Thoughts on Solar

I’m sorry to hear about your troubles. If you would like me to look into this more, please email your bill to info @ runonsun DOT solar.

I understand the calculations, but after the first electric utility bill showing solar credits and purchases plus local consumption via Enphase stats, it would appear that I had my largest usage month ever in 5 years and by almost 60%. Weather was not extreme and my thermostat showed very little AC usage. I’m really concerned something isn’t adding up somewhere, but my installer gave same explanation as you.

I’m sorry to hear of your experience. I would suggest you call the Arizona Solar Energy Industry Association and see if they can intervene on your behalf. Their phone number is 623-204-0366. Good luck!

I’ve had solar for like 3 years since I’ve had solar I have never seen a credit the lowest I have ever seen my electric was under $50 in January of this year. Since I’ve had solar I’ve called the company to complain about my phone electric bill having solar has not saved me AZ nything especially during the summer ever summer for 3 4 months straight my bill goes up so between solar and electric I pay the sam as if I didnt have solar $700+ I’ve contacted my solar company and they said their is nothing they can do they have even hung up on me because I told them the salesman lied to me about my system they just said look at the contract but between what the salesman told me my wife my mom my dad my brother is not what was in the contract SAS nd when he brought us the contract I realized we didn’t read it because he actually didnt let us he went through it quick and when we started to ask question about what he was saying he changed the subject.i am not the only one with the same issue like high electric Bill’s many people have c as me forward to complain. Sunrun is a bunch of liars and thieves I even talked to another solar company recently and they even said my solar is not right they said it is to small I honestly dont know what to do

GoGreen8 -

I am very sorry to hear of your issues - sadly, as the comments above attest, it is not at all uncommon.

I will contact you directly.

Jim

Jim I also wanted to add that its just myself, my husband and 7month old. We have a stove, hot water heater, and dryer thats gas. I do not see why our bill is this high

Hi Jim, Thanks for the vital but late for me information. I have a situation similar to stellareese’s with sunrun. They promised me a 97% offset on my bill and that my powerbill will not go pass 200 bucks. Well my first bill was way over 300 bucks and now my second bill is way over 200 bucks. I feel hopeless due to this 20 year contract. How can we get out of this contract. We are paying 190 for panels plus the ridiculous powerbill this is putting us at a possible 5 to 600 dollar bill monthly combined. We have never paid over 200 dollars before. The promises they gave us on saving money every month was a total lie. Please help me on what to do.

Hi Laz –

The generator integration is not supported in the initial software rollout. Moreover, without the storage component you do not have anything to form the microgrid that can control the IQ microinverters on the roof. Best regards…

Jim

Thanks for the Info, It was very helpful, waiting for this for a long time…Wondering if the Enpower could be installed without the Encharge in case client wants to utilize a generator instead of battery back up?

Thanks for the kind words, TJ.

Great article Jim….love the technical details which exemplify the quality and value of Enphase products. IQ8 is a game changer for sure; the competition’s inverters just do not have the intelligence or response time that an IQ8 has. Awareness of just how important that response time is when the grid fails and the “energy system” takes over is not well-known. Many will purchase inferior systems and then be upset when their internet router resets, PC crashes, and other sensitive devices fail when grid power goes down — brown-out or black-out. Spread the word!! Enphase evangelists are like the Apple evangelists of old, and I know you’re one of the best! Best, TJ Roberts

We did talk about sizing, and I wrote about that in my earlier post - find it here:

Let’s Talk Ensemble!

Thanks, JD, we are super excited!

Lindsay - pricing was not discussed during the training except to reference the online system estimator tool that Enphase has online. It gives a rough cost estimate, but that is all that it is since every install here will be different!

As for the ratio of IQ 6/7 to IQ8 in the Encharge system, I published a table in my previous blog post: Let’s Talk Ensemble!

Essentially the limit is the peak output current of the IQ8’s (which is 150% of continuous) must meet or exceed the output current (continuous) of the PV array.

Hey Jim, nice post! Did they talk about compatibility and sizing of AC Coupled systems? How many IQ6 and/or IQ7 inverters can couple to the Encharge units?

Jim Jenal - I have met very few people who live, eat, and breath solar the way you do. The Run on Sun team is full of solar champions and we were so excited to host you the other day. We cannot agree more – “Bring on the Beta!” Thanks, JD Dillon (Enphase VP of Marketing)

Hi Jim great start to roll out of Ensemble…. did pricing get discussed at your training in Fremont? and recommended ratio of IQ8s to existing IQ7/6s systems to provide a robust system?. Ive heard both 1:1 to 1:1.58 Thanks again

Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you found this informative.

We are expecting to do our first install around the beginning of March and we have two clients signed up so far… with more in the wings!

Thank you for this article. It was informative and well written. You stated this was a beta Ensemble. Did they tell you when the production product would be available? Also, have any of your customers placed an order yet?

Bill - would need to know the specifics as to each device. The question is whether the peak output from the combination of the array (limited to 5.025 kW max - but normally some significant deviation down from that during the day), plus the peak output from the inverters in the storage system, is sufficient to handle the in-rush peak power requirement of the devices. Jim