An Enphase Battery Experience

Back in June 2023, the Enphase IQ Battery 5P became available in Australia.
We had a list of clients wanting to incorporate an Enphase battery into their Enphase solar power system.

The Enphase battery has a few attributes that make it stand out against other batteries available.

♦ The 5 kWh modular batteries make it easy and practical to increase capacity incrementally to match the battery size with the amount of solar production and electricity importation

♦ Delivers 3.84 kVA peak power output per 5 kWh battery

♦ Iron Phosphate Lithium-Ion battery (safer and longer life span)

♦ Blackout protection capable

♦ Mobile app-based monitoring and control

♦ Operate at low-voltage DC power

♦ Each battery module has six swappable internal microinverters (no single point of failure)

One of the most significant attributes is the warranty of 15 years for the battery and microinverters.
Other battery systems have ten-year warranties and only single inverters.

One of our clients, Andrew, had been waiting for the battery availability, and as soon as it was available, placed an order for 2 x 5kW Enphase Batteries and 20 high-performance Panels with Enphase IQ8 Microinverters.
Andrew’s system installation was completed in August 2023.

The Results:

Every day, the batteries charge up in the morning (green) and are sufficient to cover all the night-time consumption.
The solar panels generate plenty of solar energy (blue) resulting in surplus power being exported back to the grid (black).

February 14th  2024 example:

With a performance pattern like this, the choice of energy plan only needs to focus on maximising the feed-in tariff and minimising the supply charge cost, which Andrew has managed to achieve, with the net result being that he is always in credit with the energy retailer.

A series of bad weather days will alter the performance patterns, and occasionally insufficient daytime solar for battery charging may occur, resulting in the occasional importation of off-peak electricity overnight.

To date, ‘banked’ export credit with the retailer has more than adequately covered the few days when bad weather conditions have had an impact.

Here’s what Andrew had to say.

” I did delay my original purchase of solar for my new property after researching the different systems out there on the market. After reading about the specs and seeing reviews on YouTube from America, the Enphase eco system seems to tick a lot of the boxes I was after in a solar system.

From micro inverters (IQ8 that can form their own microgrid to keep producing while the grid is down) to the Gateway and IQ batteries, everything seemed like the right fit for me

Installation was a quick one-day process, but took a day or 2 for the system to be fully active after Enphase in the US needed to update firmware on all devices.

The system has been running great for the 5 months that it has been installed. There has been a household re-education on when to run the washer, dryer, and dishwasher. But with the 10kWh of battery, we get through most days with using about 0.5kWh of grid power.

We are currently sitting in about $100 credit with the power company on our bill with the extra power we have exported over the last 5 months which will help going into winter.

I am also considering installing a 3^rd battery to get capacity up to 15kWh but I will see how our first winter treats us. “

” Overall, I have been extremely pleased with the system that SolarWise Wagga installed. The service is extremely professional and they are easy to communicate with in regards to questions about the system and setup.

It has been nice to not have a power bill for the last 5 months considering the current cost of living crisis. Although I am considering a 3^rd battery to increase night time headroom. Previously power bills were about $250-350 a month.

I am very happy with the Enphase eco-system. It is great to be able to check on the system at a glance via the app during the day. “