[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge comm card failures

Tue Apr 19 19:44:02 PDT 2016

Howie,

Thanks for your response.  I would agree that we have not seen this problem
with systems installed after 2012.   The technology has improved, and the
Comm card in the inverter has been thru several iterations since then.  I
would also agree that SE has improved on their tech support response time
this year and the "with the paint by numbers" description of tech support
response.  Based on my limited experience, I surmised a failing
communications card in the inverter.  I had a hell of a time convincing SE
tech support this was the issue.

We were on site troubleshooting this today and after checking that we could
ping Google from the inverter connection, and establish a TCP connection to
the SolarEdge server via the laptop on that connection, and trying to step
thru the inverter programming with a non responsive push button interface,
the SE tech agreed to send us a new comm card.  But only after rolling a
truck, jumping through a few hoops on the phone with SE support, did we get
that agreement.  I felt like most of this troubleshooting was above what I
could expect of most field  techs, without significant computer experience.

Note this is the card which contains the digital display for the inverter,
and the one which interfaces with the push button display on the inverter.
This is not an add-on accessory. One other symptom of this problem is that
the push button interface for scrolling through the SE inverter menus is
intermittent in its response.  You may push the button multiple times
before you get a response on the screen.  Same behavior if you use the push
buttons under the front cover of the inverter.  Another symptom is that the
<S_OK> indicator does not display on the first  and sixth display screens.
 <S_OK> indicates the unit is unable to connect to the Solar Edge portal.

I have two other sites which exhibit similar symptoms; missing data reports
to the portal on random days in the past few months.  The inverters are
working fine but the data is not being uploaded to the portal on some
days.  I asked SE for a part number for the comm card so I could stock a
spare.  Unfortunately they were unable to provide a part number, which I
could order from my distributor and take to the site to troubleshoot these
sites.  Apparently these are only supplied after you jump through enough
hoops with tech support.  I found this aggravating to say the least.

I hope this is helpful.

With Kind Regards
Carl Adams
SunRock Solar

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 2:26 PM, Howie Michaelson <howie at suncatchervt.com>
wrote:

> Carl,
>
> We experienced a rash of Comm Card issues with several SE installs over
> several years, but none exactly as you describe.  Our issues were almost
> all resolved with a board replacement, but a few were particularly vexing
> with many return service calls to get a resolution.  We seemed to have the
> most problems with the single phase 10k inverters.  In general, SE tech
> support was helpful, although a bit paint-by-numbers at times, as well as
> very slow to answer for much of 2015.  As best I can tell, the issues have
> begun to settle down most recently.
> Howie
>
> *Howie Michaelson*
> *NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™*
> Sun Catcher, LLC
> Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service
> VT Solar Electric Incentive Partner
> 802-272-0004
>
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 11:34 AM, Carl Adams <swingjunkie at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello Wrenches,
>>
>> Anyone experiencing issues with comm card failures on SolarEdge
>> inverters?  We have some systems installed  in 2012 exhibiting similar
>> behaviors.  The systems are producing data, it is registering on the
>> inverter, and our independent utilty meter, but is not reported to the
>> SolarEdge portal.  Next day(s) it reports production to the portal but the
>> missing data is never filled in.  I have attached a small graph from the
>> portal dashboard.
>>
>> Typically if a network connection goes down, and then is restored the
>> data should be uploaded after the connection is back on line.  In this case
>> their remains a hole in the data, for that day, indicating that data was
>> never uploaded.
>>
>> We had one system which exhibited this "missing data" symptom on accasion
>> over a 2 month period of time.  This was diagnosed, as a failing comm
>> card.  Once that was replaced we have not seen the issue recur for that
>> site.  But now we are seeing similar behavior from three other sites, all
>> installed a in the second half of 2012.
>>
>> Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Carl Adams
>> SunRock Solar
>>
>>
>> <https://www.avast.com/en-us/lp-safe-emailing-2109?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=oa-2109-v2-a> Virus-free.
>> www.avast.com
>> <https://www.avast.com/en-us/lp-safe-emailing-2109?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=oa-2109-v2-a>
>> <#m_4737906340813698097_m_3325038974001079228_DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List-Archive:
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20160419/9bb734ba/attachment-0002.html>