Sparq Systems

[Paul Howard]

They are Kingston Ontario based and make a 2000 watt 4 input micro inverter, anyone got any comments?
The inverter is also dual mode, grid tied and off grid.
Sparq Systems Quad 2000

[Rob Beckers]

Paul, as someone in the PV industry I had not heard about Sparq systems (and they are located not far from me actually). I've not heard of any installer that uses their inverters either. That may be good or bad, but it should give pause. Personally I would like a larger installed base before committing to a brand.

There are other quad micro-inverters, APS makes some. Past experience found them inconvenient; PV leads are rarely long enough to reach without extension wires. Depends on layout of course. Dual-micros seems to sweet spot in versatility. Other more established inverter brands offer off-grid capability too when the grid goes down. Fronius' Gen24 line for example. Keep in mind that "off-grid" in this context means it creates a local mini-grid that only holds up if the loads at any moment in time do not exceed what the inverter can produce from solar (as there are no batteries involved). Popular these days are full-fledged grid-tie/off-grid inverters such as Lux Power and Sol-Ark; those support batteries so they work as well off- as on-grid, and have extensive settings to prioritize solar PV, batteires, the grid, do load-displacement etc.

-RoB-