[RE-wrenches] Ideas and help please. Solar Edge nightmare

[scot.arey at solarcentex.com]

The "oh, you need a twisted pair and we can't help you right now until you
change it" is the new spin on "send us pics so we can grade your work before
we help you even though your inverter worked for years."

I feel like we've been back and forth on this twisted pair. We had one
instance where tech spt insisted on swapping something out and then another
tech on another visit said what his predecessor insisted on was not
acceptable.

I couldn't find a StorEdge install manual in the SE site (I have one in my
own home and wanted to read exactly what it said) but I do carry a printed
copy of the Application Note for connecting the EnergyHub to the BUI. It
says "SolarEdge recommends that B and A are a twisted pair for this
installation to work correctly."  Yes, it says "recommends." Not shall or
must.

 

So from years of all the back and forths and inconsistencies, I've learned
that on the RS-485 connections, we should/must have the B and A be from same
twisted pair.

Now.does it need to be shielded? This was big point of debate for a period
with SE. Regular Cat-5 cable wasn't shielded. I bought a roll of shielded
300-V rated (couldn't find 600v) shieled cable with twisted pairs and you
guessed it.some tech said this was not acceptable. The expensive roll
collects dust in the shop.

So I tell you this story not to give you an answer (other than A and B
should be twisted pair) but to say you're not alone on this frustration.

 

 



 






 

From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of
Peter Giroux via RE-wrenches
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2024 5:20 PM
To: 'RE-wrenches' <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Cc: pgiroux at mindspring.com
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Ideas and help please. Solar Edge nightmare

 

  Hi my fellow wrenchers, need some help with an older SolarEdge Storedge
system.  System has  14 kw solar, two 7.6 Storedge inverters and each
inverter has one LG RESU 10 battery. System was installed 6 to 7 years ago
and has worked great until the LG's started acting up. LG replaced them and
in the interim one of the 7.6's went down. SE replaced it. Everything has
been up and running for 12 months, SE did all the required firmware updates,
batteries and inverters when we finished replacing batteries and inverter.

 

  So, the problem is the system comes out of program every 3 to 5 days and
luckily my customer knows how to reengage it and reprogram the system (
total consumption ). We have been calling SE Support for months and it hit a
peak two weeks ago. They are telling us we need shielded 600Volt CAT5
twisted pair wire for all the comms. We have shielded cat non twisted pair,
the wire they had us install 6 years ago ( which has worked just fine. When
I asked the tech do I use one or both of a twisted pair he said just one. I
asked what is the difference from the wire we are using if you are asking us
to use just one of each twisted pair. They could not answer and when asked
to get a more senior tech they said until we had shielded cat 5 twisted pair
installed we could no longer speak with them.

 

  I found some 600 volt, shielded cat 5 twisted pair and installed one
section, from one inverter to it battery. Took forever to separate the
twisted pair, strip one and insert it. System is now Buggier than it was.

 

  The tech could not explain why the system has worked well for 6 years with
the shielded single wire and after replacing a inverter and the batteries it
is now throwing the programing, just demanded the 600 volt, cat 5 shielded
wire.

 

  So folks, my apologies for rambling by both my customer and I are at our
wits end. We have reached out to the head of tech support but only crickets.
Any and all help or ideas appreciated.

 

Thx

Peter Giroux

American Solar

Norcross Ga

678 525 0468

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20240711/a9508f83/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 136365 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20240711/a9508f83/attachment-0001.png>