US energy technology provider Enphase Energy has launched its IQ9N Microinverter, which uses gallium nitride (GaN) technology, for the European residential solar sector.
The sale of the microinverter in Europe follows the launch of the product in the US in January, and the microinverter’s “GaN architecture”, as Enphase puts it, reduces conduction losses and heat, improving the long-term reliability of a solar system using this architecture.
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The company said its IQ9N microinverters in Europe will have an efficiency of 97.44%. With cooler operation and optimised performance across conditions, Enphase said the GaN technology enables peak efficiency of up to 97.95%.
Among its other features, the microinverter will be able to handle a continuous DC current of 16 amperes and deliver up to 427VA of peak output power.
“Residential solar customers across Europe expect their systems to perform at the highest level for decades,” said Enphase senior vice president of sales for Europe Sabbas Daniel, who added that European homeowners now have access to “one of the most powerful and efficient Enphase microinverters we’ve ever built”.
Enphase’s launch of the product in Europe comes as the European residential solar sector has seen a slowdown in new installations in recent months, with Germany posting a 6% year-on-year decline in new residential solar system capacity additions and Italy reporting a 13% year-on-year fall in the sector.
The company’s financial performance in its home country has also worsened, with Enphase posting a 17% quarter-on-quarter decline in revenue in April this year. However, Enphase posted a 36% quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue in Europe in the first quarter of this year, and noted that there may be “green shoots” for the company in the region.
