From pv magazine USA
Net Energy Metering (NEM) 3.0 has shifted the environment for rooftop solar in California by sharply cutting compensation rates for exporting local solar generation to the grid. This change, combined with rising interest rates, has posed some new challenges for rooftop solar installers, and new solutions are arising to ensure customers get a solid return on investment.
Enphase, the nation’s largest supplier of microinverters, announced it released updates to its product offerings that are designed to optimize return on investment under the NEM 3.0 environment. The release includes new configurations for the operation of its microinverters and batteries, as well as an NEM 3.0-focused feature in its Solargraf design and proposal software platform.
“Our financial analysis shows that with solar and batteries, homeowners can expect bill offsets between 70% and 90% and a payback period between 5 and 7 years for a cash system,” said Mehran Sedigh, vice president and general manager of the storage business unit at Enphase Energy. “These are compelling economics for homeowners, and we believe installers can thrive under NEM 3.0 with Enphase Energy Systems.”
Under NEM 3.0, the value of buying and selling electricity varies greatly by the time of day and month. The rules incentivize solar-plus-battery owners to avoid buying electricity during times of high utility demand, while compensating them for exporting during these peak demand hours. Enphase’s NEM 3.0-focused system enables homeowners to configure their systems to automatically self-consume and sell energy at optimal times, while retaining backup power reserves for times when the grid is down.
The company is also offering a grid-tied battery configuration that enables energy self-consumption and saving modes of operation without adding backup power for outages. This configuration minimizes system components used, focusing on reduced upfront costs and ease-of-installation.
Additionally, Enphase’s new power control system (PCS) software is designed to allow installers to build oversized solar and battery systems without triggering a main panel upgrade, potentially saving homeowners thousands of dollars and further improving the system payback time.
Image: Enphase
The update comes at a critical time when the California rooftop solar market is suffering as much as a 38% pullback in demand, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Enphase has an NEM 3.0 landing page for installers looking to improve their California rooftop solar sales pitch. A whitepaper goes into detail on how installers can maximize return on investment for their customers.
Enphase has shipped approximately 68 million microinverters, and more than 3.5 million Enphase-based systems have been deployed in over 145 countries.
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