Enphase Energy, Inc. has announced a collaboration with solar industry innovator 5B, in relation to its bushfire relief campaign. Based in Sydney, Australia, 5B develops cutting-edge technology that makes it faster and easier to deploy solar, while also drastically reducing cost.
Founded in 2013, with the mission to accelerate the transition of the global energy mix towards clean energy, 5B’s flagship solution is MAVERICKTM, a portable, prefabricated solar array that makes deploying a solar farm approximately ten times faster than conventional technology. By re-engineering the solar supply chain and simplifying how projects are delivered, MAVERICK reduces project risk and unlocks new opportunities across the entire energy market.
5B initially selected Enphase IQ 7+TM microinverters to assist with the rapid rollout of the MAVERICK arrays utilised to support its role in the Resilient Energy Collective (REC). The Collective is providing solar power solutions to Australians disconnected by bushfires and floods, and is funded with AU$12 million from Atlassian co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes. The Enphase powered MAVERICK plays a key part in the project. These solar arrays are pre-built, can be folded up, packed onto a truck for transport, unfolded and connected to a home or business in less than a day.
“To meet the demands of restoring essential services to disaster-affected communities, we needed a solution that is easy to design, assemble and deploy on the smallest possible footprint,” said Rhett Evans, chief technology officer at 5B. “Enphase IQ 7+ microinverters are well matched to this application for the simplicity and expandability they offer to our design configurations. Resilience to shade and extra panel level diagnostic data are also very valuable for these early installations.”
5B selected Enphase IQ 7+ microinverters for their unique functionality and compatibility with its MAVERICK solution. In perfect alignment with the modularity of the MAVERICK blocks, Enphase technology allows for photovoltaic (PV) systems to scale up or down in size with flexibility, while reducing installation time and complexity. In addition, 5B’s MAVERICK arrays are outfitted with Enphase Envoy™ communications gateways, which connect the solar systems to the Enphase Enlighten™ monitoring platform and helps make per-panel energy monitoring and insights for operations and maintenance easy.
Enphase microinverters are subjected to a rigorous reliability and quality testing regime with more than one million cumulative hours of power-on testing to ensure exceptional performance under heat, high humidity, salty air, extreme cold, and harsh climate conditions. The Company’s microinverters are designed to be long-lived energy assets and are backed by a 10-year warranty in the Australian solar market, which can be extended for a fee to 15, 20, or 25 years.
“5B is a leading example of technological innovation in solar deployment, leveraging the unparalleled versatility of Enphase microinverter technology,” said Dave Ranhoff, chief commercial officer at Enphase Energy. “We are pleased to collaborate with 5B on an initiative that is a powerful showcase for the positive impact solar power can have beyond standard residential and commercial models.”
