 2012
  9. "Solar Microinverter Shipments to Quadruple and Reach 2.1 Gigawatts in 2017", IHS Electronics and Media, 27 August 2013
  10. "PV Inverter Supplier Base Fragments in 2012", IHS Electronics and Media, 2 May 2013
  11. Jeff St. John, "Microinverter Wars: Enecsys and Enphase Go Trans-Atlantic", Greentech Media, 6 December 2011
  12. Loralee Stevens, "Enphase Energy continues momentum", North Bay Business Journal, 2 September 2013
  13. Tildy Bayar,"Solar Photovoltaic Inverter Prices to Fall Due to Fierce Global Competition", REWorld, 1 August 2013
  14. https://enphase.com/en-us/support/gettingstarted/design
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