Enphase Ensemble Technology System Planning Tech Brief
Planning an Ensemble Technology System – North America
6 © 2019 Enphase Energy Inc. All rights reserved. December 17, 2019
Sizing Encharge storage system for whole home (main panel) backup
For whole home backup, when an Enpower smart switch is installed on the line-side of the main load panel, at
minimum, the greater of a) two Encharge 10 units or b) 67% of PV AC nameplate rating is recommended.
Sizing Encharge storage system for partial home (subpanel) backup
For partial home backup, when an Enpower smart switch is installed on the load side of the main load panel follow
these steps to size an Encharge storage system:
1. Identify the largest maximum single load power rating (kW) that you want to backup, and select the absolute
minimum number of Encharge units required to meet the 2017 NEC 690.10->710.15(A) requirements.
2. Calculate the total PV system maximum continuous output power of all IQ 6 / IQ 7 microinverters in the
system. Then select the minimum number of Encharge storage units required so that total Encharge storage
system power capacity is equal to or greater than 67% of the total PV system output AC power per Table 1.
In other words, do not size systems where total PV system output AC power is more than 150% of total
Encharge storage system power capacity.
3. Based on the estimated backup loads for the user defined time period, calculate the required Encharge
energy storage (kWh) capacity and the minimum number of Encharge required.
4. Based on a site’s load analysis of both power (kW) and energy capacity (kWh) needed, determine the total
number of Encharge units required for the storage system.
a. The minimum number of Encharge 3 units required is the largest of the calculated values in steps 1
and 2.
b. The desired number of Encharge storage system units is the value calculated in step 3.
c. The maximum allowed number of Encharge 3 units that can be connected to a single Enpower
smart switch is 12 (four Encharge 10).
IQ Microinverter PV System to Encharge Pairing
The following table identifies the maximum number of microinverters that can be connected to a given Encharge
storage system size.
Encharge 3
units
Encharge
power
capacity
(kWac)
Encharge
energy
capacity
(kWh)
Max
PV
system
power
(kWac)
Maximum number of microinverters
IQ 6
IQ 6+
IQ 7
IQ 7+
IQ 7X
IQ 7A
1
1.28
3.36
1.92
8
6
8
6
6
5
2
2.56
6.72
3.84
16
13
16
13
12
11
3
(1x Encharge 10)
3.84
10.08
5.76
25
20
24
19
18
16
4
5.12
13.44
7.68
33
27
32
26
24
22
5
6.4
16.8
9.6
41
34
40
33
30
27
6
(2x Encharge 10)
7.68
20.16
11.52
50
41
48
39
36
33
7
8.96
23.52
13.44
58
48
56
46
42
38
8
10.24
26.88
15.36
66
54
64
52
48
44
9
(3x Encharge 10)
11.52
30.24
17.28
75
61
72
59
54
49
10
12.8
33.6
19.2
83
68
80
66
60
54
11
14.08
36.96
21.12
91
75
88
72
67
60
12
(4x Encharge 10)
15.36
40.32
23.04
100
82
96
79
73
66
Table 1: Maximum number of IQ microinverters for Encharge storage system size for backup operation
Warning: Under sizing power and energy capacity of the storage system may lead to a poor user experience. User
education and setting reasonable expectations of system performance is essential with systems involving backup
storage.