Cosmic Solar Begins Installing Enphase’s AC Batteries in San Diego

Earlier this month, Petaluma-based inverter and clean energy company, Enphase Energy, released its long awaited AC Battery here in San Diego. A number of distributors around town have begun stacking up walls of the Enphase AC Battery in hopes customers will find it the next “must have” item, paired with their solar installation, to boost sales and help customers achieve energy independence.

Here at Cosmic Solar, we were able to get our hands on four of the batteries a few weeks ago as soon as they came out and installed them at our test site in Escondido. Upon first impression, it’s remarkably easy to install these batteries and wiring them alongside an existing or new solar system is simple. Within an hour, our team had the four batteries and wiring completed — and that was with the installation guide and instructions in hand. In terms of ease of installation, it doesn’t get much easier than these batteries.

Each battery stores 1.2 kWhs of AC power but can be “stacked” together to add as much capacity as required. Enphase’s smart-metered Envoy-S management system seamlessly integrates production, consumption, battery charge and discharge into its existing Enlighten software at enphase.com, making things really simple for its users. All in all, the batteries are beautifully simplistic and are easy to integrate into the existing main service panel of your home.

Other benefits include being able to draw power from the grid during off peak hours and discharging this energy to your home during times when electricity is more expensive (peak hours). When paired with a solar system in your home, the Enphase AC Battery can help lower distribution costs when electric rates are high and helping to lower distribution costs for businesses that have high distribution rates, like churches, retail businesses and manufacturing plants.

One notable downside of the AC Battery is that it cannot function during grid blackouts or when the utility grid is down. Ironically, most of our clients who want battery backup systems want to have it in order to power their house during an outage and, unfortunately, the Enphase AC Battery won’t assist in those conditions.

However, with that said, there’s still great utility in pairing this system with a solar installation or adding these batteries to an existing system, in order to take control of when your home backfeeds and draws power from the grid. For “technies,” who thrive on pouring through data and having more information about production and consumption, this new offering from Enphase is a must-have.

Cosmic Solar is now contacting many of our past customers, offering to integrate these batteries into existing systems. We’re also looking forward to more battery offerings from Tesla and others who will allow our customers to effectively go “off grid” for days at a time or completely.

2017 will bring new and exciting storage products to the fast-growing renewable energy market and create new options for customers looking to take control and become energy independent.