Enphase, a manufacturer of microinverters for solar photovoltaics is making a lot of noise and on the heels of a successful initial public offering, the company has launched the Enphase Roadshow. Through the roadshow the company is traveling across the country to show off its microinverters and associated technologies that allow each PV module in an array to produce to its maximum ability. The roadshow made a two-day stop in Denver at the World Renewable Energy Forum to show off its latest.

Microinverters are gaining traction across the country, particularly in the residential and small commercial third-party ownership (TPO) markets. For instance, Enphase’s microinverters now have a 33 percent California residential market share and 19 percent small commercial market share, according to California Solar Initiative data as of March, 2012. Microinverters add additional benefits like production data on each module in a system, which helps TPO companies identify system issues quickly. And, unlike a traditional string-inverter array, a bad module or shaded module doesn’t bring down production of an entire array.

The latest for Enphase is a new bi-directional, revenue-grade meter that supplies the information utilities and installers need to properly reimburse net-metered customers. “We’re working with select partners to trickle out the adoption. It's been really successful through beta,” said Enphase spokesperson Matt Allen. “We're tempering it through limited availability [and] getting it ready for general availability.”

With the introduction Enphase offers a more complete solution AC-PV solution. The microinverters send electricity and data back to the meter, which sends the information through a secure wireless connection to the Envoy communications gateway, which then sends the appropriate data to the system owner, installer and Enphase. “It's certainly nice to have a consistent platform,” Allen said. “Previously installers, very entrepreneurial people, they would figure out a way to hack their way through any issues. So with the increase of third-party finance we said we need to respond to this opportunity.…What you now have is a suite solution where it's all pre-configured and ready to work together.”

At the same time, the company also is working to simplify the installation process and has recently introduced an app that allows installers to tag each module and its position within an array via a mobile device app. By the time an installer has completed the installation they’ve basically sent information back to Enphase that shows where each module is located and how it’s performing. “It's pretty nice to have this almost completely automated process [in place],” Allen said.

The roadshow is traveling south from Denver on to Albuquerque, N.M., before heading to Texas and into New Orleans. Then it will head up the East Coast before heading west to Wisconsin and into Canada. “We just wanted to really identify in some of the better performing markets for us support those installers with our best practices and also look at new markets where there's been increased adoption and invigorate that as well,” Allan said.

At each event the company will have demos of Enphase products, as well as food, music, contests, and giveaways.