Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH), a global energy technology company and the world’s leading supplier of solar microinverters, today announced the introduction of its seventh-generation Enphase IQ™ microinverters for the Enphase Home Energy Solution with IQ™. The Enphase IQ 7 Micro™ and Enphase IQ 7+ Micro™ are designed for worldwide markets and have started shipping to distributors in the United States. Enphase IQ 7 microinverters will continue to be phased into markets around the world through the first half of 2018.
Seventh-generation IQ microinverters are powered by Enphase’s unique software-defined architecture which results in an efficient design, and a single hardware SKU worldwide. The IQ 7 family of microinverters produce 4% more power, and are 19% lighter and 17% smaller than the IQ 6 family of microinverters. The new IQ Microinverters offer the same ease of installation with revolutionary two-wire cabling, and leverages semiconductor integration for higher reliability and better economies of scale. The 250 W AC Enphase IQ 7 Micro and the 295 W AC Enphase IQ 7+ Micro will be followed by a new, high-power 320 W AC variant, the Enphase IQ 7X Micro, to address 96-cell modules. Enphase IQ 7X Micros are expected to be introduced in the second quarter of 2018.
“With the IQ 7 family of microinverters, we continue to deliver on our vision of innovation and high quality,” said Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy. “This in-line upgrade to the IQ family of microinverters represents another milestone in our mission to reduce manufacturing costs, and reach our 30% gross margin, 20% OPEX, and 10% operating income (30/20/10) target operating model by the fourth quarter of 2018.”
As part of the Enphase IQ System™, seventh-generation IQ microinverters offer significant benefits to installers and homeowners, including:
- Seamless integration into the Enphase Home Energy Solution with IQ and energy monitoring and insights from the Enphase Enlighten™ software platform’s easy-to-use interface.
- Greater reliability achieved via BOM reduction enabled by a new 55nm ASIC chip.
- Fast and easy installation with the existing suite of IQ products: the lighter two-wire Enphase Q Cable™, the Enphase IQ Combiner+™ with pre-installed Enphase IQ Envoy™, and the Enphase Q Aggregator™ which enables “plug and play” connection for up to three branches on the roof.
- Expansion into new global markets within Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America that were not supported by previous generation microinverters.
