If you have shopped for solar in the last few years or own a solar energy system, you are likely aware of solar backup batteries. Solar batteries are essentially a way to store your unused energy and use it at critical times. Like an external phone charger, you can store power to use later and use when your phone is out of batteries. When the power goes out, your solar battery backup will continue to power your home's electricity and appliances. A solar battery backup will also allow you to power your off-grid system even on days when there isn't as much sunlight.

Benefits of Enphase Solar Batteries Backup

Solar battery backup has many incredible benefits, including resiliency from power outages and improved electrical savings by optimizing for Time-of-Use. Today, there are many different types of solar batteries on the market, from the Tesla Powerwall 2, Panasonic Evervolt, to Eguana Technologies. But as one of the most widely installed batteries is on the market today, we will want to do a deeper dive into the Enphase battery storage system.

What is Enphase Energy?

Enphase Energy is a solar equipment manufacturer that has been pivotal in residential and commercial solar equipment technology. Enphase is best known for their microinverter technology and AC modules (solar panels with a microinverter attached). With their inverter technology, they have expanded their expertise into battery backup. Forme Solar Electric has been using Enphase Energy microinverters and technology for years to deliver long-lasting solar energy systems for our customers. We are excited to now offer the Enphase Encharge battery storage systems in combination with a solar-microinverter system.

Benefits of Enphase Solar Batteries?

Enphase Energy has brought its solar industry expertise into the solar storage market. Just like with their microinverters on the roof, Enphase storage leverages a distributed architecture to provide maximum reliability. Each Encharge Battery Solution includes multiple bi-direction microinverters to switch energy from DC to AC and back again for safe and reliable operation. This means that even if one microinverter were to fail, the power would continue flowing, and the lights stay on. Enphase Battery Storage systems provide seamless, automatic backup power to your home. Some of the key differences are that it allows for:

Lithium Iron Phosphate: Safe cobalt-free battery technology
Flexible, scalable design that was designed to be modular to suit your needs
Scalable Enhcarge 10 and Encharge 3 Units
All-in-One integration with Enphase Microinverters, Monitoring, and Reporting.
Built-in Generator integration

8 Top Benefits of Enphase Batteries

The Enphase batteries are an all-in-one storage system that is reliable, smart, simple, and safe. Continue reading to Learn More about what makes the Enphase Encharge one of the leading solar batteries.

1. Reliable and Outdoor Rated

Enphase has devoted years of research, development while designing their storage energy systems. This has allowed their storage solutions to be more reliable than ever. Enphase batteries have no single point of failure and are able to withstand harsh temperatures and humidity conditions. This is because of their innovative semiconductor and passive cooling technology. The Enphase batteries are NEMA 3 rated, which means that they are certified for outdoor use.

enphase backup outage — Photo Credit: Enphase Energy

2. Made with Safer Components

Enphase batteries are manufactured with a different type of battery chemistry that is much safer for residential use. These batteries were designed for home use with the safest battery chemistry available. Enphase uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry. This cobalt-free technology contains no high-voltage electricity and is the first microinverter storage system to receive UL's strict 9540A listing.

By using Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, Enphase has made their batteries safer. This is important because if a solar battery were to be struck by a car, LFP batteries wouldn't create thermal runaway.

3. Intuitive-To-Use

Enphase batteries offer peak performance through various innovative technology components. By incorporating their solar expertise with microinverters, Enphase has designed intelligent functions to make it easier for the homeowner to maximize the benefits of their battery. These features include functions like the Power Start™, which automatically supplies power to appliances when needed ensuring that your most critical electrical loads continue to stay running. Such as your water pump, air conditioning, or refrigerator.

Storm Guard is an Enlighten application feature that monitors the severe weather condition alerts issued by the National Weather Service (NWS). If a severe weather alert is active in your locality, it prioritizes energy storage to protect you from weather-related grid outages. You also don't have to worry about installing system updates as they will be completed virtually, allowing practically hands-free maintenance.

4. Enhanced Reliability When You Need it Most

Enphase Storage is built using integrated Micro Technology, just like on your roof. In fact, the Encharge 10™ includes 12 IQ 8™ microinverters, and the Encharge 3™ contains four. In the unlikely event of a microinverter failure, the remaining microinverters inside the Enphase Storage system keep the power running. It's like a backup for your backup.

5. Intelligently Designed to Work Together

Enphase Battery Storage is intelligently designed to manage your solar system intuitively. For example, it has the unique capability of providing surge current to match short-term power needs. This can be extremely important when turning on energy-intensive appliances like refrigerators, sump pumps, or HVAC units. This provides another layer of protection to ensure you have the power you need. You want your battery backup to be a great backup and be available when you need it the most. Enphase Battery Storage is an intelligent system that can intelligently prepare for a grid outage and even update itself automatically over the internet. This ensures that your battery will always be up to date with the latest software and newest features.

enphase-all-in-one — *Photo Credit: Enphase Energy*

6. All-in-One Monitoring

By adding a battery storage system to your solar energy system, you may need two different apps/portals. One system to view your solar energy production and another app to view your battery's performance. Solar energy customers with an Enphase microinverter setup can easily track and monitor their Enphase solar panel system and their Enphase Encharge battery performance all in one place using the Enlighten™ mobile app.

7. Easy to Add to Existing Solar Panel System

Most solar energy systems use Enphase products like microinverters, making it easy to add an Enphase solar battery in the future. 99% of Forme Solar's customers have an Enphase microinverter setup, making it easy to add battery backup storage in the future. Read more about the pros and cons of inverters vs microinverters.

Worried that your current solar energy system isn't using Enphase Energy technology? Don't worry! The Enphase batteries can be installed on existing systems that use other technology as well. However, it may mean that you will have to monitor your battery and solar performance separately.

8. Scalable. Small to Start, Room to Grow

Another fantastic benefit of the Enphase Encharge is that you won't be locked into your system's size. This means that you have options to start small, go big, or grow over time. With Enphase Energy Battery Storage, you're in control of your energy, and that's a powerful thing. If you are considering a solar battery, you may not know the proper size for your energy consumption. The Enphase Encharge Battery Solution is a scalable solution that can provide as little as 3kWh of capacity to 30kWh of capacity.

Enphase Batteries are a Great Choice

Whether you are considering solar panels with a battery backup, or an existing solar customer thinking about adding a battery, the Enphase battery solutions are a great choice. Enphase provides fantastic performance, reliability, and resiliency from power outages. Depending on your goals, if having a battery backup solution makes sense, the Enphase battery is a great choice.

Forme Solar is your Best Choice for Enphase

Forme Solar Electric is trained and certified to install Enphase batteries, so ask about our Enphase battery product offerings today! We are your leading choice for Enphase Encharge Batteries: