Technology overview
Enecsys’ innovative and patented solar micro-inverters have been designed for high reliability operations, to have a life expectancy of 25 years thereby matching the life expectancy of solar modules, to operate in real world conditions from -40 degrees C to +85 degrees C, and achieve a peak efficiency of 94.1% for high reliability over the temperature range. In order to achieve this high level of reliability, the Enecsys micro-inverter embodies three key attributes: a patented rugged topology, a component line based on high temperature rating and ruggedness, and a unique and patented energy storage technique that enables the use of thin film capacitors instead of less reliable electrolytic capacitors and the elimination of opto-couplers.
The elimination of the components known to have relatively poor reliability - electrolytic capacitors and opto-couplers – was critical to improving the lifetime and reliability of Enecsys solar micro-inverters. The failure modes of electrolytic capacitors include leakage or depletion of electrolyte solution from the capacitor, which in turn causes their internal temperature to rise and performance to deteriorate at an ever-accelerating pace.
The Enecsys solar micro-inverter is a compact unit that converts the DC power from the solar module to AC power for supply to the electricity grid without the need for a string or central inverter. The AC output from the Enecsys micro-inverter is in-phase with the electricity grid and exhibits high power quality including low harmonic distortion and near unity power factor.
The difference between the various solar system architectures – conventional string or central inverters, DC-DC power optimizers with string or central inverters, and micro-inverters is discussed below:
