Enphase M190/M190IG/M215/M215IG/M250/M250-72/S280 Microinverter Specifications

[RegGuheert]

Enphase has just released the new S230 and S280 microinverters. These new inverters provide improved efficiency and power factor control between 0.7 leading to 0.7 lagging.

FWIW, Enphase does have a document which contrasts the M215, M215IG and the M250.

Edit August 18, 2016: Added M19072IG column to the table (Part No. M190-72-2LL-S22-IG)
Edit August 29, 2017: Replaced S230 column with M250-72 column.

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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M250-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| INPUT DATA (DC)              |       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Recommended Input Power (STC)| Watts |    230   |   <230   |   <230   |  190-270 | 190-270  | 210-350+ | 210-350+ |   <380   |
| Maximum Input DC Voltage     | Volts |    56    |    48    |    60    |    45    |    48    |    48    |    62    |    48    |
| Peak Power Tracking Voltage  | Volts |   22-40  |   27-39  |   22-40  |   22-36  |   27-39  |   27-39  |   27-48  |   27-37  |
| Op. Input Voltage Range      | Volts |    N/S   |   16-48  |    N/S   |   16-36  |   16-48  |   16-48  |   16-60  |   16-48  |
| Min/Max Start Voltage        | Volts |   28/54  |   22/48  |   28/54  |   22/45  |   22/48  |   22/48  |   22/48  |   22/48  |
| Max DC Short-Circuit Current |  Amps |    12    |    15    |    12    |    15    |     15   |    15    |    15    |    15    |
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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M250-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| OUTPUT DATA (AC) @240VAC     |       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Peak Output Power            | Watts |    199   |    199   |    199   |    225   |    225   |    250   |    250   |    280   |
| Rated (Contin.) Output Power | Watts |    190   |    190   |    190   |    215   |    215   |    240   |    240   |    270   |
| Nominal Output Current       |  Arms |   0.80   |   0.80   |   0.80   |    0.9   |    0.9   |    1.0   |    1.0   |   1.13   |
| Output Voltage Range         |  Vrms |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |  211-264 |
| Output Frequency Range       | Hertz | 59.3-60.5|   57-61  | 59.3-60.5| 59.3-60.5|   57-61  |   57-61  |   57-61  |   57-61  |
| Extended Frequency Range     | Hertz | 59.2-60.6|  57-62.5 | 59.2-60.6|  57-60.5 |  57-62.5 |  57-62.5 |  57-62.5 |   57-61  |
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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M250-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| OUTPUT DATA (AC) @240VAC     |       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Minimum Power Factor         |Percent|    95    |    95    |    95    |    95    |    95    |    95    |    95    |    100   |
| Max Units Per 15A Branch     | Units |    15    |    15    |    15    |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |
| Max Units Per 20A Branch     | Units |    N/A   |    20    |    20    |    17    |    17    |    16    |    15    |    14    |
| Max Output Fault Current     | mArms |    N/A   |    850   |   1050   |    850   |    850   |    850   |    850   |    663   |
| Power Factor Range (Lead-Lag)|Percent|    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |    N/A   |   70-70  |
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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M250-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| EFFICIENCY DATA @240VAC      |       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| CEC Weighted Efficiency      |Percent|   95.0   |   96.5   |    ??    |   96.0   |    96.5  |   96.5   |   96.5   |   97.0   |
| Peak Efficiency              |Percent|   95.5   |   96.5   |    ??    |   96.3   |    96.5  |   96.5   |   96.5   |   97.3   |
| Static MPPT Eff. (weighted)  |Percent|   99.6   |   99.4   |    ??    |   99.6   |    99.4  |   99.6   |   99.4   |    N/A   |
| Max Nighttime Power Consump. | mWatts|    30    |    65    |    ??    |    46    |     65   |    65    |    65    |    N/A   |
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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M230-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| MECHANICAL DATA              |       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Ambient Temperature Range    |   ºC  |    N/A   | -40 - 65 |    N/A   | -40 - 65 | -40 - 65 | -40 - 65 | -40 - 65 | -40 - 65 |
| Operating Temp Range (Int.)  |   ºC  | -40 - 65 | -40 - 85 | -40 - 65 | -40 - 85 | -40 - 85 | -40 - 85 |    N/A   |    N/A   |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) (No Brckt)|   mm  |203x133x32|163x173x25|163x173x25|173x164x25|163x173x25|171x173x30|171x173x30|179x175x35|
| Weight                       |   kg  |    2.0   |    1.6   |    1.6   |    1.6   |    1.6   |    1.6   |    1.6   |    1.8   |
| Natural Convect. Cooling     |boolean|    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |
| Enclosure Environ. Rating    |  N/A  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |  NEMA 6  |
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| SPECIFICATION NAME           | Units |   M190   |  M190IG  | M19072IG |   M215   |  M215IG  |   M250   |  M250-72 |   S280   |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| FEATURES                     |       |         |           |          |          |          |          |          |          |
|------------------------------|-------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| PV Module Number Of Cells    | Cells | 60 or 72 |    60    | 60 or 72 |    60    |    60    |    60    |    72    |    60    |
| AC Cabling System            |  N/A  | Built-In |  Engage  |  Engage  |  Engage  |  Engage  |  Engage  |  Engage  |  Engage  |
| Integrated Ground            |boolean|    No    |    Yes   |    Yes   |    No    |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |
| Powerline Communication      |boolean|    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |
| Lifetime Monitor (Enlighten) |boolean|    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |    Yes   |
| Warranty                     | Years |    15    |    15    |    15    |    25    |    25    |    25    |    25    |    25    |
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For reference, here is a photograph showing the original M190 next to the M215IG:



Here is a photograph showing the M190IG, M215IG and M250:



I do not have any photographs of the original M215 or the new S275.

[RegGuheert]

Enphase announced several new products at SPI including the new S230 and S280 microinverters. I have updated the OP to include all the specifications for the new products.

[RegGuheert]

Tandem Solar has the S280 for sale at $155.30. It appears retail price is $175.00. They will be shipping them starting November 1. It's good to see efficiency continue to improve while per-Watt prices drop.

I won't be adding any of these to our system since they require the new Envoy. Even if/when I replace the Envoy, the power rating is too high for our PV modules.

[RegGuheert]

This page on Enphase' website contains this interesting analyst presentation containing plans Enphase has for improving and reducing the manufacturing costs of their microinverters from $0.22/W today toward $0.10/W at the end of next year. The product changes needed to achieve this result are significant:

- Replacement of metal enclosure with a plastic one (requires a new electrical architecture to meet RFI requirements)
- Movement to two-wire AC interconnection
- Elimination of all cables from the microinverter itself
- Reduction of product size, weight and BOM

The bottom line seems to imply that the following Enphase products will be obsolete within a year or so:
- S230 and S280 microinverters
- Engage cabling system

[RegGuheert]

FYI: In case anyone is looking to purchase some S280s, Tandem has them right now for US$134 plus shipping. I put 12 in the cart and found that shipping was just over $5/inverter to VA.

Just remember that you need the new Envoy-S in order to meter these inverters.

[RegGuheert]

I just stumbled upon the following iOS app in the App Store: Site Advisor.

It looks like abandonware, but it claims to be a troubleshooting app for Enphase systems circa 2015. While it does not contain any information for M190s, S230s, S280s or the Envoy-S, it has datasheets and troubleshooting trees for everything in between. It's useful having all of the information together in one place.

Note that the app claims to be from "Enphase Labs", but the developer is listed in the App Store as "Limit W". I don't know whether either of those is really associated with Enphase or not.

[RegGuheert]

Just for the record, I see that the new, released datasheet for the US version of the AC Battery indicates that it contains a new type of inverter with the following part number: S280-ACB-LL-US. The exact verbiage is:

AC Battery with integrated S280-ACB-LL-US Enphase Microinverter

I imagine this inverter has a power stage and control electronics identical to the S280-60-LL-2-US, which is the part number of the unit for solar applications with MC4 connectors. But I expect the similarities end there. This inverter likely has completely different firmware, different connectors (or perhaps just pigtails) and different packaging. I wonder if Enphase will eventually release a version of this battery with two of these inverters operating in parallel as they had originally indicated.

FWIW, the model number for the AC Battery is given as B280-1200-LL-I-US00-RF0.

[philip]

I've seen reports on the internet that the S280 will report to the old pill envoy.

[RegGuheert]

I've seen reports on the internet that the S280 will report to the old pill envoy.

Thanks! Good to know.

Here is one such report:

FWIIW.. I called enphase the old oval envoy can work with the S 280

[RegGuheert]

It looks like Enphase has an M250 designed for 72-cell PV modules. This inverter has a maximum DC voltage of 62V rather than the 48V which the original M250s had. The part number with MC4 connectors is M250-72-2LL-S22. I suppose the design of this inverter is similar to the one used in the M190IG72 that Enphase has been shipping out recently as replacements for failed M190s.