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Comment by rstupek | Hacker News Reader

Why did you choose the Enphase system versus any of the others? How much capacity did you install and is it upgradeable?

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I like the distributed architecture. Each solar panel has its own inverter, as well as each battery. If I want more panels or batteries, I just add them in parallel with the existing panels or batteries. If a panel or battery goes down, the remaining ones keep working. Avoiding high-voltage DC also makes the project more DIY-friendly. The downside is that Enphase requires users to take online classes before they grant access to the installer app (easy but time-consuming).

Right now I have 3.8KW of solar and a single 3.3KWh battery. We are producing more than we use most months, so the solar is good but the battery is undersized. If we have an extended grid-down scenario like what happened in Texas, the system will mainly provide daytime backup plus a few evening hours. This is still better than nothing, and we can easily add more batteries as we have the budget.

Thanks for the info. Do you know how much you saved by doing the install yourself? Did you also do the solar install? I was considering using a battery to time shift power as my power provider has free nights.

I installed the solar first, which cost about $10k for parts, plans, and permits. I got quotes between $18k - $26k for the same-sized system professionally installed, so this was a great savings for 3-4 weekends of physical effort.

I don't know how much I saved on the battery, since I didn't get any quotes. The battery was vastly more time and effort, since I had to move my house onto that backup loads panel.

If you just want to shift usage, the backup panel may not be necessary. The Enphase batteries do support a fully grid-tied mode, where they simply connect to your main panel as a branch circuit. I'm sure other brands do too. This would be an easy DIY weekend project, as opposed to a months-long home re-wiring project. The Enphase mandatory training would be the biggest downside for using them here.

Not the person you asked, but Enphase has a reputation of being much more reliable then the Tesla stuff. You can have up to 40kWh of batteries. I think the peak wattage is also higher per kWh than powerwalls.

Also, we tried to get Tesla to install solar on our roof, and will never do business with them (especially that half of the company) again. There's a reason their solar market share is plummeting. Many news stories have been written on this subject. I won't repeat them here.

LG and Generac also make home batteries. From what I can tell, their offerings are also fine.

The main limitation of all the existing systems (vs. the recently-announced Anker) is that they scale amperage linearly with capacity. This is a pain because the batteries produce way more current than you need, but you have to pay for an electrical bus that can handle peak output. This is why the enphase is limited to 40kWh.

I'd strongly recommend against trying to do the installation of the Enphase yourself. It's extremely hands on.

I didn't see much in the way of details on the Anker site regarding their system. It seems none of the companies selling their systems make it as easy as tesla to order one.

It's Germany only at the moment. They intend to expand worldwide in 2024.

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