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David M. Lee
Department of Technology and
Environmental Design
Appalachian State University
Katherine Harper Hall
Boone, NC 28608
Email: mleedm@lowes.com
ABSTRACT
Photovoltaic system adoption has exploded in recent years
due to several contributing factors, including the availability
of reliable, efficient, affordable grid interactive inverters.
Traditionally, inverters smaller than around 1 kW haven not
been available, keeping the entry price for PV relatively
high. Very recently, however, single panel inverters, or
microinverters, have entered the market, providing a much
lower entry price. In addition, microinverters may provide
greater energy per panel compared to central inverters due
to reduced loss from partial array shading. However, thirdparty verification of microinverter manufacturers claims is
currently lacking.
This effort will directly compare the power produced by two
nominally identical arrays each of four PV panels: one
array feeding a small central inverter and one array feeding
four microinverters. The panels are Sharp NE-170-U1, the
central inverter was a SunnyBoy SB700, and the
microinverters were Enphase D380s. Power output was
recorded every minute. Partial shading was artificially
introduced equivalently to each array.. These measurements
were taken during fall 2011 in Boone, NC.
Brian W. Raichle
Department of Technology and
Environmental Design
Appalachian State University
Katherine Harper Hall
Boone, NC 28608
Email: raichlebw@appstate.edu
1.
2.
INTRODUCTION
No published third-party comparisons of micro- to centralinverters could be found in the literature. However, several
3.
METHODOLOGY
Inverter
Panels
Inv.
Setting
Voltage
Central
SMA SunnyBoy 700U
4 @ Sharp NE-170
200 VDC
Micro
2 @ Enphase D380
4 @ Sharp NE-170
-
120 Vac
Enphase (3)
Enphase (3)
Enphase (3)
Briggs (4)
Duration
12 weeks
12 weeks
1 day
Varied
Size
2 kW
4.6 kW
5 kW
Varied
Sample
1
1
1
143
Result
+14%
+7%
+3.5%
+16%
3.2 Instrumentation
4.
RESULTS
POA
(W/m)
Micro
Power
(Watts)
Central
Power
(Watts)
Power
Diff.
(Watts)
%
Power
Diff.
950
598
495
103
21%
960
607
504
104
21%
970
617
510
107
21%
980
618
510
108
21%
990
625
516
109
21%
1000
630
519
111
21%
1010
638
525
113
21%
1020
644
531
114
21%
1030
651
536
115
21%
1040
652
536
116
22%
1050
Avg
657
633
536
521
121
111
23%
21%
Fig. 3: Summary of measured power difference between the micro and central inverters.
POA
(W/m)
Micro
Power
(Watts)
Central
Power
(Watts)
Power
Diff.
(Watts)
%
Power
Diff.
950
602
478
124
26%
960
604
479
125
26%
970
609
482
127
26%
980
618
488
130
27%
990
618
487
131
27%
1000
626
493
133
27%
1010
633
497
136
27%
1020
641
503
138
27%
1030
649
505
143
28%
1040
651
506
145
28%
1050
Avg
661
631
515
495
146
135
28%
27%
5.
6.
REFERENCES
(1) Sherwood, L. (2011). U.S. Solar Market Trends.
International Renewable Energy Council
(2) IMS Research. (2011, September 13).
Microinverters & power optimizers grow 500% in
2010, but still a long way to mainstream. Retrieved
November 8, 2011, from IMS Research Press
Releases: http://imsresearch.com/pressrelease/Microinverters_Power_Optimizers_Grow_
500_in_2010_But_Still_a_Long_Way_to_
Mainstream
(3) Enphase Energy. (2009). Enphase energy value
proposition: A comparison of microinverter and
traditional inverter technologies. Petaluma
(4) Briggs, D. & Baldassari, M. (2011). Performance
of Enphase microinverter system v. PVWatts
estimates. Petaluma: Enphase Energy
(5) IEEE. (2010, February 17). Performance analysis
of photovoltaic installations in a Solar America
City abstract. Retrieved October 3, 20111, from
IEEE Xplore: http://ieexplorer.ieee.org/ xpl/
freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=5411283