Petaluma, Calif.-based Enphase Energy today introduced the general availability of its new micro-inverter system for solar installations.

By concentrating on improving inverter technology and systems architecture, Enphase said its micro-inverter improves energy harvest and increases the reliability of residential and commercial solar systems.

Comprised of three components—the Enphase Micro-inverter, EMU (Energy Management Unit) and "Enlighten," a web-based analytics tool—the micro-inverter connects each solar module to the Internet and enables installers and solar system owners to see the performance of the system.

The company said users of the system benefit from simplified design, installation and management of their solar energy systems.

The difference between the Enphase system and traditional PVAC units, where the inverter and module are individually installed units, is Enphase’s standalone micro-inverter allows the system to work with most off-the-shelf solar modules, said the company.

Popular solar inverters include products made by Fronius, SatCon and SMA.

"We have over 1,000 units deployed in the field and customers are seeing energy harvest increases of 5-25 percent and balance-of-system (BOS) savings of 13-15 percent compared to systems designed with traditional inverters," Paul Nahi, President and CEO of Enphase Energy.

According to Enphase, its micro-inverters currently only work in grid-tied installations and do not work in off-grid environments.

Enphase said it plans to sells its micro-inverter system through solar equipment installers and distributors; the company did not specify pricing for its new system.

In January the company raised $6.5 million in funding, led by Third Point Ventures (see Solar gets a break).

In addition to Third Point Management, Enphase is backed by Applied Ventures, the VC arm of semiconductor and solar equipment manufacturer Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT).

Enphase Energy was founded in 2006.