Sand Box Top and Enphase Take Apart

Today Rafal came by and we showed him our solar setup. Rafal is interested in writing some software for us, so we discussed the basics of what our software system should do. We figured out how to access data directly from the TriStart controllers; MODBUS. For now the software will be more like a logger. It will read values from any sensor or controller and store it in a database. Then it can be viewed later.



We finished cutting the wood for the top cover for the molding bench. This is the last part to weather proofing the molding bench. Here is the general frame of it. It still needs a sheet of plywood to cover the top.



We got hungry so we made some steak and potatoes.



Here is the completed cover...



...and here the cover is being coated in sealer.



After that we turned our attention to the EnPhase micro-inverter. This was the first controller we bought. It was also the wrong controller to use for our application, so it's just been sitting around. We felt the urge to start taking it apart and reverse engineering it.



Right about here we realize this is going to be a lot harder than we imagined. It appears that the enclosure is filled with a black rubbery resin.



We finally got a cover off and saw how encased this thing actually was. The whole circuit board is in this rubber block. This rubber doesn't look fun at all the get through.



Drilling out some of the PEM hardware that holds the enclosure together. Be careful not to go through the circuit board!



We did it! Well sort of. So our goal was to get to the circuit board and see what components make up the EnPhase. The only problem is to get through the rubber, which doesn't just peel apart. It crumbles and breaks as you try to cut it or peel it off. This is a delicate process since you could destroy the circuit by trying to take the rubber off. We ended up nicking a capacitor, and we were being as delicate as we could.



The only reasons we could think of, why you might encase your circuit is for thermal reasons or IP reasons. The black rubber may help absorb any heat this circuit generates and acts as a heat sink to the enclosure. If its an IP (intellectual property) thing, then this is done to conceal the circuit itself, to prevent people like Mihai and I from reverse engineering the product.



At the end of the night, my brother Mike stopped by and footbagged it up.