Can I use an Enphase inverter in an off-grid application?
1830353
No. It would be possible but not what they were designed for. They only work on the type of system where the meter can run backwards, not systems with battery backup. If the grid power turns off, so do they.
1830354
No, the system requires a power source to turn on and operate. Must have 240v utility system to run.
1830355
Yes, but it will require that you create your own island, so that the Enphase will detect the power, and start. You then have to deal with dumping the load that is not used. Do a Google search. there is whitepaper on how to do this with Magnum inverter, battery, and Enphase.. Magnum is also working on such an inverter that will deal with the dump load, but at the end of the day, this is a "grid tie" inverter, so any power that is not used has to go someplace, and if you can't feed it back to the grid, you need to get rid off it ... There is a gentlemen on Youtube that has complemented his solar with Enphase, and Magnum inverter for emergencies, and he is using halogen lamps, and heat guns to dump the load ..... So, it can be done, but it requires a lot of design consideration, and extra expenses that have no real ROI for being off the grid. Links: Off Grid Power using Enphase - http://www.greeneselectric.com/Off-Grid_Power_with_Enphase.ppt Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA-4NkE6lBw
1830356
Yes you can. The only way to do it is to have a 240 generator running in Parallel at the same time. You could also put your batteries on the opposite side of the ac.
1830357
No. The invertor only works with a nominal voltage of 240/120. It "senses" the power from grid tie and will shut down when no power is available. Check out Enphase website for more details.
728958
Not that I am aware of. Ther is a 12 DC volt to 110 AC volt power inverter that would do the job. They have been around for years and come in different ratings.
2193074
I have blown inverters that have matching capacities to the PV's. A good rule is to give yourself extra capacity. Although your PV array is rated at 1000 watts your are probably producing 700watts tops. You are probably wondering if you can get away with using a 1000 watt inverter. I wouldn't risk it. I've done it in the past, but heat is your enemy. Over rate your system with a 1500 inverter and spare yourself the aggravation of living on a prayer. P.s. lengthen the life of your inverter by cooling it with a low wattage fan.
1505814
Yes, you can do that. Bryan has provided a good answer to this question. Also, since the panels are 12v, you are limited to the grid-tie inverter selection. You'll probably need a low voltage, high current grid-tie inverter, yet this may not be UL listed.
683246
This controller does have a "load" connection for lights or any "Load', but the controllers rating is only 7 amp. Hooking up a power inverter and expecting it to never pull 7 amps would mean the load can't be over ~60 watts which seems pretty low for an inverter, so I'd not try it. Also if the inverter is running anything that has any kind of "surge" load, the controllers rating needs to be able to handle that too, so it doesn't sound like the best idea to have an inverter running through a controller like this (I've even seen the inverter alone create a fair arc as I connect up the wires to batteries because of charging capacitors). If you're pretty sure you have a steady load that will be under 20 amps at 12V, then there are controllers rated at that, but I'd not try it with something under ~20 amp rating even for a 100-150 watt inverter (which is almost the smallest size for inverters).
1856918
Controller can be set to be constanly on, I've never used it with an inverter with it but I can"t see why you can"t charge the batteries. Running your lights through the inverter connected to the batteries is an unknown. I would like to hear if you can do it. I have used this controller several times, its a great unit.
1337125
You can, but you would need a AC to DC power converter and a 3 pin fan connector to plug into the GRID.
447405
not that I know of,if you wanted to use 12 volt,a 12 volt DC to AC inverter works good.
381888
I believe you can, but that doesn't mean that you should. Making the controller to all this conversion will severely alter its efficiency. There are charts in the manual showing just how much you lose, the more converting you force it to do. You're best off trying to get your panels bank output configured to be as close to battery voltage as possible.
472344
I have only used it with 110V and I would bet that is the only voltage you can use without an inverter.
1831633
I do not use with a grid tie inverter. However, I do not see why not. The panel is just a generator which generate a power. All the solar panels are doing the same function. I believe you should look at your grid tie inverter requirement and use the correct power panel. Thanks.
344542
i would not recommend using this with an inverter, you would be creating a fire hazard.
519710
We haven't used it with our inverter, because it is for our house bed. but I don't see why it wouldn't work with an inverter as long as you have one with enough wattage.
323419
I cannot speak to the inverter issue but if outputs 60hz 1120v current it should work fine. The power setting are extremely consistent if set on temperature they are within two to three degrees of the indicated temperature almost always on the high side(i.e. if set at 80 degrees F the actual temp with my unit will be 82 degrees. Overall it seems to be of high quality.
554968
Sorry the grid tie you have is not an excess power unit (my system is a hybrid). You only need toconnect panel to the grid tie inverter. You will also have to make sure that the power company is okay with the micro system.
1387843
That is the issue. If you want really long endurance off the grid you need to consider inverters, charge controllers and deep cycle batteries. All these cost a bit more and occupy more space. I've used this APC unit for 3 years with my database server and it has worked flawlessly. It is big and heavy for a UPS, but it keeps up my sever for about 2 hours when new. Monitor is off and the other equipment is run from a separate UPS.
1732701
Hi Jun,This microinverter (Enphase M250) is 240V AC and is for grid-tied applications. The string of microinverters are tied to your main service panel using a 2-pole circuit breaker (i.e. 2 hots, or L1/L2)The Enphase M215 has the same voltage and is also grid tied.Please let me know if I have answered your question.Thanks,TomTreepublic