Enphase Energy Collaborates with University of Washington for 100% Renewables Grid

Enphase providing Grid-Forming (GFM) inverters and engineering expertise in support of a project to enable unrestricted amounts of distributed solar-plus-storage power on the grid

FREMONT, Calif., May 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH), a global energy technology company and the world’s leading supplier of solar microinverters, today announced that the Company is using its expertise in grid-forming inverters, based on Enphase Ensemble technology, to support the initiative at the University of Washington to develop control systems for unrestricted penetration of photovoltaic (PV) solar on the grid. Combined with approximately $1 million in grant funding from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Enphase will provide test platforms and invest approximately $420,000 over the project’s three-year timeline.

Under the heading, A Scalable Control Architecture for 100% PV Penetration with Grid Forming Inverters, Enphase joins a team of industry partners and experts from the University of Washington to help solve one of the most important challenges to the proliferation of grid-attached distributed energy generation. Enphase will focus on running specialized test scenarios and gathering data at the Company’s single- and three-phase, on- and off-grid rooftop solar R&D facility in Austin, Texas. The test array is equipped with Enphase microinverters featuring the Company’s custom ASIC, which powers the software-defined architecture that allows Enphase to reprogram a test fleet of microinverters with control architectures and algorithms developed by the University of Washington. The control architectures and algorithms will be tested to validate robust controller performance under real-world weather variability.

“This project will uncover the architectural and algorithmic foundations required to reliably integrate unlimited distributed, renewable energy resources, like solar photovoltaic (PV), on our electric grids,” said Brian B. Johnson, Washington Research Foundation Innovation Assistant Professor of Clean Energy and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Washington. “More than 100 municipalities in the U.S. have established directives or portfolios that target 100% renewable integration. We engaged Enphase because we believe its software-defined, grid-forming microinverters are the ideal platform on which to develop and test our controllers. Aggressive grid-connected renewables targets are no longer aspirational, and our work will ensure that the transition to a more cost-effective, secure, and resilient grid happens in a reliable manner.”