Envoy Gateway reliability...

[newe70]

This device has low reviews on Amazon due to the reliability. For those of you whom have using this...do you have any issue or any problem so far?

[sdold]

Zero problems for the first year, but I did need to isolate it from the rest of my house with a sub-panel and RF filtering to make it work.

[solar_newbie]

Zero problems for the first year, but I did need to isolate it from the rest of my house with a sub-panel and RF filtering to make it work.

Do you connect via Ethernet or wifi ?

[sdold]

Ethernet. The problem it had was with communication with the inverters, fortunately easily solved.

[solar_newbie]

Ethernet. The problem it had was with communication with the inverters, fortunately easily solved.

Great. Thanks. Mine will be installed in few days... Try to gather as much as I can to make sure everything goes smoothly.

[newe70]

Great. Thanks. Mine will be installed in few days... Try to gather as much as I can to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Wow...that must be exciting to hear. Let us how how it goes and picture would be great.

[BarkingSpider]

My Envoy has worked seamlessly. There is a lot of mis-information on Amazon reviews about licensing costs etc. I picked up an new envoy on Ebay for $275 and it plugged right in and started working straight away.
The warranty is good with Enphase and it upgraded the software itself once on the internet.

The reports and install info are very useful for info geeks. You can see everything thats happening in real time and overlay the panels on a google earth picture of your property.

Apps on smartphone and web make it easy to trouble shoot your system in real time.

I connected it via an ethernet cable from a NetGear N300 Wifi extender box. This also extends your house Wifi signal doing double duty. Super easy to set up.

Connecting the Envoy to the correct power trunk was key. I created a 120v plug socket on 1 phase of the 240v circuit the micro inverters are connected to and then I got 5 signal bars. If you connect to the wrong phase you cannot see your inverters.

I was dubious before trying, but now Im very happy with the results. Dont pay full price of $500!

[Naptown]

Communication on the envoy is done on the neutral wire not one of the phases.
And it connects to both phases so getting the right one would be a moot point.
What really matters is how close you plug it in to the main panel and distance from the array.

[sdold]

Scold,

Noticed you are in Dixon also. Any recommendations on installers.

I sent you a PM.

[sdold]

Connecting the Envoy to the correct power trunk was key. I created a 120v plug socket on 1 phase of the 240v circuit the micro inverters are connected to and then I got 5 signal bars. If you connect to the wrong phase you cannot see your inverters.

Are you sure about the communication signal being on on one leg? I read somewhere that it was on the neutral, and I've never seen anything like that in the docs.

[Naptown]

Are you sure about the communication signal being on on one leg? I read somewhere that it was on the neutral, and I've never seen anything like that in the docs.

You are correct communication goes over the neutral wire.

[propman07]

You are correct communication goes over the neutral wire.

That's good to know....

Are you able to install the Envoy device outdoors, or do you have to install it indoors? Just curious....

I'd also be interested to see if any of you with the Envoy system installed have any automated lighting system in your home that also use the power lines for communications (i.e. Insteon, X-10, etc.)

[inetdog]

Communication on the envoy is done on the neutral wire not one of the phases.
And it connects to both phases so getting the right one would be a moot point.

That seems self contradictory to me. There is only one neutral, so it is not restricted to one hot line or the other. You would still need extra measures to carry the signal past a transformer.

[Naptown]

That seems self contradictory to me. There is only one neutral, so it is not restricted to one hot line or the other. You would still need extra measures to carry the signal past a transformer.

The neutral is non current carrying in the enphase inverters. I am not sure it is even used as a voltage reference.
And yes a transformer will kill communications

[sensij]

More information on this is in the Enphase Communication Troubleshooting Guide.

It appears that the powerline communication circuit is created between either hot leg and the neutral.

Page 22 includes:

Is there an unbroken Neutral line from the load center to the solar array branch circuit? This is required for system communications.

Page 23 includes:

There may be a Phase Imbalance. Have an electrician evaluate the circuit breakers in the load center to see how many breakers, and of what size, are on each of the two phases of the split-phase 240 VAC service to ensure that the phases are balanced. As a troubleshooting technique, you may want to try plugging the Envoy into an outlet of a circuit on the other phase or moving the breaker of the circuit in which the Envoy is plugged onto the other phase

Tips in the guide are given for how to avoid conflicts with other powerline systems. It appears to be compatible with X10.