Solar Nerd articles about: Microinverters

If you’re a homeowner who is thinking of going solar, or you’re already working with a solar installer and have a technical proposal in front of you, you’ll know that one of the key components in a home solar system is the inverter. Solar panels generate direct current (DC) electricity, which is the kind of electricity you get from a battery. Grid electricity and your home, however, use alternating current (AC).

Solar panels are magical things that turn sunlight into electricity. The electrons that flow out of a solar panel move in a steady stream, known as direct current (DC). However, grid electricity is alternating current (AC), so the power from solar panels must be converted from DC to AC before it can be useful to your home. That’s the job of an inverter, which you can read about in detail in our guide to solar inverters.

If you’ve read my article about how solar inverters work, you’ll know that one way to get the maximum output out of your solar panels in difficult shade conditions is to use microinverters. The company that is far and away the largest player in the microinverter industry is Enphase Energy. In business since 2006, the California-based Enphase has shipped over 20 million microinverters, so they have a lot of experience. They’ve gone through several iterations of their product lineup, and in this article I’ll take a look at their latest offerings.