As always, I enjoyed the content you provided. I watched several of your comparison videos before purchasing a solar system for my home. My system is from SolarEdge. I love it. It has worked flawlessly for the past 1.5 years now. I added one battery. It is a workhorse and provides a significant amount of my total power. My only regret is that I did not add more. That is coming soon though. Your knowledge and information you provide is extremely valuable and helpful. Thanks for all that you do.

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful

I agree with some of the comments about the Enphase being modular but doesn’t the power increase when you add more batteries too? Maybe a Solaredge vs 2 x Enphase would have been a better comparison

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

Yes, the Enphase system increases is power as your add more battery units.

@4some2joe0

2 ай бұрын

It'd a one to one comparison, if you want a second Enphase battery then you'll get a higher quote compared to one solaredge battery

Nice comparison. You do an excellent job at presenting information. I would have liked to see a system connection diagram for the SolarEdge system as you displayed one for the Enphase system. Thank-you.

The "lighter" chemistry? So Li-ion rather than LFP? That would be a hard NO for me. People might also want to consider overall system reliability for the two ecosystems. The approach Enphase takes with micro-inverters both at the panels and in their batteries is highly fault tolerant. If something breaks, you'll lose only a small fraction of your capacity, whereas when a SE inverter breaks (and they do!), you're dead in the water.

Good comparison.

With the Solaredge 2 batteries equals 20kwh, the Enphase 5p you need about 4 batteries to match the kwh's of storage. Frankly i'm kind of surprised that Joe gave Solaredge the win, just a few months ago he seemed fully entrenched into the Enphase fold. LOL

@ushipb00

2 ай бұрын

That’s what I like about Joe. He is pretty unbiased about his opinion on things. A rare quality these days. Enphase is just too overpriced for such a small battery,

We received a quote which included the Solar Edge battery. We found out that the operating specs extend to an altitude of 6,200 feet, and that the warranty would not apply if it were in use at an altitude above that. The contractor could not offer a reason. We've seen nothing about why altitude in a factor, nor have we seen info regarding altitude limitations for other batteries that have been proposed. Can you explain why altitude is a factor? Does it relate to the battery chemistry or something else. Thanks!

Any updates or comparisons on systems like homegrid or franklin?

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

We'll have some more Franklin coverage coming up soon

Great comparison. I have a question. Is the continuous power for both batteries additive? For example, if I had two Solaredge or Enphase batteries, would they be 10kw and 7.6kw of constant power, respectively? Also, this is an X factor. I have a DC coupled Solarege battery with backup. There is a solid 3-5 second delay from when the power goes out, and the battery auto transfer kicks into power my home. I am using uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) on sensitive units, such as my computers and electronics, to compensate for this time lag. Still, with an AC-coupled system, there is no delay when the power goes out and the backup kicks in (from what my friends who have AC-coupled systems tell me). That should be a significant factor that no one talks about, also why does this happen? Is the battery, if located on the AC side, more responsive?

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

Power is additive for the Enphase battery since each battery has its own built-in micro inverters. For the Solar Edge battery, storage capacity is cumulative, but the power rating is still determined by the inverter.

@Bowhunters6go8xz6x

2 ай бұрын

The storage (quantity) is additive (look at a battery as you would a cars gas tank vs 2 gas tanks of equal size doubles the gasoline storage. The amount of power that can be drawn and used inside the house at any one time is often not exactly doubled but it does usually increase with 2 batteries over just 1, storage batteries are limited on how much power they can safely deliver (due to components and heat buildup) and different brands like these two the amounts are different.

@TheUweRoss

2 ай бұрын

Yes, continuous power is additive with the 5P batteries. I have three of them at my house up north. I would assume the same is true of SE, but can't be certain.

@WestFortJacoby

2 ай бұрын

SolarEdge batteries are rated at 5kW of output each, but they are also dependent on the inverter size. So on an 11.4kW inverter 1 battery would get you 5kW, 2 gets you 10kW, and 3 gets you to the full 11.4kW. For your transfer switch, there is a new setting in the most recent update called "fast backup transition" that enables an instant transfer during an outage. It took them forever, but they finally enabled that setting.

@ushipb00

2 ай бұрын

@@WestFortJacoby wow! Thank you so much for your answers!

How do these compare against the signature solar eg4 batteries. I know it's a diy market so youll save tons if your handy ,but is there any difference in battery quality.?

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

I would say this is an entirely different category. EG4/signature is for the DIY solar community. Enphase and SolarEdge are brands for full service professional installations with a licensed contractor.

@randya9143

2 ай бұрын

I think all batteries these days are about the same quality. It doesn't matter who installed them as long as the installation follows best practices. EG4 PowerPro batteries have fire suppression and heaters for cold temps, just like the high dollar "professional installer only" ones. You get a lot more KW per dollar when you DYI.

I am planning to get solark inverter what battery do you recommend??

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

Homegrid

@randya9143

2 ай бұрын

If you are doing the installation yourself, go with EG4 PowerPro. (14.3 kwh for $3400.) SOL-ARK works great with it.

A lot of low usage customers have no need for a larger kWh capacity - which I think is why Enphase made the modular units. This helps cost with them a lot only needing a single 5P rather than a larger battery with much of the capacity they will never use but still having to pay for the entire cost of the larger battery. Also I think Enphase 5P has the best continuous and Peak kW per kWh output in the industry..?

@ushipb00

2 ай бұрын

I disagree. Most homes need a minimum of 10kw to be backup for an even a small home. The 5p is just too small and Enphase charges too much for their tech.

@akachukwunnaji5519

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for all you do Joe.

@michaelferketic3540

2 ай бұрын

@@akachukwunnaji5519 Agreed. Joe is great, very informative, and I learn a lot from the videos and the explanations are spot on

Is there any truth to the need for a main panel upgrade (MPU)when adding more than 15 KWh of storage? I read recently Enphase has a software solution for 15KWh and greater storage installs avoiding the MPU expense of time and money. Is this puff? Like the Sunlight back up with the IQ8 and IQ5P combination. Colds start when no grid availability when the sun rises in the morning. Should these claim be taken seriously and seen as a bonus or promotional puff?

@pinktacotuesday4573

2 ай бұрын

It's the truth imo enphase overall still has the best and most reliable system.

@user-ib6fu3ux1q

2 ай бұрын

We added two IQ5P batteries to our small ten panel system. By choosing to go with tow batteries we did not need to make any changes to main panel. We were able to make a simple whole home installation.

@pinktacotuesday4573

2 ай бұрын

I'm getting ready to do 30 panels and 4 IQ5P batteries with the option to add a generator later.

You should deduct a few points from SE, seeing as they likely won't be in business to honor their warranty.

@sithabelamandlawenkosiwodu6298

29 күн бұрын

So a point should be deducted based off of what you think will happen?

Enphase is still not producing a battery architecture solution that allow for battery capacity expansion after system output power capacity has exceeded maximum required output power. Enphase needs to come up with a way to at least double the battery capacity paired with a 5P micro-inverter without having to increase the number of micro-inverters.

I need to ask someone really important question please about electricity

@SolarSurge

2 ай бұрын

You can post questions here and we'll try to get your an answer.

Why are on Earth wouldn’t you compare (2) 5Ps to (1) SE battery. Enphase is modular by design so choosing the single battery (which no one installs) does not make sense. Also no mention of LFP being the preferred chemistry for home installations. Odd comparison…

@TheUweRoss

2 ай бұрын

Nobody? I'm getting ready to do exactly that at my house in FL. It will make a great UPS for my home office equipment, and it will keep my fridge and freezer cold if power goes out when I'm not here. With 1:1 net metering, I don't need more than that here. Up in PA (also 1:1 net metering) I have three of them because there are a lot more loads I'd like to keep running overnight in a power outage w/o having to fire up the generator.

@Bowhunters6go8xz6x

2 ай бұрын

1 battery vs 1 Battery = apple to apple - it takes roughtly 4 of the Enphase 5P's to have the same storage as just 2 of the Solaredge batteries and that including installation costs adds up to some coinage $$$!

@robert2024-r1l

Ай бұрын

​@Bowhunters6go8xz6x you're right, we should compare it to a AA Energizer batter since that is also only 1 battery. The equipment cost of 2 5P batteries are less than a singular SE battery. Also the install of the 5P is insanely easy. Looking at maybe an extra 15 minutes of labor and 50 in materials.

BIG TIP - Long warranties are for companies that don't plan on being around that long. So they are worthless.

@MatthewBarrettBrainTrainer

2 ай бұрын

I agree when it comes to installer warranties, but these are manufacturers.

I prefer the SolarEdge battery in everyway except for 2 things: 1. Enphase uses LFP battery chemistry, which makes way more sense for home storage. 2. Enphase generator integration actually works very well. SolarEdge generator integration is clunky, and does not charge the batteries via the generator.

I knew the worst system was going to win. Ridiculous. Tesla powerwall has 3x the kWh

@P51

2 ай бұрын

ya my thoughts too. what am i missing?

@ushipb00

2 ай бұрын

Tesla is a good battery but I don’t like their ecosystem, poor customer service, and lack of individual solar panel monitoring. Keeping an open mind to different options is always a good thing.

@tingokuman

2 ай бұрын

Read up on Tesla before calling it the winner. The batteries are dangerous. It has a much higher failure rate at the inverter and like the other guy said customer service is very poor.

@P51

2 ай бұрын

@@ushipb00 yeah there is no perfect solution--these batteries don't offer adequate power for me--that's for certain.