Enphase Energy will be launching a new solar energy solution for the commercial market. The new offering combines Enphase's microinverter technology with a comprehensive set of services and partnerships to assist the owner and installer of a commercial solar project from concept through implementation and eventually to maintenance—providing low-cost solar energy and long-term reliability.
Problem
Despite the US commercial PV market growing by 21% annually to over 1.3GW expected to be installed in 2014 it remains the most underdeveloped sector, trailing utility-scale and residential sectors. PV installers are seeking innovative solutions that will speed up the installation process and increase design flexibility while increasing the value and dependability of the solar energy delivered to the end customer.
Solution
Enphase will be offering both a technology and operations and maintenance (O&M) services solution capable of taking a commercial-scale system from concept to long-term operations and maintenance. The commercial-grade system includes the C250 microinverter, the cloud-based Enlighten monitoring system, the Envoy Communications Gateway and a rapid-response Enphase Energy Services (EES) team, giving developers, installers and owners a robust solution for maximizing the performance of their solar assets. Enphase has partnered with Folsom Labs to incorporate the C250 Microinverter system into HelioScope, Folsom Labs' advanced system design tool. This integrated solution is said to streamline the system engineering workflow for commercial designers, enabling PV installations to be rapidly designed and modeled. A growing network of financial service providers are partnering with Enphase to fast-track the financing of commercial solar projects and help customers unlock and enhance the long-term value of their systems.
Applications
Commercial rooftop markets.
Platform
The C250 microinverter system is specifically designed and built for medium and large commercial projects. The C250 supports three-phase 480Vac installations for 60- and 72-cell PV modules, which is claimed to deliver improved performance for larger commercial projects and a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) lower than that of competing inverters. The improved design efficiency of a C250 system enables less wiring and balance-of-system components, significantly reducing labor and installation costs.
Availability
Made available in the first quarter of 2015 in the US.
