California — Enphase announced its home energy systems will soon integrate with most leading models of home standby AC generators, to provide a glitch-free transition for homeowners during power outages.
Homeowners can also monitor real-time power flow, start and stop their generator remotely, set quiet hours to prevent their generator from operating until their batteries fall below a designated threshold, and control it all with the Enphase app. The new feature functions without a generator automatic transfer switch and eliminates the power glitches that reset home electronic appliances when switching to generator power.
Enphase says its distributed AC architecture minimizes single points of failure inherent in the DC architecture of competitive solutions. These DC solutions generally rely on string inverters, which tend to limit available AC power. Enphase’s AC-coupled solution forms a microgrid that combines the AC power from solar, battery storage, and the generator seamlessly. And the Enphase solution is generally compatible with the existing installed base of millions of AC home standby generators. To learn more, visit the website.
“Many of our customers already own an AC home standby generator and want to integrate it into a solar and battery energy system,” said Mehran Sedigh, vice president and general manager of the Enphase Energy storage business unit. “With this new feature slated for release in November, we’re making that possible for these customers. Pairing with an Enphase energy system results in running the generator only when needed to minimize noise, pollution, and service issues.”
“I’ve been thrilled to try out Enphase’s new generator support feature,” said Steve Stavropoulos of Santa Rosa, Calif. “It’s an integral layer of protection for my home that provides my family with a failsafe should a scheduled blackout or unscheduled power outage impact us beyond our stored battery allowances. During a grid outage, if my battery power gets too low, the generator automatically charges it back up to power everything I need. I can even configure the system to shut off the generator during the evening, so we don’t disturb the neighbors once the batteries are sufficiently charged for the night. The system will automatically start back up in the morning to finish the recharge if I set it to do so. This new feature gives me ultimate resilience against outages.”
“Floridians were buying generators long before solar and battery systems became an option,” said William May, owner of May Electric Solar. “With Enphase’s generator support, many of these homeowners are able to upgrade their old generator system with solar and batteries. Now they can have extra protection against grid outages, reduce their electricity bills, and control it all with an app that manages every part of their energy system.”
“With the frequent, extended outages in Northern California, many of our customers are looking for redundancy in their backup power,” said Michael Cornwall, renewables sales manager at Summit Technology Group. “Enphase’s generator support unlocks the ability for us to deliver that extra security for customers. Generators are notoriously hard to maintain and turn on and off, but now they can control the generator through the Enphase app making the entire experience simple and automatic.”
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