PHILADELPHIA, PA — ConnectDER has integrated its IslandDER Meter Socket Adapter into SolarEdge Nexis residential energy systems requiring home backup, moving the Philadelphia company’s technology into nationwide installations designed to reduce the equipment, labor and electrical work associated with adding battery storage.
SolarEdge Nexis installations using the technology have begun across the U.S., and both the Nexis platform and SolarEdge-specific IslandDER are available through distributors nationwide. SolarEdge first previewed the integration in September 2025.
The arrangement makes IslandDER a standard component of Nexis installations requiring backup power. The device functions as the system’s Microgrid Interconnect Device, detecting grid outages, isolating a home from the grid and initiating backup operation.
The configuration can eliminate main electrical panel upgrades, circuit relocations, separate backup-load panels and system controllers in applicable installations, reducing parts and labor for installers.
“Our focus is reducing the time and complexity of every install,” Nick Alex, vice president of sales at SolarEdge, stated. He attributed part of that reduction to the IslandDER meter collar’s ability to cut components and labor.
The integration comes as battery storage assumes a larger role in residential solar installations. ConnectDER identified the Western U.S. as particularly relevant because of high battery attachment rates and the prevalence of meter-main combination panels that can complicate installation of equipment needed for whole-home backup.
IslandDER combines the Microgrid Interconnect Device, consumption transformers, system sensing and battery communications within a meter collar. The SolarEdge-specific version adds an RJ45 Ethernet port that connects to the Nexis inverter using a Cat5 or higher cable rather than a hardwired analog communications cable.
ConnectDER President and Chief Executive Officer Ivo Steklac described SolarEdge as the first partner to incorporate the company’s meter collar directly into the architecture of its core home-energy system.
For installers, the companies are targeting a persistent cost variable in residential battery projects: electrical modifications required to accommodate backup equipment.
“We eliminate the need for circuit relocations and backup loads panels in many applications, which means less labor, fewer materials, and a much simpler installation,” Tate Abdon, director of installations at California-based Senga Energy, stated.
SolarEdge Nexis combines an inverter, battery storage and energy management system. Storage capacity can range from 5 kilowatt-hours to 80 kWh, with output of up to 13 kilowatts while connected to the grid and 14.5 kW during backup operation.
The system also provides 185 locked rotor amps for starting large electrical loads such as HVAC equipment. Its battery modules are designed to stack without wiring between individual units.
SolarEdge Nexis has received approval from financing platforms including Palmetto LightReach, Participate Energy and IGS Solar, according to ConnectDER.
Installation options for IslandDER depend on local utility requirements. In territories where meter socket adapters have been approved, the device can be installed in an existing socket behind the utility meter.
Where utilities have not approved meter socket adapters, ConnectDER says IslandDER can instead be installed in a separate customer-owned socket, in some cases without utility involvement.
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