That makes sense. I worry about people that are relying on solar when the climate is constantly changing leading to more clouds and smoke. They will need some form of stored or generated energy for those times.

So far anyone I talk to about the feature not only thinks it's great most are amazed it's not a baseline feature. Over and over people talking solar one of the main ideas in their head is "I can have power if the grid is down" many are a bit pissed that what they bought couldnt do it and they never knew.

That's the model I was seeing recently. I was wondering the cost difference. 20% on the panel modules could be palatable. Are there other costs like a more expensive inverter or labor costs?

There may be a small % of people that are happy and have the money for hardware to perform as you state but the vast majority of people either can't afford solar or can't install solar on the places where they live. The companies that make a product really need a large market developed before they invest in the design and manufacturing of anything new. Even if it is desired by some but can't be profitable to the company. Sad to say we all don't live in places that solar makes sense.

To me it's seems it had been a technical hurdle and a sales/education hurdle. Technically I think the first emergency daytime solar/ no battery off grid solar was the sunnyboy 5 years ago. I heard at the time spurred by Japan pushing to require the feature after Fukushima. Same as me, it galled them the see maybe a million kilowatts sitting there during an emergency unused. My sma had a near 0 extra cost for the feature of a small % of emergency power.
Now we see the enphase with the Iq8 really stepping it up. So far the roughest of estimates is it will cost 20% premium but give you most of your daytime power. Maybe it will start to be sold as an upsell feature and we get to see if people are willing to spend it.

I also hope that the IQ8 and similar equipment becomes the norm. But here is Sunny Florida most installers want about $3/watt for older equipped system and now we have the POCO's getting their way with reducing the Net Metering rules which makes it even harder for me to justify a solar pv system. I am both too old and warry with my money to plunk down the $15000 for a system and have it pay for itself.

I just think there will be any rush to install any pv system now or even next year but again I have been wrong before.

At a minimum, you also need to buy the Enphase iQ System Controller and iQ Load Controller for ~$2.5K and probably similar amount for installation to retrofit an iQ6/iQ7 system. If you don't already have an iQ system then you will need to spend more.

No, I was thinking in comparison of a new iq8 system vs a new non iq8 system be it string or cheaper enphase not retrofit. Although that would be an interesting question too. My guess is it would cost almost exactly the same to go from old enphase or any old string inverter to the new iq8.

You still need the minimum equipment for new installs and you also have to get at least the iQ Combiner.

I need to look more into it. So now there is a "combiner"?

You need to be incompliance with code.
You need a transfer switch. This insures that you do not inadvertently connect your generator to grid power.
Power up the generator and let it warm up.
Transfer your power to the generator input.
Hopefully your system sees the generator power and resumes production.
I'm guessing that you have to keep the generator running because if it senses grid down, it will automatically shut down (safety feature).
Grid 0 will help if you have excess production.

If your inverter is battery ready, it may also be generator ready. If so, that might eliminate the need for the transfer switch (inverter already has it). Attach the generator to the inverter's input, commission the inverter to tell it you have a generator (and how much power it can produce), and that could be it.

If you are really lucky, you might be able to hook up a cheap car battery to the battery input. Tell the inverter to shut the system down when battery reaches 90% SOC. Wait for sun-up, and restart your system. If it won't take a car battery, any cheap 48v rechargeable battery should work. You don't need a lot of capacity since you don't intend to run off of it.

When your generator is a 4kw, and your solar is 2.5kw, and it's nearly noon, and your fridge is cold and shuts off, you have an extra 2kw of power from the PV that has to go somewhere.
Most inverter generators will fry from overvoltage in the half second it takes the inverters to pump the line voltage up to 255VAC, then decide the Grid is gone, and they shut down. Electronics fry much faster then fuses or breakers can react

Hopefully it does not, since that can overvoltage the generator - and they are not designed to protect themselves from that.
In general - no. If it's "battery ready" that means it's a hybrid, and is going to have an input and an output. The input goes to the grid - and will either take power or feed back power as needed. 90% of installations use a single breaker to drive that input.

IF a battery is used you can connect an "essential loads panel" to the output and the inverter will power that as long as it can. If the output isn't connected anywhere you can't use it without some wiring work.

If you so have a hybrid inverter, some of them have two inputs - a grid and a generator input. More often there is a single input that you can configure to be a grid or a generator input.
I am unaware of any hybrid inverters that work at 12 volts (car battery voltage.) There are a very few that work at 24V and a lot that work at 48V. If you got four cheap car batteries, balanced them, and connected them in series it MIGHT work for a while - but you'd be looking at a cycle life in the tens of cycles. If you are going to lose power once a year that might be worth it. If not, spend the money to get a real 48V battery. You'll spend less in the long run.

How is that different from Hawaii mode where you can't export to the Grid? In Hawaii mode would the inverter put a higher voltage on the input line?

In general - no. If it's "battery ready" that means it's a hybrid, and is going to have an input and an output. The input goes to the grid - and will either take power or feed back power as needed. 90% of installations use a single breaker to drive that input.

IF a battery is used you can connect an "essential loads panel" to the output and the inverter will power that as long as it can. If the output isn't connected anywhere you can't use it without some wiring work.
That's what I meant. Battery ready with two input lines.

There are step-up converters from 12v to 24v (transformer that is bi-directional?). The original poster said the panels produce the power he needs. If you have no draw from the battery, then the battery should last a long time. The point is just enough battery to power the inverter in grid disconnect mode to let the panels start producing. I would set the battery management parameters pretty high so it barely draws on the battery before shutting down the system.

If the original poster doesn't have a spare 12v battery, $200 for a 48v rechargeable bike battery may be easier to integrate.

Then the solution is straightforward - get a battery.
And 12 to 48 volt, yes. Those cannot replace a battery. An inverter needs a low impedance voltage source on its battery terminals - and a DC/DC converter will not provide that for you. (Well, a 10kW rated one might - but a battery is cheaper than that.)
And he uses zero power at night - yes. I don't know of anyone who does not use lights or refrigeration, though.
And it can handle the instantaneous power requirements - yes, that would work. I would bet you a beer, though, that the first time he tries to start the system up the inverter will draw 50A for a few milliseconds and the BMS will trip.