Received a promo from Dako Power on this unit for R1026.00 that seem to monitor and report on individual solar panels so that one can track efficiency per panel.

Anybody know whether this is true / usable / worth it?

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It's a DC-DC converter :-)

Okay, let me be a bit less cryptic. It has a tracker per panel, converting to a common DC voltage that goes down to the inverter. The inverter then steps up that DC to AC (the solaredge inverters are grid-tied as I recall).

So essentially it's a microinverter without the inverter part. The inverter is down below :-)

Benefits are much the same as for microinverters, with the advantage that a lot of the more expensive electronics don't sit on the roof below your hot panels.

2 hours ago, plonkster said:

... with the advantage that a lot of the more expensive electronics don't sit on the roof below your hot panels.

Uhm, the controller inside the house THEN there are no expensive electronics on the roof. 

Although I like the controller per panel, helps with shading and all that of a panel/s, depending on the amount of panels a single controller may be more cost effective?

Edit: I KNOW they talk about heat, but moses, the panels do get hot in the sun.

The benefits are that you can put panels of different capacities, into different directions, wire them all into one DC bus that runs into the house. It is really extremely flexible. I know this guy (http://www.go-solar.co.za/), he used to have a solar-edge inverter.

Apparently also one of the few CoCT approved inverters. And you combine it with a pulse-limiter (essentially a wattnode, http://www.ccontrolsys.com/w/WattNode_Pulse) and Bob's your uncle.

And it is not made in China... :-P

Edit: And this is what it looks like...