Enphase IQ 7A Microinverter

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Enphase IQ 7A Microinverter

Microinverters are exactly what their names entail. They are smaller inverters that are installed in the panel site. In most cases, a solar installation that uses microinverters have one for each panel.

Having one microinverter per panel leads to a load of advantages such as highly increased safety of the system, individual monitoring for the panels, independence from particular flaws, and a lot more.

However, this also means you will need to invest on multiple microinverters instead of just one centralized string inverter.

Enphase Energy is known to be the leading manufacturer of microinverters in the world. Founded in 2006, they have pioneered and advocated the superiority of their products. Their IQ 7A is their most powerful microinverter yet. It is applicable for higher power modules up to 465W.

Features

Use of Enphase’ IQ 7A Microinverter will ensure that your solar installation operates in the highest possible system efficiency. The way it is made also greatly simplifies the whole installation process, making it easier, faster, and even allows more flexible designs.

As part of the Enphase IQ system, integration with other Enphase products such as the IQ Envoy, IQ Battery, and the Enphase Enlighten Monitoring and analysis software is included.

A shortened list of the IQ 7A’s amazing features can be seen below:

  • High Power Output
  • Easy to Install
  • Efficient and Reliable
  • Smart Grid Ready

For more information, you can refer to the Enphase IQ 7A Data sheet.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Enphase microinverters can be considered as the industry best. However, as with any line of products, both sides of the coin need to be discussed. These are the things that we see are most notable to microinverters.

Advantages

Tolerance to Partial Shading

Since microinverters are installed on individual panels, this means the performance of one will not affect the performance of the other. When one solar panel is shaded, it will not drop the performance of the whole system.

DC-less Installations

Enphase microinverters remove the need for DC cables. Not only will does this reduce cost, but it also increases the safety of a solar installation. Reason being the primary current that flows through is AC.

Design Flexibility and Ease of Installation

With how small microinverters are, they give installers more room to make the perfect installation. They will not be limited by a certain setup, but rather, they can adjust the design to either what the client wants, or the most efficient one they can make. Additionally, as mentioned above, it makes for very easy installations.

More Forgiving to System Flaws

In the rare cases when the solar panel or the microinverter becomes faulty, the problems are isolated only to the specific panels or microinverter. Issues like these will be isolated to the root cause; and of course it is very easy to spot because of our next point.

Easy Monitoring and Analysis

The Enphase line of products are more integrated with one another. At the same time, they can easily be monitored through Enphase Enlighten. Any issues such as the aforementioned point will be easily found and analyzed for the best possible solution. It will also show the overall and the individual performance of the solar solution.

Disadvantages

Higher Initial Cost

Almost all downsides to microinverters fall under the higher costs that it entails.

For a solar installation to use microinverters, they would usually have to buy one microinverter for each of their panels—making installations with more panels more expensive.

The comparison made here would be that with string inverters, you will almost always only need just one of them for your installation. Although using microinverters makes it very easy to expand your solar installation, the same issue arises wherein you will need to purchase more microinverters for the new panels.

 

In essence, using microinverters is more expensive than using a string inverter. However, with the Enphase IQ 7A specifically, you are not just provided with a more expensive option, but rather one that is safer, sturdier, more reliable, and more efficient. Especially for residential installations.

The Enphase IQ 7A microinverter is potentially the best choice for microinverters right now. Though it may require a bit more investment to your solar installation, it will ensure that it has increased safety, increased reliability, and of course, a stronger, longer lasting solar installation.

 

Learn more about Enphase Energy’s IQ 7A microinverter by visiting their website.

For professional solar installation services or any solar-related inquiry, you may contact us at ask@spectrum.net.ph or 888-76527

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