When it comes to solar, performance really is everything. Many factors can affect solar system performance, but perhaps the biggest factor affecting day-to-day energy production is what type of inverter your panels and system use. This is where Enphase Energy Systems excel. Solar systems equipped with our IQ Microinverters have a clear performance advantage over systems with string inverters and optimizers, and even over other microinverters.

String inverters provide a single point of power inversion, but also a single point of power failure. If the inverter itself has an issue, the whole system will, too. With Enphase IQ8 Microinverters, each panel operates separately, like its own little power plant. So in the remarkably rare occurrence (Enphase IQ8 Microinverters have just a 0.05% failure rate) that there's an issue with a microinverter, only one panel will stop producing, while all the others continue to power your home at their peak output.

The same goes if one panel is shaded or doesn’t have direct sun exposure—the others in an Enphase system continue to produce fully. This is especially beneficial if you have a complex roof with sections that face slightly different directions (southeast and southwest, for instance), or one or two panels are shaded periodically during the day.  With a string inverter system, if one panel gets dirty or shaded, it will diminish the output of all the panels because they’re all tied together and don’t work independently.

IQ8 Microinverters also include technology called Burst Mode. It allows each microinverter and panel to capture more energy in low light conditions, such as when panels are shaded, just after sunrise, or just before sunset, when string inverters likely aren’t producing.

These performance advantages mean Enphase solar systems produce more power, and do so more reliably, than systems built around string inverters.

The true measure of a solar energy system is taken over years. Ensuring you have a high-quality system that consistently performs year after year is what really matters.

Enphase microinverters are designed with fewer moving parts, which means fewer parts that can fail. And they’re tested extensively before they’re ever installed, so we know going in that they’re less likely to have issues or need repairs, and they’ll keep producing as expected for the life of the panels to which they’re mounted.

We also warranty our microinverters for 25 years to match those of most high-quality solar panels. String inverters usually only have 10 to 12 year warranties, and often fail within 15 years. The longer life of Enphase IQ Microinverters, combined with their more reliable production over a longer period of time, makes them a far greater value throughout the life of the system.

Not every day will be a sunny one. And honestly, some rain isn’t a bad thing, right?

Beyond average rainfall, solar panels and the microinverters attached to them (as well as any components mounted on the outside of your home, including batteries) need to endure harsh weather and keep performing for years. Enphase IQ8 Microinverters have earned a NEMA 6 rating from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, meaning they could actually be submerged in water and still survive. Also, our microinverter technology is so durable that it’s recommended by FEMA for better performance and reliability in severe weather like hurricanes. And all of our IQ Batteries, Enphase EV Chargers, and even our IQ PowerPack 1500 portable energy system are rated for outdoor use.

Beyond their physical durability, there are other ways that Enphase systems are designed to help you stay powered up in extreme weather. Our Storm Guard feature, for example, can receive severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service and automatically charge your backup-configured batteries—whether from solar, the grid, or both—before a storm hits, so you’re prepared for any power outages.

Enphase IQ8 Microinverters also have a feature that other inverters don't: Sunlight Backup. While most solar-only systems (with no battery backup) will shut down if they lose grid connection during an outage, IQ8 Microinverters can keep your system online and powering your home during daylight outages.

Our microinverters have intelligent software that makes switching from on-grid to off-grid seamless if there’s a grid outage. In an instant, your backup batteries will kick in if you have them, and your critical loads like lights, the fridge, and Wi-Fi will stay powered and connected.

An Enphase Energy System that includes batteries configured for backup can provide you with 24/7 power, even—and especially—if the electrical grid goes down.

Enphase IQ Batteries are there to help you on an everyday basis, too—they allow you to store excess solar your system produces during the day and use it after the sun sets, so you avoid paying for grid energy in the evening when electricity rates spike, and overnight as well. You can even sell back some of that excess stored energy to your utility to speed up your return on investment.

Saving with solar can come in different forms. While maximizing your solar production may be the most common and long-lasting, a new Enphase system can save you money upfront, too. Here’s how.

In some cases, a new solar energy system will require a costly upgrade to your main electrical panel. But the Power Control software included in Enphase systems may help you avoid paying for an expensive new panel. Power Control can manage your loads and the production of your Enphase solar or solar and battery system to work within the capacity of your electrical main panel, without actually upgrading your electrical main.

For instance, if you have a 100 A electrical main panel, you may be able to keep it but still get performance that, from non-Enphase systems, would normally require a higher-capacity electrical main (120 to 200 A). This can lead to significant cost saving, and can make it possible to install a larger system while ensuring your main panel stays NEC code-compliant.

An Enphase system with Power Control also can benefit customers in California who want to include batteries with their systems. That’s because California’s main utilities require an additional meter (called a Net Generation Output Meter) that can increase the cost of installation. The alternative is to limit the amount of battery capacity you install to 10 kW, which is less than most households want or need.

Enphase Power Control is included as part of an Enphase system installed with an IQ Combiner 5 and IQ Gateway. This allows the system to comply with California utilities without the additional meter, and to have higher battery storage capacity.

It’s a universal fact: communication leads to success. Teams rely on it. So do energy systems. And the Enphase Energy System is next-level when it comes to communication.

At the heart of Enphase communication is the IQ Combiner 5C. It consolidates interconnection equipment, including an IQ Gateway, into a single enclosure and streamlines installation by providing a pre-wired solution for residential systems. It easily connects and communicates with IQ8 Microinverters, the IQ System Controller 3/3G, and the IQ Batteries to create a complete system that uses intelligent technology to constantly communicate and optimize your energy production, storage, and usage.

The Enphase IQ Gateway—as its own device, or as part of the IQ Combiner—essentially allows the system to talk to you. It connects to Enphase IQ Microinverters on your roof via standard AC power lines, and then to the Enphase App either via cellular or Wi-Fi. It pushes all that power production and consumption data to the app for you to use when monitoring your system or customizing your settings—or to simply see how much money you're saving.

The IQ Gateway also allows IQ Microinverters to get over-the-air software updates so they can maintain peak production and continually refine and optimize how your system captures and uses the energy of the sun.