A new player is set to enter the Australian solar market, with US-based Enphase Energy announcing it will partner with RFI Solar to bring its micro inverter technology to Australian PV customers.
Business Wire reported on January 24 that the US-based solar energy technology company will be making the Enphase Microinverter System available in Australia from February.
Chief executive of Enphase Energy Paul Nahi said that his company was bringing the most advanced micro inverter system in the world to Australia's "flourishing" solar market.
"Leading analysts project Australia to become a gigawatt plus solar market, and Enphase enters at a time when this growing clean economy is gaining promising momentum," said Mr Nahi.
Enphase will partner with RFI Solar to distribute their micro inverter system.
Managing director of RFI Solar Scott Magee said that Australian solar consumers would benefit from the "increased design flexibility, improved safety and panel-level monitoring" of Enphase Energy's technology.
You might be wondering what the big deal is about micro inverters. The truth is there are advantages to using them as well as disadvantages. Big surprise – nothing is perfect!
Well it comes down to the fact that PV panels are just one part of a larger solar electricity system.
Many consumers opt for micro inverters as they reduce the effects of shading by separating the outputs of each solar panel in a system.
With a typical series string PV array, there can be a risk of potential fire from arcing of the high voltage DC produced. Micro inverters work to reduce this risk by converting the solar output to a lower AC voltage.
They also make it easier to add panels at a later date and increase the redundancy of a PV system – if one panel develops a fault, it won't affect the other panels.
In the negative column, they live on your roof with your PV panels, so if anything goes wrong, someone needs to go up there to fix them – an extra cost in time and money. They are also exposed to the effects of weather, which can shorten their lifespan.
RFI Solar is hosting a series of events this month to demonstrate the benefits of Enphase Energy micro inverter technology.
There will be technical roadshow events at the Stamford Plaza in Adelaide on February 6 and at the Burswood on the Swan Function Centre in Perth on February 13.
Customer training seminars are also scheduled for February 8 in Melbourne and February 11 in Sydney. Further details are available on the RFI Solar website.
Posted by Mike Peacock