We don't sell a lot of Enphase, but we do use it in the right situation. I have access to the individual production array, so that's not the problem. It can be costly to safely get on a roof and remove multiple panels to get to the failed optimiser. Hi Stephen, the Jury is currently out on the Sunpower P Series. You may want a SolarEdge system, but it might not be best for you. I am looking at a new solar plus battery install and one of the quotes is from Solar Edge. I have been getting quotes for solar panels and its a minefield of information. Cheers, David. Even though my neighbours from hell keep landing soccer balls on the panels. I have heard of a few explosions where the cover damaged the ceiling, but that's another level!!! I believe this blog has many inaccuracies and is showing a warped picture of reality. After some digging and comparisons, we figured that solar trackers cost about $1.00 $2.5 per watt. Best wishes. It would be nice if you opened up one of the failed optimiser and looked at what component is actually dying, is it a capacitor or is it the logic board chip or something else? I do prefer using Tigo with Fronius in most situations though. I live in Arizona, USA and I want to thank you for helping me make informed choices. I have found out that I have 750 V DC to my SE17K inverter in Sweden with 3 phase system. Shading is not an issue, so i guess i will skip tigo also, for now. This really puts into perspective just how popular (and world leading) SolarEdge systems are. I just had a 10kw solar edge inverter blow up in my face. Any views on virtual power plants? And whos to say, if Id wait until the other half of the optimizers fail, that the new replacement ones wont die after another 2-3 years? But yes I prefer maxim technology in theory to any other optimiser - we just need reliability and to stop the interference issues. I am about to make my decision, but wanted to get your thoughts first. SolarEdge is junk. Installers came a week later (23 Sept, 2020 and after talking to tech support, determined that the new, improved inverter has failed. No panel monitoring. My Solaredge HD 5000 became defective after 3 months. Some state the time period until they can use a refurbished instead of new. Must be very happy with installer experience . When I informed support by email, the lady acknowledged the fault via web site monitoring and said she will send a engineer. Because of the higher price of a single Tigo optimizer, I'm looking for a SolarEdge solution. Preliminary results are ok and we should hear back from the full accelerated testing results soon. If in 12 months you haven't had many failures, I'm not totally surprised. What would you consider to be a possible solution to the above problem? All of them connected to 2 x SE100K SolarEdge Inverters. Hi Mark great article, had the sales person from SE out yesterday selling me a PV system, He forgot to mention the optimiser issue and the fact that i cant get full access to alerts etc. If it is nighttime, storming, or if the panels are covered in snow, your inverter is not going to provide reliable information. They don't know what versions of boards are in what inverters, if there is a board problem they always want a photo of the board, even the board serial numbers and version numbers don't seem to be enough. If you have significant shade, consider Enphase. When I was in Israel, I spoke to one of the SE founders about it, and he explained why they left Sunspec. If they mapped the panels on the monitoring platform properly, you could usually tell which one failed. SolarEdge told us they could see these optimisers were running hot. Cheers Peter. This is why its best to understand what you want to achieve with solar to know which inverter is going to be best for you. I would, except that is not the issue. Now Im spending my time trying to get warranty for a product I didnt sell. Hi Shane, you are closer to correct. i have an annoying roof footprint, that mean s the 18 could be spread across 3 different facings and potentially different orientations. The effects of temperature are non linear, and the more parts you have the more failures you will have. Intrestring article. If you want a reliable solar system, nothing about the SolarEdge architecture makes sense to me. What have SolarEdge said about the issue? Hi Tom. Get the total energy produced by the 5kW solar rooftop. No notification. Warranty can be a long drawn out affair costing trips to site to do measurements that clearly as an experienced installer and electrician shows the device has failed yet they want you to go thru hoops to try to discredit your findings. Thanks Mark for your blog and review. My point is that SolarEdge is spruiked as a shade solution and a complicated roof solution. Finally finished it. Read your story and omg it resonated to us what a problem system it really is. What are your thoughts in general and specifically is the energy hub the solution? A 3.5 kW solar panel system that is priced at $2.7 per watt would have a total investment cost of $9,450. We know that a 5kW system produces 7,805 kWh of solar energy annually. in areas that will benefit your energy output and maximise savings. This article is great and easy to read. Under optimal solar conditions my Inverters produce 200 KW but cannot sustain it. Sobering. I think 25 days is actually a good effort by the installer, given the may not have had an alert - and given the reality that business gets busy sometimes. Actually, I don't believe in using optimizers, because the $ cost per extra watt produced is far higher than just using more solar panels. A P500 optimiser boosts to a maximum of 60 volts. Working Principle of Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) MCBs are protective devices that are made to break the circuit in case of overload or short circuit. It was shipped from Melbourne, by SolarEdge the following day and we had it replaced on site within two days. Their tune has now changed and they now admit they have high optimiser failure rates across the board. However, while all these features are available on SolarEdge inverter monitoring, I now question their accessibility and their reliability. I am looking at getting refrigerated ducted heating and cooling and he said to go Solar electric boosted hot water as we were going to have gas Solar, and he also suggested to go induction cooktop. I have also had 8 optimised fail out of about 10 systems. I have been in regular contact with Soltek the installer and SolarEdge since October 2018 to resolve the matter (its now February 2019), given the apparent breach of Australian Consumer Law. If things improve, I will report that. Against, with everything being under SolarEdges control it makes your life easier as the customer in terms of claiming warranty requesting support on your monitoring or visibility side of things. Yesterday, it showed output from every panel, with the overall system production for the day being reported as 23 kWh. The system will have 2 Solaredge 11.4 kW HD Wave Inverters. We have shading issues from 2pm onwards. I just had my 9.4K system installed a couple weeks ago and had it turned on last week after the new meter was installed. We have had the second system put in just over 12 months. Solar Edge have agreed to replace the Inverter, however now I'm concerned about S/E in the long term, after reading your article. I've done blog reviews and youtube reviews on both. Hi Monica. Youre still up and running and being credited by your utility. Youll also be able to see how much energy your system is producing daily, how much you are using through self consumption. Now, even though SolarEdge sounds like the best solution for everyone (and admittedly, it could be) but you will need to ensure you are taking a few factors into consideration when getting this system. Thanks for any advice - also follow on question, where are the best sites for customers to research the basics so we can evaluate and understand offers from installers? Are they telling you they have now fixed the issue? Incidentally this article was forwarded to me by our ABB inverter supplier rep. And I normally dont read such long blogs, but due to the number the number of Solaredge sites we have and focus we put on marketing Solaredge I had. Energy Storage Innovations. that's extreme. The main reason I don not like use SolarEdge is that the optimizers don not work without a SolarEdge inverter. We have identified several other jobs that appear to have underperforming optimisers. I am still paying the same electric bill that was before the system was installed. Now thats a strange suggestion from SolarEdge because if we connected just 22 x 330W panels (keeping it to 6.6kW) in one string, our average voltage would be: 380volts/22panels =17.3volts. We won't install them until we are satisfied with their independent test results. This will be a problem for the customers I have with no internet connection on site when their older inverters fail. One fantastic feature of a SolarEdge system that I like so much is the future-proof availability. , and see how we would use SolarEdge to help you. We allow all our customers to have access to the panel level info and audit out systems regularly to make sure we are on top of any issues before our customers are - this is good practice no matter what inverter you use. Then we can install a maximum 5kW of Enphase micro inverters, and oversized panels to a total of 6.6kW if we choose the right panel. I can't seem to get any installer to replace a bad optimizer. I work for one of the largest PV companies in Sweden since 8 years. This way of dysfunctioning should have had a bad influence on other optimizers and definitely damaged the second one (I dont understand this consequence, but I am a layman as to electricity). If my experience demonstrated to me that their products were performing without problems arising, I would say so. We have over 3000 optimizers installed and accredited advanced Solaredge installers - but in the same light - traditionally with SMA AND FRONIUS you have 3 electronic components ( with processor power ) inverter, meter and data logger ) installed and you comparing with a Solaredge site that you have 23 electronic devices ( with processor power ) per site on average residential - so by default and rule of thump you will have more failure rate with Solaredge its a fact ?? What should I be asking them? I told both parties that my research had revealed that my inverter (with the LCD screen) was no longer being installed because of a known capacitor issue (my knowledge about this seemed to surprise them). The working of a miniature circuit breaker in case of overload and short circuit fault is, For Overload protection, they have a Bi-metallic strip which causes the circuit to open. I now have a 2nd panel showing very little output (the maximum is around 34W). With normal string systems, you cannot add extra panels at a later date, instead you would need to remove and reinstall a new system. Then, he mentioned the optimizers are $60 each to replace, labor is $179 the first hour, $80 for each hour after that, and I may have to pay that to get the ball rolling if it isnt covered under warranty.. this system was installed 8 months ago!!! Im ready to cry. I am just in the process of purchasing solar for my home and SolarEdge is being presented by one supplier. Part three is where I address the five significant problems I have discovered with SolarEdge: failure rates, monitoring, alerts, underperformance and blocking. Maybe they have improved them a bit - maybe they only start failing after 4 years? "However, if the four northern panels were not blocked by the 60 volts limit, they could have produced the same power as the other group of 10 panels. Ok, so lets go through some of the things that a SolarEdge inverter can provide for you as a homeowner, and of course why these things are important. Mark, friend already has SE system installed. (Tigo has pretty much zero traction here.) These systems cost a huge amount of money and the last thing that should be happening is faults with optimisers that have 25 yr warranties. 12% inverter failure rate and 2% optimizer failure rate. I bolded. We both used a very reputable 80 year old electrical company with over 8k installs. Holy sh*t, thats cool, but you cannot attach a Canadian CS3W 400W to P404, because of the Isc value, nor Q Cells DUO 325W, because of this. Electrical Contractors Licence 72319 CEC Approved Retailer Australian Solar Council Member Master Electricians Member ACN: 142 653 843 ABN: 23 108 903 807. Hello, Excellent blog. Can you recommend the optimizer brands flexible and reliable to use for different brand inverter with or without panel monitoring option? Hi Maz. I lived in the north of Israel for several months in 1999. You have long strings, so voltage blocking as I described it shouldn't be an issue. As the demand for EV increases and the high return on investment electric cars offer you can stay one step ahead by easily adding a SolarEdge EV charger to your home. Hi Mark, interesting and sadly relevant post for my SolarEdge inverter installation. Every time I walk into my warehouse there seems to be another Solaredge inverter we need to replace. Since there is a string down. that's a different problem. Its a bit more complicated than I understood in my original tests. So far it eventually gets corrected but to say there is no problem when it is only correct less than 30% of the month is just rubbish. However, their headquarters is situated in Herzliya, Israel. (I can show the system and explain exactly how it should work and how faulty it is because of this missing infromation.) So when the four at an angle to the sun, the six are getting full sun and vice versa. Communication panel of the SE7k inverter sent 8x10 error code, AP wi-fi dropped the connection for SetApp. Does this system need optimisers. Seems that is now old fashioned My Concern Since the two strings feed into the two Solar Edge inverters and they are now 13+ months old, should I be concerned? Getting paid a small stipend for the work adds another Level of insult to the process and it takes them 2-3 months to reimburse at that. Could put it down to one ranting blogger, but what about all the other people here in the comments? Solar Edge Se7600 . All the other leading brands require you to either buy a hybrid inverter upfront (waste of money) or add another inverter later that will cost you north of $2k. I saw the tech taking temps at almost 300 F before we had to shut it down. (Id suggest a good example of a general application may be one orientation per string with minimal shade.). Combining the solar trackers with solar panels lets them follow the suns path and produce more renewable energy in the process. Hello Mark. Dividing the $13,500 by $1,775.64 energy savings per annum gives us a payback period =7.6 years. Hi Phil. All I got was legal threats. I tend to believe i need to say goodbye to the 3 phase unit and split the system up into 3 different 1 phase inverters. LG, Sunpower (expensive) or Trina, CanadianSolar? From my experience I would recommend thinking long and hard about going for anything other than a string inverter on a new install, - especially if the panels are on the roof of a a 2 (or more) storey building. You also have manual and passive solar trackers, but they are not worth elaborating on since they arent practical. I was never contacted or alerted by my supplier or SolarEdge. For the last 3 months the inverter has been losing wi-fi connectivity every week or so. Could you clarify please? Another statistic in Solar Edges infant mortality of shoddy manufacturing and R & D. (At least their lawyers cant threaten me for telling the truth behind their questionable quality products.) I am looking for a communication board to buy. Takes 2 weeks to notice and 3 weeks to address. I have a 21 panel system on my roof with a Solar Edge SE 4000 inverter. All very confusing. As a customer in this part of the country, I would warn everyone off of Solar Edge. i know you're located in qld and therefore not an ideal install option, but any suggestions as to what to get would greatly be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to explain your experience with Solaredge. I was thinking of a Fronius to back it up, thanks in advance, Pam. Your email address will not be published. Adjacent is one of the worst examples. I contacted my installer Main Street Solar in Fincastle Virginia. Do you have that requirement in Australia? If problem still exists then order replacement parts that could take up to a year to replace. We called around suppliers and most of them have never supplied the p404, and the main one now says they only stock and sell limited P505's. Hi Gergely, It's a good question. As you state the alerts don't work, you always have to check the layout of every site for optimizer problems. 3.6kW is a small system! An informed and responsible company probably won't sell Solaredge. About the labour cost, it would say you shouldn't have to pay a penny. FYI: I have my own photovoltaic installer company, and I already have more than one hundred end users where I remove the SolarEdge system to install a string inverter with an increases harvesting energy of 10% in only one year. SolarEdge system installed in September 2017. This is in the Cayman Islands where the weather is 29 degrees C every day of the year. I have one more day to go with Panasonic Enphase IQ7x microinverter that produces 330 watts. While SolarEdge currently has an agreement with installers to pay a small labour component to replace faulty optimisers, their SolarEdge warranty explicitly states otherwise. We wouldn't normally quote on such a small system. Is a Sun Tracking Solar Panel Right For Me? 3. Unfortunately, in engineering, if you go from a centralised system do a distributed one with the same (per unit) reliability, the total incidence of failure increases. Started asking around..spoke to a colleague who worked with this product until the high failure rate of optimisers sent company under. Your voltage would get highest when you are producing maximum and consuming minimum. I can see that partial shading with partial decrease in output voltage could be compensated but not a total panel failure. Like I mentioned before there is only one other company that gives SolarEdge a run for their money and that is none other than Enphase. Mark, I have a question, Trinity came out and replaced my inverter with one that doesn't have the monitoring panel on the fron, just a plain faceplate. Would love to, but carrying those panels on a plane is a bit of a pain :). My modules are connected in 3s per optimiser (14 SE optimisers) The best gave an output of 106.9 W and the worst 98.3 W (this from the SE on-line monitoring screen which showed a max of 4.116kW, but at the same time as taht reading my inverter screen photos recorded 3.983kW). Performed my first SE installation last week. I have given up on claiming optimiser warranties. This system consists of 18 335Wp panels, 18 optimizers and a three phase 5K inverter. Try Enphase. I just use Fronius now, fantastic product and support. I can only speak for our company's experience with SolarEdge and say that it has been outstanding. But the failure rate I have seen is worse than bad. More than likely there is just a small glitch in the monitoring. I was told by an installer over the phone that I should consider going to 8kw as I was trying to get a quote for 6.5kw and to go all electric. Microsofts Activision Blizzard deal is key to the companys mobile gaming efforts. This is because your system has been designed and optimised for maximum energy output over a period of time. Reviews would mean something if the Purchaser was contacted for an opinion after 12-24 months of use. SolarEdge have recently been fairly pro-active with their warranty process. After reading your articles I am more inclined to ask for a Fronius Sumo inverter. This will be expedited and may only take one week to travel the 401 miles. Our failures in Qld heat started at about 20 months, so I hope you don't have the same experience but just a bit later because of the cooler climate. I was doing some research before I would accept or reject the quote. I missed this comment. You'll note that in my updated post, I have confirmed they have left Sunspec. Hopefully, for you and the industry, SolarEdge has solved the issues with Gen 4. Its been a couple of years since I first wrote this SolarEdge inverter review. I have about 50 cases with failures most of these are with one or more optimizers failed. Your article has scared the living daylights out of me. Also, I know they have many unhappy customers - has anyone filed a class action suit? We always allow for extra optimsisers in our quotes as the time it takes to claim warranty is MORE expensive. I have tried to contact everyone from United Solar to Solar Edge to Duke Energy and even to other installers to get my panels working properly but not on person I have called has done anything to help. The SolarEdge monitoring application enables PV installers and system owners to perform remote monitoring on the go using their mobile Android device, thus maximizing solar energy harvesting. If plugging or unplugging doesnt work, or you do not have PLCs, give us a call atat 802-882-8685. thanks again. The SE inverter reached 253 volts and then shut down, I believe the unit to be faulty, and will be pressuring them for a full refund. have completed a 25kW install with p700s and had one faulty optimiser mick. Ive even had to call and choose the technical/wholesaler option to have my call answered, but they were not happy answering my questions telling me that the retailer i dealt with would look after me.well thats another story right there. Just remember when you are buying solar, its best to understand what you need. I have 3 phase to the meter box which increases the single inverter cost so in terms of cost I have to consider that as well. On the first day of install the production was great. Thanks for the informative article. - Todd. Yout installer should be able to give you a clearer answer. Have had phone apps to monitor the systems and have only had two issues where the system "died," one a Sonnen battery update that shut the system down and another where the system went dead for 6 hours and since I monitor once per week (try for once every other day but), both have been resolved. The main factors affecting the price are your location, system size, type of trackers used, and the installations complexity. So you can maximise your self-consumption of free energy while reducing your dependency on the grid. The system would work fine, if the optimizers would be able to bypass "dead" panels. They are not as crap as Mark says. Given that solar trackers increase solar energy production by 25% to 40%, you can already clearly see how this study will turn out. Their customer service is awful, with over 1 hour wait times. For example, if you use more energy in the afternoon we might place panels to capture and optimise on the late afternoon sun (increasing your self consumption and maximising savings). SPAN Panel is a smart electrical panel designed to modernize your home energy system by completely replacing your existing panel. AND since they are mounted in my garage, is there a concern if they "pop?" Tesla took a month to get a service call scheduled. That it needed to dry out then it would start working again Ok, Not impressed. SolarEdge lawyers suggested some of my headlines such as this are misleading and inaccurate. Intel's Autonomous Unit Mobileye Files U.S. IPO, Defying Weak Market Conditions. I always have to hard-reset the inverter. It was sufficient to make it clear that I wont be using SolarEdge. Im guessing Ive got about four weeks before the storms start. Adding battery monitoring to app not just webpage. Get the total payback period from the sun tracking solar system, Compare the base case payback period with the alternative solution. He says that when it is confirmed, that they will only pay for part of the cost of labour and scaffolding and I will have to pay the rest. In fact, according to SolarEdge, you can expect up to 25% more power with the help of DC power optimizers. My friend has a similar setup with same equipment by same installer but nearing 6 years, and his inverter also died, though this will be his 2nd replacement.

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