Sunlight Backup User Guide

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and other names are trademarks of Enphase Energy, Inc. Data subject to change.

SBS-HM-UG-0020-01-EN-US-2022-03-03

Understanding Sunlight Backup

system for homeowners

This document describes the Sunlight Backup conguration using IQ8 Microinverters.

Below are the sections in the document:

Introduction

System components

Essential Load selection

Load control conguration

System behavior

Introduction

An Enphase Sunlight Backup system provides backup when the sun is shining. The system

provides backup for up to 4x 240V or 8x 120V circuits. The system consists of IQ8 Series

Microinverters, IQ System Controller 2, IQ Combiner 4C, 2x IQ Load Controller and other

accessories as needed.

NOTE: Sunlight should only be used for the essential loads in the home. Using the

solution to backup the entire home will lead to poor experience and is not supported

by Enphase.

USER GUIDE

Summary of content (9 pages)

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US E R GUID E Understanding Sunlight Backup system for homeowners This document describes the Sunlight Backup configuration using IQ8 Microinverters. Below are the sections in the document: Introduction System components Essential Load selection Load control configuration System behavior Introduction An Enphase Sunlight Backup system provides backup when the sun is shining. The system provides backup for up to 4x 240V or 8x 120V circuits.
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System components The system consists of IQ8 Series Microinverters, IQ System Controller 2, IQ Combiner 4C, 2x IQ Load Controller and other accessories as needed. IQ8 Microinverters IQ Combiner 4/4C To loads IQ Load Controller IQ Load Controller Backup load panel IQ System Controller 2 Enphase System Shutdown switch • IQ8 Series Microinverters is our most powerful, software-defined series of microinverters.
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NOTE: 3rd party backup generators can be added to a Sunlight Backup system. Refer your installer to “Generator Tech brief” to add a generator to the system. A generator in a Sunlight Backup system must be in Automatic mode. The system starts the generator and connects it to the home loads whenever there is a grid outage. However, it would use power from generator only if the power produced by microinverters is insufficient to support the home loads.
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Load control configuration You can configure the modes for all loads controlled by the system in the Enphase App under Menu->Settings->Load control->”Load_Name”. • Your installer will have connected your internet modem, router, cell phone charger, etc. to highest priority essential load circuit. Change the mode of this circuit to Manual in the Enphase App (Menu->Settings->Load control->”Load_Name”), if not done so already by your installer.
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• Enphase recommends you stagger the turn on and turn off times of various loads so that the heaviest loads operate when solar power produced is maximum, typically between 11 am and 3 pm. You can also change this to match your system’s solar power production. Power production data per day can be seen in the Enphase App Energy tab. • At any point, you can change a load to the Manual mode and turn it on while the system is off-grid.
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• Do not transition manually to off-grid using the Enphase Homeowner app (Menu>Settings->Grid Control) if the system alerts you that the solar power production is less than the current consumption level. NOTE: If any load is set to Basic mode, it will remain powered off while the system is off-grid. If a load is set to Generator mode, it will only be powered on while off-grid if the generator is providing power to the system.
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System behavior Power produced in a Sunlight Backup system depends on the solar irradiance at your location, which can vary depending on cloud cover, shading on the PV panels, time of the year and other factors. While running off-grid, the system may shutdown if the power produced is less than what is needed to power the loads. To prevent a system shutdown, work with your installer and ensure that the system follows the guidance on load selection provided in the section above.
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• If the load is successfully powered for more than five minutes, the system will reset the collapse/shutdown counter for that load. For example, consider a load that has already caused the system to shutdown three times. During the next system start, the microgrid does not collapse for five minutes after adding the load to the microgrid. In this case, the system will reset the shutdown counter for the load and will shed the load only if it causes a fresh set of five system shutdowns.
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Consider a system with the following loads: The table below shows a timeline from system shutdown until the point when all loads are powered back on. Note that this table assumes all loads can be successfully powered on the first try, post system restart. The sequence below will repeat if there are successive failures. If any load causes up to five system shutdowns that load will be skipped, and the 22 seconds delay associated with that load will also be skipped during the next system restart.