Enphase opens high-tech R&D facility in New Zealand

Renewable technology company Enphase Energy is preparing to launch its home energy solutions to New Zealand and Australia, with the official opening of its US$4.4 million expanded research and development (R&D) facility in Christchurch.

The company said the new facility will allow Enphase to conduct global compliance testing and verification capabilities for its microinverters as well as expand on the development of the Enphase AC battery, a modular energy storage system that integrates with the Enphase Home Energy Solution.

Officially opened on 22 March by New Zealand’s Minister of Science and Innovation, Steven Joyce, the futureproof facility will assemble Enphase's second largest engineering workforce outside of its base in California.

Later on in the year, New Zealand and Australia will be the first countries where the Enphase Home Energy Solution will be made available, an integrated offering that combines solar generation, energy control and energy storage to give home owners a plug-and-play AC battery to store energy generated from their solar photovoltaic (PV) system.

“Over the years, our engineering team in Christchurch has strategically contributed toward the design, development and testing of Enphase microinverters sold in Asia–Pacific and Europe,” said Greg Steele, vice president of engineering at Enphase.

“By making a further investment in New Zealand, Enphase is now poised for future growth as we continue to build a world-class engineering team that will work in tandem with the team in California to develop future generations of the Enphase Home Energy Solution.”

Nathan Dunn, managing director for Enphase Energy Asia–Pacific, said New Zealand is an important market for Enphase.

“As a country with a significant proportion of renewable energy in its grid electricity, relatively low solar uptake and a tremendous desire for energy independence, we’ve observed a keen interest from New Zealanders in the upcoming launch of our home energy solution,” said Dunn.

The Enphase Home Energy Solution, which integrates the Enphase AC Battery, Enphase Microinverter System and the Enlighten monitoring platform, will be available in mid-2016 to solar installers through authorised distributors Solar Partners NZ and YHI in Australia.

Residents can register their interest to purchase the Enphase Home Energy Solution at www.enphase.com/au/register.

Images courtesy of Enphase Energy.