The Pitch | Is APsystem's DS3 the most powerful series of solar microinverters?

APsystems is now shipping the DS3 microinverter, which they tell us is the most powerful dual-module microinverter on the market. Well, is it? And why does it matter for solar installers and their customers? Here to make the Pitch is Jason Higginson, senior director of marketing for APsystems. We discuss:
- Specs of the three DS3 series microinverters
- Comparing power with single solar module microinverters
- Does it matter when I'm installing lower wattage modules?
- Doing the math on component savings
- Achieving better margins on each project
- The new cooling topology
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[@judithrob1591]

DS-3 Apsystems Micro inverter interference on the 27mc band on USB/LSB can be heard as beeps, and on FM as noise. It is also audible during the day when the sun is not shining, but only when it is dark outside do you no longer hear it. This interference on the 27 MHz band was received wirelessly from the air on a pocket scanner. (translated with Google) .

[@DiySolarHelpDesk]

I have a more powerful Quad microinverter that is UL1741SB certified and available. We've installed 24 Hoymiles HMS-2000-4T-NA microinverters at a customer's site. Despite the perpetual rain that has been falling, on 1/20/23 I recorded a record of 1830 watts AC from 1 microinverter. That's over 457W per channel, using bifacial panels on a ground mount. The technology these days is amazing!

[@vaysunicmicroinverter9983]

bigger one gets more power.amazing!how about in hot summer?

[@andreygolovchenko]

Do DS3 inverters provide sine wave AC current? which is good for sensitive electronics if so.

[@rodrigo6777]

I'm facing problems with DS3D I installed with 665w Leapton panels (Winter - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) . Daily inverters trigger the temperature protection circuit with a drop in energy production. It seems to me that these inverters don't support 665w panels in spite their specs.

[@kaischmelzle547]

What is the difference (DS3) to the EZ1

[@AB-dw8vo]

doing DC:AC oversizing on a module level - this way you wont get as good mismatch mitigation as doing it on the inverter or whole string level, like its possible with DC:DC Optimizers, 1 module is shaded others from the string can compensate for lost power

[@s.lionelmcauley4455]

IQ8D in the field as you taped the interview:) specs are available. Jason, name those 480-watt residential-sized modules 20/32 ratio is controversial.

[@jasonhigginson5718]

yeah, not residential sized--this is a great point. And I agree the 20 vs 32 is controversial. Yes at 480W, the PV modules are larger--qty 20 of 480W modules at 24.65 sq ft are larger than smaller resi panels of 18.6--but thanks to math, 24.65*20 modules = 493 sq ft of modules on the roof vs 18.6*32 modules = 595--over 100 sq ft more roof space required to reach the same output. That's an entire 10' x 10' bedroom worth of sq ft on the roof that you don't need to find panel space for. The caveat is the roof must have the dims to accommodate those fewer but larger PV modules. The modules paired with the DS3-S at 380-400W are better for resi use and 2 strings of DS3-S still require fewer PV modules on the roof (24) than IQ7/IQ8 (32) or IQ7+/IQ8+ (26) while also maximizing AC output at 7,680W. Also, the IQ8D appears to only be for 208, not for 240 residential split phase.

[@sprsolar232]

@@jasonhigginson5718 Not a good comparison. With enphase, it first clips at 295 watts for the IQ7+, second, the peak power production isn't producing all day, so with the DS3, you can't fit as many panels on the roof. If you put the output of 32 panels of DS3 vs 32 panels of IQ7+, the overall yearly production paired with a 370 watt panel will be within a couple percent for a year. Your comparison is off. I am not liking not producing the yc600 anymore or QS1, since we could fit more panels per string. The yc-600 would be critical with some homes to avoid an MPU. You should continue to offer the YC600 as an option and QS1. QS1's are really economical and we loved them. Installation not so much, but cost savings yes.

[@taylorbespoke]

The DS3 would be a good match for the 585W (440W NMOT) panels I'm currently considering for a ground mount. The IQ8H at 380W is underpowered for the panels.

[@b5baxter]

The problem is AP systems is they have a high failure rate, no technical support and a monitoring platform that is very glitchy.

[@paulcurtis5496]

these seem to be for toys, my least powerful panels are 455watts each and my most powerful panels are 540watts per panel, the days of 200watt panels have been lone gone like the dinosaurs...

[@haist82]

lmao bro

[@haist82]

this comment was meant for the commercial....

[@mylesm7947]

Researching AP , online forums saying very poor customer support, can U address this for us looking at this, Thanks

[@mylesm7947]

Arizona based system reliability