Enphase inverter MTBF calculation thread

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Comments

  • shlolar
    shlolar Registered Users Posts: 1
    Mastruck, that's a good size system you've got there.  I'm in Phoenix also and about to put in a 19kW 65 290W panel with m250's in.  How has your system been holding up?  I would love to see your system.  Thanks.
  • Yaryman
    Yaryman Registered Users Posts: 5
    I've got 18 Enphase M250's that have just hit one year mark with no problem.
    Located in Northern California with the hottest month being July with avg. highs of 94. 
    It seems like the M190 was a somewhat trouble filled product, but Enphase got it right by the time the M250 came out. 
    On the other hand, if something goes wrong in two years with my Enphase inverters, I will have a different opinion. 


  • cow_rancher
    cow_rancher Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭✭
    I see that this builder liked to make a lot of penetrations through the concrete tile roof,  Those three with the top hats are probably bathroom fans, "fart fans" or kitchen fans and could have been vented into the empty space above the insulation (if those are trusses, which for a tile roof they should be).  And the three vent stacks I see there for sinks and tubs could have been combined into one vent stack, I'm not an expert on the UBC but that is the way I build my house with help from some subs.

    Rancher
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I see that this builder liked to make a lot of penetrations through the concrete tile roof,  Those three with the top hats are probably bathroom fans, "fart fans" or kitchen fans and could have been vented into the empty space above the insulation (if those are trusses, which for a tile roof they should be).  And the three vent stacks I see there for sinks and tubs could have been combined into one vent stack, I'm not an expert on the UBC but that is the way I build my house with help from some subs.

    Rancher
    In my area of California, you will be very sorry venting bathroom moisture into the attic space, mold everywhere !
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    I don't know about code--But I would not be happy when I had to snake a drain from the roof and cannot send it down the correct stack/sewer line.

    For kitchen fans, venting to the attic is also a smoke/fire hazard (besides dumping humidity into the attic space is not right either).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • Aguarancher
    Aguarancher Solar Expert Posts: 315 ✭✭✭
    edited October 2016 #67
    There is a reason they use “b” vent pipe for stoves, kitchen exhaust fans, furnaces and water heaters, it’s called fire. As far as the fart fans, they are 3” dia. aluminum flex “supposed to be, have seen plastic flex in some cases” and never exit the roof, but out the gable ends in a aluminum dryer type vent. I have seen the lesser contractors simply staple the duct to a gable screen vent. Sadly I’ve seen both methods pass inspection.
  • colinmcc
    colinmcc Registered Users Posts: 3
    i have 47 M215IG installed 2 years ago, (june 2015)  none have failed. But, my first envoy failed after just a year, I contacted enphase and asked for an RMA who replied 'that serial number is out of it's guarantee period'..  I wasn't impressed by that! Surely the guarantee should start from date of installation, not date of manufacture, presumably it had sat on a shelf somewhere for some time before I bought it.
  • daklein
    daklein Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭✭
    Old thread now, but...      Just for fun, who can show the highest production by an m190 over it's lifetime?    :wink:

    My 2011 installed rooftop array in Michigan, with 21 x m190 and 225w panels, has one remaining original m190.   It looks like it's going out, but it's energy output is still within 10% of other panels, and it's in the middle of the array so I have left it going.   It has made 2.84 MWh over it's lifetime, 10+ years so far.    Can anyone beat that?      (IG & IQ based warranty replacements are all good so far, and still have 5 of 9 m190 warranty replacements still going up to 8 years old now)
    4.7 kW rooftop grid-tied Enphase M190s (1/21 surviving, have replaced and re-replaced the rest), 21x SolarWorld 225W
    2.6 kW ground mount AC coupled to SMA SI6048 x2 & 1080Ah 48v Exide FLA forklift bank, 10x Talesun 265W (a DC Solar trailer), Enphase m210/M210IG
    3.7 kw  rooftop 12x Astronergy 305W,  9 panels DC coupled w/ Midnite 250-CP CC,  3 panels AC coupled Enphase M210IG
    (sold) 480 W camper system, 2x Panasonic 240W HIT, Midnite Kid CC w/ Whizbang Jr, 2x 6v GC2 FLA 230Ah
  • DanS26
    DanS26 Solar Expert Posts: 264 ✭✭✭
    I just wonder not if but when the warranty costs will outstrip the profits and tank the Enphase company.  Investors beware!
    23.16kW Kyocera panels; 2 Fronius 7.5kW inverters; Nyle hot water; Steffes ETS; Great Lakes RO; Generac 10kW w/ATS, TED Pro System monitoring
  • Yaryman
    Yaryman Registered Users Posts: 5
    My Enphase Envoy ENV-120 Communications Gateway died after about 5 years. I was able to find a working used model for $175 on ebay.  I did have to call Enphase to have the reset the Gateway for me, instead of the previous user. The agent was helpful and the Envoy now reads out my production. 

    Off the record, the agent mentioned they came with a two year warranty, and the company had expected them to last 5 to 10 years. 
  • WebPower
    WebPower Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭
    I had 5 of 22 die after about 7 months i'm guessing in 2020. Thankfully they were ground based at the time. Some nasty brown/blackout issues at the time. all failed with line frequency out of spec error. Tried to give them all different grid voltage and frequency but they never got out of that state. I still have one of them lying around the shop. Enphase never asked to send them back, they just sent me 5 new ones.
    9000+W grid tied IQ7 22 panel rooftop and 6 panel ground combination with 1 additional IQ7 connected to 500W wind turbine+200w solar+2 IQ7s with 300W+600W on the RV grid tied when it's in the driveway.
  • drees
    drees Solar Expert Posts: 482 ✭✭✭
    daklein said:
    Old thread now, but...      Just for fun, who can show the highest production by an m190 over it's lifetime?    :wink:
    All 18 of my M190s installed in Spring 2010 are still running without issues - 3.29 MWh is the record holder, the lowest one is 3.15 MWh. Enphase had proactively replaced my Envoy a long time ago in 2012. 180W panels. Looking at adding another 4-5 kW of PV and possibly batteries to account for more usage now that I have installed heat pump water heater, heat pump for the house and electric vehicles.