EEVblog 1487 - Do Solar Micro Inverters Take Power at Night?

How much power do Enphase and other solar micro inverters draw at night time when switched off? It’s actually a very interesting question involving real and apparent/reactive power, the system topology, and whether your storage battery is on-grid or off-grid, and also its efficiency curve. Let’s measure it, do some calculations, and look at when it might be a problem. Buckle up Dorothy! 00:00 - How much standby power does the Enphase micro inverter take? 04:53 - Solar Analytics power measurement at night 07:49 - The actual real power consumption of the Enphase inverter is... 08:32 - So why is it drawing at night time? 09:20 - Reactive and Apparent power 10:10 - The Power Factor 11:41 - You only pay for REAL power 15:27 - Power Factor Correction & Energy Saver SCAMS 17:29 - DaveCAD: How does the Enphase Microinverter work? 23:38 - Bidirectional energy flow and untility VAR control 27:55 - How many microinverters can you have? 29:02 - What if you have grid connected battery storage? 30:46 - Battery inverter switching losses 33:19 - I2R copper losses 35:29 - Why not disconnect with a relay? 39:20 - Conclusion Forum: Support the EEVblog on: Patreon: Odysee: @eevblog:7 Web Site: EEVblog2: EEVdiscover: AliExpress Affiliate: Buy anything through that link and Dave gets a commission at no cost to you. Donate With Bitcoin & Other Crypto Currencies! T-Shirts: #ElectronicsCreators