Enphase Microinverters IQ7 vs IQ8s | Which is BETTER?

In this video, we review the whole series of IQ7 and IQ8 Enphase Microinverters to help you determine which is the better option for your solar panel system.

We explore the key features, performance metrics, and differences of both models, shedding light on their efficiency and overall value. If you're considering upgrading your solar setup or making a new investment, understanding the differences between the Enphase IQ7 and IQ8 microinverters is crucial.

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:27 Similarities of the models
01:20 IQ7 Microinverter
02:29 Sizing up Microinverters
04:23 IQ7 Conclusion
04:38 IQ7+ Microinverter
06:01 IQ7A Microinverter
06:33 Comparison test between IQ7+ and IQ7A
08:14 IQ8 Range
08:35 IQ8MC Microinverter
09:38 IQ8AC Microinverter
10:16 IQ8HC Microinverter
11:16 IQ8 Range - Sun Burst Technology
12:36 Enphase Envoy
13:12 Summary of IQ7 and IQ8 Range

#microinverter #review #solar

[fjosef]

Great video comparing these. Had my 22 REA solar panels with the IQ 8HC Enphase inverters installed by Heatable. Already generating over 40kWh. You guys are the best in the market.

[jsherman]

Solar Irradiance (when the sun is unobscured) is the same summer or winter and can exceed 1000 W/m^2 even in winter when the sun is out and there are big puffy white clouds in the sky. There are less hours of sun and more cloudy days in winter, but if your tilt is right you can still get an irradiance of 1000 W/m^2 any time of year. Great video though.

[PjotrII]

The video is about IQ7 and IQ8, however I decided to go with Hoymiles which have good quality and more affordable stuff, allowing a micro-inverter to be connected to 4 panels, and even a sold out (at the moment) MIT 5000 that you can connect4*2 panels to... this makes the whole system more affordable.

[TurreTuntematon]

With Enphase you pay for quality and excellent customer support. Having 25 years of warranty and no high voltage cables on the roof just brings peace of mind 😊

[gigyjose]

output of 480 va, how you will you connect this with topcon panel
max power output is 480, there will be power clipping issues
there will be loss when micro inverters are used

[stevegame]

I opted for IQ8ACs rather than the 7+, paired with 420W panels. I live on the south coast so higher than average UK irradiance. My system’s max ac output is 5kW rather than the 4kW it would have been with the 7+ inverters. I know it’s summer but my system has been generating above 4kW (often near the 5kW level) for quite a while on the sunnier days. Yet it still fires up before 6am despite my array being shaded (west facing) in the morning. I can’t imagine I’m losing a lot of generation at the low end. I’m pretty convinced the 8AC was the right choice for me

[andrewwright]

I struggle with microinverters... I've got 430W panels fitted, but am seeing peaks of 525W per panel generated, and regularly over 430W, so MI's seem to not fit well and very expensive...
I may have to look at optimisers for my next set of installs as they will be W, N and E facing.

[pbcpdeveloper]

The IQ7A output wattage might be higher but the bit people miss is the lower amp input.

[SolAce-nwhf]

You can not mix iq7 and iq8 series micro inverters on the same envoy. So if you want to expand in the future, the iq7 series may be a dead end.

With the iq7 series the micro inverter can work without an envoy (nice for small cheap installs without monitoring cost). The iq8 series will not do that from what I have read.

A nice advantage of the iq8 series is that it has a buffer that will gather any sunlight in low light conditions without starting up the ac conversion side of the inverter. Once enough has been gathered, it will start up the inverter, convert the buffered energy to AC for home use and shut down again if there is still too little light. So it powers down the ac side and starts gathering energy again for the next burst. And that is on top of the extra efficiency of this series.
This may be worth it for typical UK weather conditions. On my NE roof in the Netherlands it works great and beats the SW roof with a string inverter on many cloudy days.

[hellooohowareudoing]

What is the installer warranty generally like on these? I love the idea, but not if you're unfortunate and many break down requiring multiple visits to the roof

[AdrianColes]

How do the Enphase inverterscompare to the inverter on the Powerwall 3 for startup voltage? Is there a point where gretaer than X panels in a string the Tesla is better in low-light conditions?

[OldCodeMonkey]

Interesting to hear the the Enphase System Controller is coming to the UK. Any idea whether this can be used with a Enphase solar array and a non-enphase AC battery solution? Would be great to isolate from the grid during power outages and still be able to charge/use the battery and solar.

[ewegot]

I noticed that one post said IQ7 and IQ8 inverters cannot be mixed on the same system. Is that true? I have 20 405W panels that were installed in late 2020 with IQ7 inverters. I just added six 430W bifacial panels and the company doing the install said they were unable to use the IQ8M inverters, specified in the initial quote, and substituted the IQ7+ inverters. So, if I wanted to change out some of the older panels for the newer, higher producing panels would I need to change all of the inverters to the IQ8 model if I wanted to get maximum output? I live in Southern California.

[amop]

intresting... What is the upgrade path for older M215's?

[gotamrattu]

I like the thinking behind micro inverters and went on your website to arrange a quote, the company that rang me back couldn't supply them or even quote me for the REA panels 😢, are they a myth? 🤔

[barbasbandas]

Lets say i have a 300w microinverter connected to grid and producing 300w, and that my load goes to 500w. What happens to the inverter output? Will it do some sort of load sharing keeping at max power (300w) while the remaining 200w come from the grid? Or will it just shut off and all my power comes from the grid? Thanks!

[mikeryan]

Hi there, I'm very new to this and so still learning but I've just had a quote from you for 11 × 440W REA Power FUSION 2 paired with 11 × Enphase IQ8MC-72-M-INT · 325W. Why would you not pair these with the IQ8HC microinverters given what you advised in this video? Thanks in advance.

[tamarinde]

I would mix the different type of inverters based on which way the panels are facing.
Compared to The Netherlands the south of England gets more sun, thats something to keep in mind.

With a battery system these micro inverters are actually less efficient because the AC needs to be converted back to DC again for the battery

At the moment micro inverters only benefit is AC power and individual panel control, in my opinion not worth the cost yet, just invest in better panels and inverter

[artisanelectrics]

They don’t sell IQ7 any more so not really a choice anyway