Enecsys

Enecsys Limited was a UK-based company that developed and manufactured microinverters for the solar photovoltaic (PV) market, targeting both residential and commercial applications. The company was founded in 2003 as a spin-out from the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering by Professor Gehan Amaratunga and his PhD students, Asim Mumtaz and Lesley Chisenga, along with Jayanti Durai from the Cambridge Judge Business School. The venture originated from their 2003 victory in the Cambridge Business Plan Competition under the name Cambridge Solar Electronics.

The core of Enecsys's business was the production of highly reliable, grid-connected solar microinverters and accompanying monitoring systems. Unlike traditional string inverters that manage a whole series of solar panels, Enecsys's microinverters were installed on each individual panel or between two panels. This approach offered several advantages, including maximizing energy harvest by 5% to 20%, as the underperformance of a single panel due to shading or debris wouldn't affect the entire system's output. The company's patented technology distinguished itself by eliminating components with limited lifespans, such as electrolytic capacitors, which allowed Enecsys to offer a 20-year warranty and project a service life of over 25 years, matching that of the solar modules themselves.

The product line included the "Single" series and the "Duo" series, which served one or two solar modules respectively. These microinverters converted the DC power from the panels into grid-compliant AC power directly at the module level. This architecture also improved safety by eliminating high-voltage DC wiring. A key feature was the real-time, module-level performance monitoring system, which transmitted data via a wireless communication system to an internet-connected gateway, allowing homeowners and installers to track system performance and identify issues remotely.

The company's business model revolved around the manufacturing and sale of these microinverter systems to solar installers and distributors across the U.S., European, and Australasian markets. Despite early successes, including raising significant private equity funding—notably a £25 million ($41 million) round in 2011—and selling over 170,000 units, Enecsys encountered severe financial difficulties. In early 2015, the UK entity entered administration due to "working capital problems," with its U.S. subsidiary filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy shortly after. The company was ultimately dissolved in July 2021, leaving customers without warranty support or access to the company's monitoring platform. In the wake of the closure, former customers and developers created alternative monitoring solutions to fill the void.

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