EH Smith Announces Enphase Distribution Deal
EH Smith Sustainable Products has announced a distribution agreement with Enphase Energy, a solar microinverter systems company. The agreement is about the distribution and delivery of the Enphase System to solar PV installers, professionals and integrators across the UK. Traditionally a specialist in heavyside building materials, the partnership comes as EH Smith has increased its presence in the sustainability segment with the creation of the new business EH Smith Sustainable Products and has strengthened its focus on the solar PV market.
Andrew Oram, Sales Manager for EH Smith Sustainable Products, is delighted with the new partnership: "Enphase has created a paradigm shift in the performance of solar energy. Their microinverters ensure that solar panels work more efficiently and therefore deliver a more powerful commercial return than traditional string or central inverters. Our customers are snapping up their microinverters and we are rapidly-building a strong supply pipeline with Enphase that will make a real difference to how the UK views solar energy."
The Enphase System offers a new approach to the installation, operations and maintenance of solar energy systems. Enphase Microinverters, the Envoy Communications Gateway and Enlighten cloud-based software platform work together to deliver increased energy harvest and unparalleled solar system intelligence. Microinverters convert direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) at the panel level. This dramatically simplifies solar system design and installation while improving safety by eliminating high voltage DC. Moreover, Enphase Microinverters are completely watertight, rated IP67, and ideally suited to the UK's fluctuating weather. Access to Enlighten software comes included with the Envoy Communications Gateway, which communicates with each microinverter over the existing power lines. Enlighten allows remote access to system information from any web-enabled device, providing installers with increased visibility into the performance of their installed-base and remote troubleshooting capabilities.
"We are delighted to work with EH Smith Sustainable Products as they value partnership," says Simon Baggaley, UK Sales Director, Enphase Energy. "Enphase entered the UK market about 2 years ago, and we have grown rapidly keeping a strong momentum in 2014. Partners like EH Smith, serving with strong links with long term loyal installer customers and robust local authority relationships, are a great fit with the Enphase way of doing business. We properly serve and support installers in this market thanks to our highly-specialised technical customer support team combined with the expertise on renewables and advisory approach that EH Smith Sustainable Products offers."