Enphase system retrofit & expansion

When this homeowner’s existing 3kW string inverter failed, he contacted us for help. As the panels were still in good condition, the decision was made to retro fit each one with an Enphase microinverter. The flexibility of Enphase microinverters allowed us to then expand the system with a further 11 WINAICO panels, resulting in a single, combined 27-panel system.

Design flexibility with Enphase microinverters

At face value, this homeowner’s brief was simple – produce as much solar electricity as possible from the roof of his new property in Lennox Head. However, with numerous angles and orientations and partial shade, traditional string inverters were not up to the task. Enter Enphase microinverters.

Rather than back-solving from what is possible, Enphase microinverters gave us the flexibility to provide this customer with exactly what he needed. They also minimise the impact of shading by allowing each panel to operate at its maximum, unaffected by the rest of the panels in the system. This was particularly important given the property’s position among established trees on a semi-forested block.

Innovative Australian alternative to battery storage

When most of us think of home energy storage, we think of lithium batteries, like Tesla’s Powerwall. This is a form of chemical energy storage, but there are other options available including one that is common to all homes – heat. This schmick system we installed in Bangalow includes a Green CATCH solar hot water diverter that stores surplus solar electricity as hot water for later use.

Comprehensive real-time monitoring

One of the many things we love about Tesla Powerwalls is the amount of information we and our customers can extract from them remotely via the Tesla app. This includes real-time power flows and, for Tesla vehicle owners, information about their vehicles too!

Powerwalls communicate via a homeowner’s Wi-Fi network. However, in the event of a grid outage, they switch to the mobile 4G network to ensure continuity of communication. This enables homeowners to keep a close eye on energy levels until the grid connection is restored.

Solar powered op shop

The team was pleased to install this 6.2kW solar system on the Uniting Church Op-Shop in Byron Bay. With summer on the way, the church recently had air conditioning installed. Now the volunteers can keep cool while keeping their carbon footprint and electricity bills to a minimum.

Guilt free air conditioning

The owner of this property in Bangalow decided she had sweltered through enough Northern Rivers summers, so engaged Light Touch Solar & Electrical to install air conditioning together with a 5kW Enphase system so she can run it guilt free!

Beautiful property in the Byron Bay hinterland

With no one roof surface that could accommodate enough panels to offset this household’s consumption, the system was split over six surfaces using Enphase microinverters. Coupled with a Tesla Powerwall battery and Wall Connector electric vehicle charger, this beautiful property in the Byron Bay hinterland is now entirely self-sufficient.

Solar Analytics for accurate monitoring

The optimum solar gain at this property in Goonengerry was on the roof of a shed approximately 100m away from the main meter board. A further challenge was that solar exports needed to be capped at 1kW to avoid unacceptable voltage rise. The solution – install a wireless communication bridge from the control device in the meter board to the Fronius inverter in the shed, together with Solar Analytics for accurate monitoring.

Electric vehicle charging at night

In a staged install that spanned several years, the team installed a small Fronius system expansion, Tesla Powerwall battery and helped relocate inverters during renovations at this property in Tintenbar. The homeowners now look forward to using surplus solar electricity stored during the day for use at night and charging their beautiful Nissan Leaf electric vehicle!

Managing grid voltage with Edge IQ

We used WINAICO’s sexy all-black panels on this install in Byron Bay which resulted in a very sharp looking system. An Edge Electrons Edge IQ voltage conditioner was also installed to manage high grid voltage at the site.