Enphase field MTBF: M190: ~36 Years M215: ~316 Years M250: >357 Years

[philip]

You can add mine to your sheet if you like. I have 20 M250 micros:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/zDrF664758

If you are keeping track of the envoys - I have a regular envoy, installed June 2015

 

[RegGuheert]

You can add mine to your sheet if you like. I have 20 M250 micros:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/zDrF664758

If you are keeping track of the envoys - I have a regular envoy, installed June 2015

Thanks! I've added your system in Row 159 of the spreadsheet (row will likely change over time). Your system has demonstrated an MTBF over 21 years to date. You certainly don't get very many clouds this time of year!

Overall the MTBF for M250s is up to 225 years (with no known failures, so far).

Would others with systems on my spreadsheet (both personal and those you are reporting on for friends) please check in and let me know how many failures these systems have had to date? TIA!

My system has had no additional failures since April 30, 2015. Total number of failed inverters remains at FOUR (out of 54 operating here plus 4 operating elsewhere).

 

[ltbighorn]

Do you recall what the M250 MTBF was before the last two additions?

Meanwhile this is probably the foggiest month of the year in SF. July 6th was particularly pitiful (2.78 kWh per installed kW) and today we still can't burn off the marine layer, at least on the western half of the city. It's what happens when you have multiple days of 100F+ temps in the far east bay and central valley, but only low to mid 60s in SF. As long as it averages >= 4.88 kWh/kW/day for July I'll be on target though -- so far at 5.13 and climbing.

I'll admit the fog does makes it very easy to participate PG&E SmartDay/Peak Day Pricing events. 42 miles east I can see some users with solar systems who have clear day after clear day, but are consuming greater than the 40+ kWh/day they're generating thanks to the huge AC load.

 

[RegGuheert]

Do you recall what the M250 MTBF was before the last two additions?

To get that, you simply subtract off the MTBF of the last two entries, which makes it >204 years. (Note that when there are NO failures, you have no meaningful data upon which to base the calculation. You can simply say the measured value is higher. How much higher is anyone's guess.)

 

[QueenBee]

The ones I reported are still going strong, I believe it was these ones: 113-115, 156, 157, 145

 

[RegGuheert]

The ones I reported are still going strong, I believe it was these ones: 113-115, 156, 157, 145

Thanks, QueenBee!

I have updated the field MTBFs in the title to match the spreadsheet:

M190: ~44 Years
M250: ~700 Years
M250: >250 Years

The system on your house (M215s and M215IGs) now has a measured MTBF over 256 years and growing! Your oldest modules are almost five years old now.

No failures to date with M250s, but I am not tracking very many of those.

Anyone else with reports of failures/non-failures?

I have had failures of any microinverters since April 2015, fifteen months ago. (I need to update the spreadsheet to reflect the status of my M190s, since most of them are non-operational now. Those are acting as cold spares instead.)

 

[RegGuheert]

My system has had no additional failures since April 30, 2015. Total number of failed inverters remains at FOUR (out of 54 operating here plus 4 operating elsewhere).

I wrote that on July 15. On July 25, we saw ambient temperatures here over 101F. On July 26 one of the inverters in our system did not start. No light or anything. That brings the total number of M190 failures in this system to FIVE in 5.5 years.

Interestingly, the inverter that failed was NOT one which I had ever identified as a candidate to fail soon. This inverter did not have any of the tell-tale signs of an early demise like I have seen with other units. But it HAD been behaving oddly in the past few months: It would start producing each day about an hour later than all of its neighbors. Ultimately, I think this unit had a completely different type of failure than all of the others which had failed. I suspect an internal power supply failed so that the unit could not power up in the morning.

Kudos to Enphase on their response. I called their support line about the issue and there was NO WAIT. Since the inverter was completely off and they could not communicate with it, they approved an RMA immediately. I replaced the inverter this morning with one of my M190 cold spares and will soon have my first spare 4th-generation microinverter on hand. Since it was in the field array, no trip onto the roof was required!

This failure dropped my system's MTBF from 58 years to 47 years.

 

[iPlug]

You can add my system. I'm not aware how to provide a link as it's not open to the public. Here is my info, if there are other data points needed, let me know. Thanks for putting together the spreadsheet.

Site Location: Rocklin, CA
PV Module Power: 245W
No. Inverters: 28
Type: M215
Activation Date: 8/9/2012
Failures: 0

 

[RegGuheert]

You can add my system. I'm not aware how to provide a link as it's not open to the public. Here is my info, if there are other data points needed, let me know. Thanks for putting together the spreadsheet.

Site Location: Rocklin, CA
PV Module Power: 245W
No. Inverters: 28
Type: M215
Activation Date: 8/9/2012
Failures: 0

Thanks, iPlug!

Please provide the public link to the system. I don't add any systems unless I have that.

 

[iPlug]

You can add my system. I'm not aware how to provide a link as it's not open to the public. Here is my info, if there are other data points needed, let me know. Thanks for putting together the spreadsheet.

Site Location: Rocklin, CA
PV Module Power: 245W
No. Inverters: 28
Type: M215
Activation Date: 8/9/2012
Failures: 0

Thanks, iPlug!

Please provide the public link to the system. I don't add any systems unless I have that.

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/4UVM103387

 

[RegGuheert]

Thanks, iPlug!

Please provide the public link to the system. I don't add any systems unless I have that.

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/4UVM103387

Thanks!

Your system is added to the spreadsheet and currently resides at Row 148.

Calculated MTBF for your system is currently over 111 years.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I have officially lost the third M215 inverter. It was a very hot July, at least for Syracuse (day time highs breaking 90F for about two weeks out of the month). The inverter would start out the day just fine. As the day got hotter and the sun got more direct, the inverter would flicker for about an hour and then cut out completely. Sometimes it would come back to life in the evening, other times not until the following day. It finally gave up the ghost and hasn't been on at all for about a week.

I have reported it to my installer, but he never informs me of status. For the other two cases, I left him voicemails until one day he had a guy show up and install the new one.

Both previous failures were replaced by the M215-IG model.

I was speaking with a friend of mine, and I realized that I have nominally 230W panels driving these inverters. They are rated at 230 +/- 10%, which would be 207-253W. The 215 is the inverter rating, right? As in 215W? Is that input or output? Did my installer undersize the inverters, and could that be contributing to their high failure rate?

 

[QueenBee]

I have officially lost the third M215 inverter. It was a very hot July, at least for Syracuse (day time highs breaking 90F for about two weeks out of the month). The inverter would start out the day just fine. As the day got hotter and the sun got more direct, the inverter would flicker for about an hour and then cut out completely. Sometimes it would come back to life in the evening, other times not until the following day. It finally gave up the ghost and hasn't been on at all for about a week.

I have reported it to my installer, but he never informs me of status. For the other two cases, I left him voicemails until one day he had a guy show up and install the new one.

Both previous failures were replaced by the M215-IG model.

I was speaking with a friend of mine, and I realized that I have nominally 230W panels driving these inverters. They are rated at 230 +/- 10%, which would be 207-253W. The 215 is the inverter rating, right? As in 215W? Is that input or output? Did my installer undersize the inverters, and could that be contributing to their high failure rate?

That's disappointing

When the original M215s were out the M250 was not out yet so a larger inverter was not really an option. 215 watts is the actual output of the inverter and it even can peak up to 225 watts. Enphase's recommendation is that the M215 can be used on panels up to 270 watts. It's very common to oversize the panels to the inverters so this is definitely not a concern.

https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/M215_DS_EN_50Hz.pdf

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Thanks for the reassurance. Clearly if Enphase says the recommended input power is 190-270W, then my 230W panels are not to blame. Even if they are on the high end of 253W, they should be fine.

I am definitely disappointed in the performance of these units. I have a friend with an array of 24x panels, using the same M215 inverters. He lives about 5 miles away, so a very similar exposure. His were installed about 4 months before mine, but he hasn't had a single failure. I guess it's just luck of the draw.

Thank goodness for the 25 year warranty, though!

 

[RegGuheert]

I have officially lost the third M215 inverter.

I'm sorry to hear that. That failure brings the MTBF of your system down to only 24 years, which is HALF of what I am seeing with my M190s. Additionally, this third failure brings the overall MTBF of M215s which I am tracking down to 460 years. That is a good number, but I will say that the M190s had a good number once-upon-a-time, also.

I am now fully convinced that the original batch of M215s included the new case and the Engage cabling system, but that they employ an electrical architecture very similar to the M190s. I believe that only with the M250s and M215IGs did Enphase manage to eliminate the electrolytic capacitors (along with other enhancements).

I guess the saving grace here is that ALL M215s have the 25-year warranty. I suppose it was Enphase' plan all along to replace failed first-run M215s with M215IGs once those became available.

It was a very hot July, at least for Syracuse (day time highs breaking 90F for about two weeks out of the month). The inverter would start out the day just fine. As the day got hotter and the sun got more direct, the inverter would flicker for about an hour and then cut out completely. Sometimes it would come back to life in the evening, other times not until the following day. It finally gave up the ghost and hasn't been on at all for about a week.

Nearly every day in July was over 90F here. Did you have a lot of thunderstorms in July? We certainly did!

Both previous failures were replaced by the M215-IG model.

That's good! I'm pretty sure that none of the M215 failures I have recorded to date are the M215IG units. Unfortunately, I have no way to know since I didn't tracked manufacturing date codes for the failed units.

I was speaking with a friend of mine, and I realized that I have nominally 230W panels driving these inverters. They are rated at 230 +/- 10%, which would be 207-253W. The 215 is the inverter rating, right? As in 215W? Is that input or output? Did my installer undersize the inverters, and could that be contributing to their high failure rate?

As QueenBee said, the M215s can put out 225W. IMO, you can go quite a bit higher than 230Wp on your modules with the M215s and be in good shape. I also don't think this hurts your production, either. I have 235Wp modules and my M190s, M215IGs and M250s all harvest about the same amount of electricity through the course of the year.

That said, it IS still possible that your high failure rate is caused by something that your installer did wrong. For instance, if he did not run a grounding wire to all of the microinverters, that *might* cause a reliability issue. But even if that is the case, that particular problem goes away once the units are replaced by M215IGs (assuming the wiring in the Engage cable is correct).

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I am now fully convinced that the original batch of M215s included the new case and the Engage cabling system, but that they employ an electrical architecture very similar to the M190s. I believe that only with the M250s and M215IGs did Enphase manage to eliminate the electrolytic capacitors (along with other enhancements).

I still have that first failed inverter that I have never opened up. I will make a note to do so and see what is inside. If an electrolytic had failed, normally it's pretty obvious.

I guess the saving grace here is that ALL M215s have the 25-year warranty. I suppose it was Enphase' plan all along to replace failed first-run M215s with M215IGs once those became available.

If that's true, it is unfortunate. It sucks when someone sells you an inferior product, allowing it to fail in the field. Not only for me, but for their own reputation.

Nearly every day in July was over 90F here. Did you have a lot of thunderstorms in July? We certainly did!

Virginia will almost always be hotter than upstate NY. We actually didn't get many thunderstorms this year (yet). It has been a very dry summer, which is reaking havoc on my fruit orchard.

I spent last week in VA Beach. A nice thunderstorm came through mid-week. We had a spectacular view as it came over top of us and disappeared into the ocean.

That said, it IS still possible that your high failure rate is caused by something that your installer did wrong. For instance, if he did not run a grounding wire to all of the microinverters, that *might* cause a reliability issue. But even if that is the case, that particular problem goes away once the units are replaced by M215IGs[\b] (assuming the wiring in the Engage cable is correct).

So now I have to hope that all 16 of them fail within the warranty period? This feels an awful lot like those who are trying to drive their Leaf batteries down below 9 capacity bars before 5 years / 60,000 miles. ::shudder::

 

[RegGuheert]

I still have that first failed inverter that I have never opened up. I will make a note to do so and see what is inside. If an electrolytic had failed, normally it's pretty obvious.

That's right! Your installer left the first one sitting in the bushes. Unfortunately, these units are potted, so it is quite challenging to do anything with them once you open them up.

I'm quite sure your M215s look like this inside. (And I expect the M215IGs look different.)

FWIW, I doubt the electrolytic capacitor is what is failed. While those will tend to limit the life to 15 years or less, the ones chosen for these inverters should not be failing this early. I suspect solder joints are the main cause of failures.

If that's true, it is unfortunate. It sucks when someone sells you an inferior product, allowing it to fail in the field. Not only for me, but for their own reputation.

While your M215 installation has a higher failure rate than my M190 installation, I still wonder if your installer is to blame. You have complained that they were trouble from the beginning and that your friend nearby for whom you recommended a different installer is not having any issues.

Virginia will almost always be hotter than upstate NY. We actually didn't get many thunderstorms this year (yet). It has been a very dry summer, which is reaking havoc on my fruit orchard.

That's too bad. At least it has not been dry here this year. Normally July and August are very dry. This year we have only had a week or so of dry.

So now I have to hope that all 16 of them fail within the warranty period? This feels an awful lot like those who are trying to drive their Leaf batteries down below 9 capacity bars before 5 years / 60,000 miles. ::shudder::

Yeah, it does, doesn't it?

 

[RegGuheert]

On July 26 one of the inverters in our system did not start. No light or anything. That brings the total number of M190 failures in this system to FIVE in 5.5 years.
...
Kudos to Enphase on their response. I called their support line about the issue and there was NO WAIT. Since the inverter was completely off and they could not communicate with it, they approved an RMA immediately. I replaced the inverter this morning with one of my M190 cold spares and will soon have my first spare 4th-generation microinverter on hand. Since it was in the field array, no trip onto the roof was required!

I received the new replacement inverter yesterday, which was 19 days after contacting Enphase. As others have reported, the newest replacement is a fourth-generation M190IG inverter with the metal case instead of plastic.

Now I have 24 M190 spares and 1 fourth-generation (M190IG) spare.

 

[RegGuheert]

I received the new replacement inverter yesterday, which was 19 days after contacting Enphase. As others have reported, the newest replacement is a fourth-generation M190IG inverter with the metal case instead of plastic.

Now I have 24 M190 spares and 1 fourth-generation (M190IG) spare.

I just took a look at the packing slip that came with the replacement inverter that I received on Tuesday. Interestingly, the description says "M190 240V to M19072IG RMA kit". Note the "72" in name. So I took a closer look at the inverter to see what's up. Sure enough, the part number for this latest inverter is M190-72-2LL-S22-IG.

Looking at the specifications printed on the label, I see that the MPPT range exactly matches the original M190 range of 22 to 40V. More importantly, the maximum input voltage has been increased from 48V in the M190IG and 56V in the original M190 to 60V in the new M19072IG! I have updated the Enphase microinverter specifications thread to include this new inverter.

This change does make my spares program a bit less critical. The good news is that I will now be accumulating spares which will work in EITHER array in my system. BTW, I now have SEVEN different types of Enphase inverters (3 types of M190, 2 types of M215IG and 2 types of M250)!

Kudos to Enphase for finally building the M190 that should have been.

 

[RegGuheert]

On July 25, we saw ambient temperatures here over 101F. On July 26 one of the inverters in our system did not start. No light or anything. That brings the total number of M190 failures in this system to FIVE in 5.5 years.

Exactly one month later on August 26, one of the original M190 inverters stopped working at about 4:00PM when the outdoor temperature had risen to about 94F. The temperature reported by the inverter just prior to the failure was 140F. This brings the total number of failures of the original 42 M190 inverters to SIX in 5.6 years of service. In other words, 1 out of every 7 has failed to date.

This brings the MTBF of those original M190s down to about 39 years. That is almost exactly the MTBF that has been thus-far achieved by the 42 fourth-generation Enphase inverters which are now in operation including 13 M250s, 28 M215IGs and 1 M190IG. Those newer inverters have not had any failures so far.

I will call on Monday to report the failure. Once I receive the replacement, that will bring my spares situation to 24 original M190s and 2 fourth-generation M19072IGs.

Frankly, now that I have the fourth-generation inverters in place on the roof, I am happy to have M190 failures and receive the latest new-style replacements which are capable of safe operation anywhere in this system (with either 60-cell or 72-cell PV panels).