Ikea solar adds microinverter offering as Enphase partners with Solargain in Australia

US-based microinverter maker Enphase Energy has ramped up its presence in the Australian rooftop solar market, after forming a new partnership with major national PV retailer, Solargain.

Enphase said on Thursday that Solargain had selected Enphase microinverters as the premium inverter solution for its turnkey retail solar offerings in Australia.

This gives Enphase access to the market of one of the nation’s largest and most experienced PV providers, including through Solargain’s partnership with Ikea, as the supplier for the Swedish furniture giant’s residential solar and storage offering, launched in Australia in June.

The new partnership means Australian customers buying a Solargain-Ikea PV system can opt to pair Enphase IQ 7+ microinverters with their solar panels, as an alternative to the Growatt inverters offered in Ikea’s baseline package.

Consumers might be advised to choose microinverters for a rooftop solar system to maximise its generation capacity in cases where there is a complex roof, limited roof-space, or partial shading. According to Enphase, their microiverters can also offer enhanced safety, and come with a 10-year warranty.

The companies said in a statement that Solargain-Ikea systems using Enphase IQ 7+ microinverters would also get the Enphase Envoy communications gateway, which connects each system to Enphase’s remote monitoring platform.

“Solargain has enjoyed a long and extensive business relationship with Enphase, and we are happy to be able to include a cutting-edge, premium brand Enphase microinverter in our retail solar offerings that we believe will deliver excellent results for our customers,” said Solargain CEO Keera Single.

Dave Ranhoff, chief commercial officer at Enphase said the partnership with help Solargain deliver a better customer experience and lower the barriers for homeowners to invest in solar energy.

“Solargain’s success is a powerful example of how Enphase microinverters can be leveraged to unlock advanced residential solar outcomes with unmatched design freedom, quality, and performance,” Ranhoff said.

For Enphase, the Solargain partnership follows up on a deal with RACV Solar earlier this year, not long after RACV Solar merged with one of Victoria’s largest PV installers, Gippsland Solar.

In a statement at the time, RACV Solar CEO Andy McCarthy said Enphase’s smart inverters would help meet the demands of Australian customers for safety, flexibility and quality of their solar systems.

“RACV Solar and Gippsland Solar are thrilled to join forces with Enphase to deliver safe, smart, and highly-efficient microinverter solutions for our clients,” said McCarthy.

“After a recent tour of the Enphase facility in Fremont, California, it was clear that to cater to the Australian consumer’s ever-increasing demands for solar safety, flexibility, and quality, Enphase technology is the perfect fit for our product range.”

Enphase’s IQ 7+ microinverters were also tapped in April of this year to be used by the Mike Cannon-Brookes backed Resilient Energy Collective, which is working to power Australia’s bushfire affected communities with stand-alone solar and battery storage.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.