Energy France Installation (EFI), a solar installer based in the Rhone-Alps Region that specializes in PV installations for residential and small commercial projects, has won a project with AST Groupe to install 1,500 PV systems, each equipped with the Enphase® System, on newly constructed single-family homes.
The two-year project will include more than 1,500 PV systems with expected installed power of 750 kWp by 2015. The new homes installed these PV systems will comply with the current French thermal regulation (RT2012), which imposes a maximum limit on the primary energy consumption to new buildings for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, hot water production and lighting. The maximum value set by RT2012 is 50 kWhEP / m² / year, on average.
“When looking for smart solutions to meet the current French thermal regulation for new buildings, we determined solar PV to be the best option for this project. Enphase is a company with advanced solar technology and meets our requirement,” said Sylvain Tur, deputy managing director at AST Groupe, a French firm that specializes in building residential communities, multifamily projects and custom homes.
“Enphase offers AST an advanced PV solution that generates financial and environmental benefits to their customers. Moreover, as it comes included as a standard feature with the purchase of the house, it can conceivably improve the real-estate resale potential,” states Olivier Jacques, managing director of EMEA, Enphase Energy.
The recent collaboration between AST and EFI has already brought the Enphase networked solar PV to more than 100 new single-family homes. The Enphase Technology supplies standard three or four-bedroom houses with right-sized, intelligent solar arrays. With an average of two PV modules per home, each dwelling can consume the energy it produces for its own needs and save up to 30% of energy costs.
“We have years of experience in solar PV with hundreds of residential installations,” said Tarik Ninach, president of EFI. “Quality, flexibility, ease of installation, operations and maintenance are essential parameters to be considered. The Enphase Microinverter System is the only viable solution to win the business. EFI and Enphase together are very well-positioned to address self-consumption PV market dynamics.”