In the Solar Partner Program (SPP), APS and EPRI sought to evaluate advanced functionality from photovoltaic (PV) inverters and improve their integration into the power system. These “advanced” or “smart” inverters are being considered alongside battery energy storage and integrated Volt-VAR control (IVVC) as an additional tool in maintaining reliability and power quality. The first phase of the research from the project, began in 2015 and ran through January 2017 and focused on the deployment of 1,600 utility owned and managed residential PV systems and their effects on the grid, is now complete. Once safety listing and communications to the units were established, the advanced inverters were put through a series of day-on, day-off testing for nearly a year to evaluate the behavior of the inverters, the challenge of communications, and the potential benefits to the distribution system.