All I want for Christmas is a solar power plus Enphase Ensemble battery backup

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Enphase has a few things going on for it recently. First, they’ve had a few quarters (Q4’18, Q1’19, Q2’19 and Q3’19) where their numbers have been great, and Wall Street has driven the stock price from $5.42/share to just over $23 – 424% growth. And secondly, in this author’s opinion, they’re got an absolutely amazing product in the wings – the IQ8.

Most recently though, the company has released installation guidelines and hardware specifications for their new home energy storage family – the Ensemble. As well, contractors can now pre-order the product in anticipation of the the December release date for the hardware.

The Enphase Encharge-3 (pdf specification page), the Encharge-10 (pdf) and the installation guide (pdf) for both battery sizes – plus additional components – can be found on the hardware’s homepage.

The two storage packages are built upon the Encharge 3.36 kWh battery base unit – part number B03-A01-US00-1-3. The smaller unit, the Encharge 3, can output 1.28 kW of power – with the larger unit outputting exactly three times more – 5.7 kW. Each of the base units weight 97.4 pounds, plus 53.8 pounds for the mounting hardware.

If the average household uses roughly 30 kWh over the course of a day, then the hourly demand is 1.2 kW. Meaning – on average – the output of one of the smaller units can cover a full hour of a house’s need, and the larger unit three hours worth of full on needs.

And keeping up with modern grid requirements, it allows for time of use optimization, demand charge management, and microgrid forming capability in case the grid goes down.

The above image is from the company’s Quick Installation Guide (pdf). The above install is of the partial home backup. Note the location of the Enpower Smart Switch and the Encharge (lower left) relative the home’s main load panel, and the backup sub-panel. The sub-panel will be connected to the home’s emergency requirements, say lighting or refrigeration. The rest of the home’s demand will run through the main load panel, and if the grid goes down, these pieces of connected hardware will also go down.

Note in the below drawing where the Enpower Smart Switch is located between the meter and the load panel. This setup will backup all of the home’s electrical load, for as long as the battery can handle it.

The company says pricing is available via dealers and distributors, and we’ll try to update this article to include pricing for the Ensemble Encharge 3 after reaching out to those in the know.

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