I REGRET NOW - Enphase Solar system using IQ7+ microinverters

Enphase Solar system using IQ7+ microinverters - If I had to DO OVER. What I would do differently installing my Enphase solar system. I am using Enphase iq7+ microinverters as most of you know. What is the difference in the Enphase iq7 vs. iq8 microinverters? We will get into that. Would the iq8a enphase micro inverter be a better choice?

On my channel, I share my successes and mistakes. You might be very surprised about what I would change if I could go back in time on this IQ7+ Enphase Solar system.

****UPDATE****
BUILD AN ENPHASE SYSTEM PRODUCT LIST

HAVE A QUESTION & WANT ANSWERS:
Post your question on the DIY Solar Builds Forum:

All My Videos

BEST Place to BUY SOLAR Equipment:
Not only are you receiving the best prices but you are also working with a team that is customer-focused!

Want a chance at some cool giveaways?
To qualify just subscribe to this channel and like the video.
Don't forget to register for free at the DIY Solar Builds community.
You will be automatically entered into all current and future promotions.

*** If you purchase anything on Amazon after visiting one of our items we get a small commission at no additional cost to you and it helps support our channel. Thank You!

#solarpanel #solarpanels #gosolar #solar #solarpower #solarenergy #enphase

[dubled]

It's really cool to see a stand up guy, admit his mistakes in order to help other people. Really cool! I just subscribed! Thank you for being you and hopefully inspiring more people to help each other.

[damiena]

No mistake bro! IQ 7+ are the right spec for those panels... Panel Watt ratings are based on electrical safety, eg if positioned on a mountain in cold weather with no humidity and pointed right at the sun they MIGHT make 375W. On that setup you won't ever pass 300W. (heat and normal humidity and dust) With the 290 max unit you get a higher efficiency overall and especially at low sunlight with a sooner cut in and later cut out for early am late pm.

[banditdog]

Hind sight is 20/20 I am just now installing my system and you mentioned two things you wish you had done that I have done. I used the Sinclair ground mount with seasonal adjust and it is out in the field with a very nice southern exposure. But that's why I love YouTube real people and honest advice so thank you for your contributions.

[chrisrobey]

I’ve had 375 watt panels with the 7q+ for 3 years, and you are not missing out on that much clipping. You have a good ratio. To dO do mine again, I would use the same inverters with even bigger panels. The access on ground mounts is nice but most latitudes only gain 3 to 4 percent over a year if your change the tilt every month. The real gains are in 2 axis trackers built they aren’t worth the extra cost and maintenance.

[garymiller]

Enphase is superior because there is no single point of failure.

I would have gone Enphase IQ8 and have built a microgrid. That is the holy grail of solar panel solutions. Maintain electric production even when grid has failed. PRICELESS.

[chrisswearingen]

Good commentary here on your install. I've worked in solar for a number of years and here's why we're getting away from Enphase. 1. Failures...now you are only worrying about 27 microinverters, but as an installer we have to service thousands we've installed out there on all kinds of roofs. As you pointed out, it's harder to service something on the roof vs ground. The labor warranty stinks, I believe $200 per truck roll and $25/microinverter. As an installer that's a money losing situation. For you, no biggie, they send you a replacement and you do it your self...up on the roof again. 2. Compatibility...Enphase has not made new products compatible with new ones. As you pointed out, the 8's are not compatible with the 7's and require a different combiner. Fast forward 10 years and you have a couple of micros fail, then you will have potentially 2 or however many panels on their own monitoring. 3. Warranty process is clunky and the ancillary parts ie gateway or combiner are only warranteed for 5 years.

I wouldn't worry too much about the clipping. That's a 128% ratio panel to inverter, but remember those 380W panels carry that STC rating, ie lab/factory test conditions. With real world conditions, the sun moving, clouds, temps, seasons, your panels are mostly not going to be producing at 380W. If you put a 10kW inverter up there (1:1) you'd most likely see that you were rarely if ever producing 10KW, probably more like 8KW on sunny days.

Just went with a couple of those Sinclair GM systems so we'll see how that goes.

[stevenspencer]

Brother! Thank you so very much for sharing this information! 😊

[sparkydog]

Hey Justin. Thanks for sharing your lessons learned. I think you may have done OK with the IQ7's. The rating of a solar panel is done against "standard conditions", which is in maximum sunlight (i.e. think tropics) and with idea (short sleeves) temperature, neither of which are rarely experienced in the field. Thus your panels will rarely (if ever) output what they are rated at, so it is common practice to oversize the panels with respect to the micros. You also have PV panel follow off time which inverters typically don't have (or at least not as bad). Further, micros are typically more efficient when running near the top end of their power rating. So all this to say that you might not get that much more out of your system if you had went with the IQ8As. You should be able to approximate how much inverter clipping is going on based on the output graph of your system. A better way to find out for sure would be to buy one or two IQ8As and replace a couple IQ7's on your system so you could compare the output of the two. I think that would be an interesting real world experiment and I would love to see that data! That would also give you a spare micro on hand in case you needed it. Good luck.

[johnbradford]

How about starting the permitting process for the ground mount now and when/if it gets approved you can move all the hardware you already own to the ground mount. Since you're already producing, there is no big rush. Just a thought. Thanks for the update on your system.

[Babylionhotshot]

Screw putting four more panels on the roof. That’s not worth it. Go put a whole new set up in the field ASAP. Great video thank you

[marklefler]

I disagree about IQ8A with your panel sizes. Panels rarely generate what they are rated for due to temperature, sun angle, dirt. It is foolish to match invertor to panel, since it just does not pay off. IQ8A just costs more when few days will it make any difference. You can run the number on pvwatts and see what makes sense for your specific area. You did not make a mistake in this case.

[SSMLivingPictures]

Lets be honest, those data sheets aren't overly user friendly 😅

[randynethery]

Hey Justin I enjoyed your video having earlier this year gone through a similar Enphase install. To make you feel good about your IQ7+ choice, I did go with the IQ8M inverter (325w continuous) and the IQ combiner 4 for more than double what you paid. I also installed the same size (REC365w) panels and my roof is 180 degrees south at 23 degrees tilt. Got lots of good sun in San Diego. On the best of days I'll see the panels hit a bit over 295 watts, I've never seen a single one hit 300 watts. The sizing rule mentioned by the guy who owns a solar company is right on. My REC365aa panel have a NOTC/NMOT rating of 278 watts. Your IQ7+'s are dead on for your panels.

[NHHE]

Engineers don’t care about “v drop”. We say, “eye squared R losses.” I²R, the power loss.

[chalupadrop]

I recently completed a 15Kw DC system with LG NeON 380w panels paired with IQ7+ inverters. This is in the Phoenix area and I have seen no clipping on the daily Enphase graphs over the last 7 months. On totally sunny days (often in Phoenix) the graphs from the Enlighten app are perfectly rounded with no clipping at the peak of the day, just my experience, for reference.

[Ernteglueck]

u got your solar system 1 Year? ...give u another point to think bout: If an electric device (like microinverters) always run on its max. output load (whats the case when 370W modules powering a 259W inverter) : It will never reach its max. operating hours. that means if u plan PV always take stromger inverters as the output of your solar panels can do. And not vice versa. so the inverter lasts much longer... and investments in new inverters are a thing of the past...i know they have a long warranty time - but do u find your invoice papers after 12 years?
And something else: If the datasheet of your panels say it produces 370W peak... for real it produces 330! this is caused on an effect called LID (Light Induced Degradation) - in easy words: Every PV Panel constantly looses power when working under Light! This effect is non-reversible. So....if u buy a Solar Panel thats ment to produce 370W - Buddy! forget bout that. After 1 year EVERY Panes is down to 90% of max peak. this level is constantly nominal power of any solar panel. And NO Manufacturer hangs this on the Bell...
for more PV facts ask me on my little german gardening channel! thx + bye, JO

[jensschnebele]

Indeed you have to get the DC/Ac ratio right. But don’t go with to large of inverter then you risk loosing production early morning or winter. (A big inverter needs just a bit more sun to boot up)

Ps. I am going with IQ8+ for a dc/ac ratio of 1.2 in Michigan. And the sunlight backup is something I really look fwd too.

[randynewman]

I thk the money u saved getting iq7 instead of iq8 u can just buy a battery for your system?. I thought the pass through power numbers from iq8 was pretty under welming. Thk its only like 2500watts from a 10kw system

[cbarker]

Justin, You've done well. Forget those mistakes and keep moving forward. Anybody doing anything new, will not follow the optimum plan. The experience, even bad experiences, teach us more. Hind sight helps us improve the next time we do that task. You chose Enphase, that was a good decision. Keep going !

[jmausk]

Your panels will produce less energy each year. First year is about a 3% drop and then 0.5% each year after. The datasheet shows power at 25C which never happens when you are producing near max power. Normally in summer the panels are hot, lowering the voltage, and don't put out near their peak power....drop another 5%. Panels also won't hit the perfect angle with sun - with a steeper roof they could, but you probably drop another 5% for off angle production. And when panels are dirty you lose another 1-5%. So under sizing an inverter is generally a good idea. You can also put more small inverters on the same circuit. The extra money spent on each inverter can account for a lot of clipping....might be in the 100 years of clipping when you actually do the math. Anyway, don't sweat it, I would have done the same thing.