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September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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Thursday, October 9, 2008, 7:30-11:45 a.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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Enphase micro-inverter hits market

PETALUMA, June 10, 2008 – Enphase Energy Inc. launched its solar micro-inverter system today, the only one of its kind on the market.

The Enphase system includes high-efficiency micro-inverters, communications and Web-based analytics to maximize energy harvest and simplify design, installation and management of solar projects.

About 1,000 systems have been in beta testing with solar system providers, and the response validates Enphase claims that energy harvest is increased 5 percent to 25 percent, and balance-of-system costs are reduced 13 percent to 15 percent over traditional inverter systems, said Enphase President and CEO Paul Nahi.

"We're thrilled to have pulled together the complex threads of this system to launch as we expected in the second quarter of 2008. The process has not been without drama," he said.

Already more than 1,000 units have been sold to providers and distributors. In the North Bay, Marin Solar – now owned by Real Goods in Hopland – Solar Depot in Petaluma and DC Power Systems in Healdsburg are customers.

Traditional inverters are large, difficult to install and have to be replaced about every five years, adding significantly to the maintenance costs of solar systems. The Enphase system has tested out to running 119 years, according to a study by Relex.

Additional savings come from automated monitoring of each solar panel, with alerts to system owners if production drops.

"Owners can look at how their systems are performing on the Web site, but we manage all the monitoring and reporting functions for them, so they don't even have to look," said Enphase Vice President of Marketing Raghu Belur.

The company is targeting both the residential and commercial solar markets. Although commercial installations are at risk of losing their 30 percent federal installation incentives, Enphase doesn't see more than a temporary slow-down in its sales.

"So many states besides California are putting incentive programs to work, and the overseas market is so large, the loss of federal incentives won't hurt us," said Mr. Nahi.

Currently the units are manufactured by contract in Morgan Hill, but he doesn't rule out a change of manufacturers, possibly to the North Bay.

Enphase has been operating on a Series B funding round of $6.5 million, led by Third Point Ventures and including a contribution from Applied Materials. Another larger round will be sought sometime in 2008, said Mr. Nahi.

"The system we have today is a base. Our R&D team will be continually building on it, making it more robust," he said.

Three-year-old Enphase employs 40 in its Petaluma headquarters.

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