The Enphase system still requires means to isolate the home from the grid (Enpower smart switch) and batteries to store energy (Encharge 10 or Encharge 3 storage system) when the sun is down.
There are two versions of the IQ8. You're talking about the grid-agnostic version that makes a local grid when the power company is down, using local battery storage.
The off-grid version will function when the power company goes down and will NOT need batteries to operate. But you will need to be currently generating enough power to support whatever is plugged in.
Don't believe me? The official Enphase youtube account has a live demo of the off-grid functionality in the IQ8:
So for a powerwall alternative (that only runs in sunlight), you'd need solar panels with iq8 (or iq7 in your existing panels and an iq8 downstream), plus a transfer switch. That would definitely keep my freezer going.
PS: I'm not sure if there are actually two versions of IQ8. It could just be one version and it functions regardless if there is a battery or not. The two "versions" could just be describing a specific solution using it.
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