[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge Has Gone Too Far
Christopher Warfel
cwarfel at entech-engineering.com
Thu Feb 20 09:06:05 PST 2025
I made a decision to go w Enphase when Solar Edge was a viable
competitor. I did not like some aspects of Solar Edge, and I am glad I
went with Enphase. I only install on this small island, 22 systems
starting with M250's. Average project is 16 modules. I have had only
one microinverter failure, and it emailed me to let me know and then
ordered the replacement. The experiences do seem installer specific. Chris
On 2/19/2025 9:29 PM, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches wrote:
> It's really interesting how different our experiences and perspectives
> are on these issues. I know a close colleague who still loves
> SolarEdge. We're still friends. :)
>
> I have also heard the XX%+ failure rate on M-Series experience before,
> which I find strange. I'm not suggesting it's not true, but it's far
> from my experience. The M190 clearly had issues, but the M215 and M250
> were leaps and bounds better, and we had nowhere near that kind of
> failure rate experience. And I'm in arguably one of the most grueling
> environments in terms of heat and corrosive (coastal) environments,
> which is one of the fears people have always had against
> microinverters. Maybe the M-Series was more susceptible to cold
> weather issues (freeze/thaw issues).
>
> My home's M215 system is visibly beat up. Having been through 4 major
> hurricanes in its lifespan and having been removed and reinstalled
> once and used and abused for numerous training exercises, I really
> would have expected it to be a headache. But with only one
> microinveter failure in a decade, I am very happy. One system is
> obviously not statistically significant, but it goes to show that
> people have had widely different experiences with early generation
> microinverters.
>
> I regrettably installed a Soladeck AC aggregator on the roof with
> fuses and a combined feeder back to the interconnection point, but
> shockingly I have only replaced one fuse when it popped years ago.
> Other than that, smooth sailing with my M215 micros. I leave the one
> failed unit as it is to show clients what to expect in the monitoring
> system if a microinverter fails.
>
> Jason
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2025, 8:59 PM Kirk Herander via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> I will never promote, support, or use Enphase products again. My
> personal decision is a result of a 50% plus failure rate of the M
> series, as an early adopter. Now I am admittedly biased,
> regardless of their reputation now.
>
> Enphase tried to make it right, and I'm still replacing the
> replacements of the replacements 12 years later, sans-labor
> reimbursement. Yes, the latest micros w/adapters are still free
> under warranty.
> .
> We all know that through the years, every OEM has not lived up to
> expectations at times, be it products or support.
>
> For me, tolerance of some OEMs is different than others,
> depending on the particular problem and duration of it,
> individual OEM history, and customer reaction,etc.
>
> What are we, as individual installers, willing to put up with
> before we pull the plug on a manufacturer? It's an individual
> decision. History and relationships are right up there to support
> stay on board, or go.
>
> In the case of inverter RMAs, Vermont takes them for free at
> recycling centers, treating them as old electronics
> (ie. obsolete PC's). So we as a group don't have a dog in every
> policy fight that others may.
>
> Some OEM products & service policies are more of a thorn than
> others. Obviously, No one will ever come out with, or evolve into,
> perfect product or policy to make us all happy all the time.
>
> just my 2 cents worth
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM Matt Partymiller via RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> I'm not going to defend Solaredge here, there are clearly
> better ways they could handle account transfers but the
> rah-rah Enphase conclusion is maddening.
>
> It wasn't that long ago Enphase did something far worse when
> they dropped their labor warranty and then told basically
> every m-series customer to pay them distribution prices for
> new Micros that would function for more than two months or
> risk spending thousands a year on labor replacing their early
> junk. Basically Enphase invalidated all their original 25 year
> warranties and then sold new product with their full margin to
> effectively captive customers. Meanwhile, as the installer, we
> were stuck fielding the angry customer phone calls wanting to
> understand how we misled them into Enphase. I guess Enphase
> managed to stay in business though....
>
> Matt
>
> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* RE-wrenches
> <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> on behalf of Jason
> Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 19, 2025 6:20:01 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Cc:* Jason Szumlanski <jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge Has Gone Too Far
>
>
> Caution: This email originated from outside SES. Do not click
> links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
> know the content is safe.
>
>
> I just wrote a scathing blog post, notified my staff not to
> take on new SolarEdge service clients, and blasted out
> messages and DMs on social media about this despicable new
> move by SolarEdge. Imagine being one of the many system owners
> impacted by solar contractors going out of business, only to
> find out that the manufacturer of your equipment wants to
> charge you to have a new willing contractor authorized to
> monitor and service your system.
>
> By contrast, Enphase owners can have as many contractors
> monitor their systems as they want, and they can initiate it
> themselves and for free, 24 hours a day without delay.
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group
> NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)
> Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956
> Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM Jason Szumlanski
> <jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
> When I fill out the online form to transfer an existing
> SolarEdge system to my company for monitoring, the site
> now takes me to a payment form demanding $99 to transfer
> the site monitoring.
>
> I have been told that as of 2/17/2025, SolarEdge has a new
> policy, and now changes for transferring a site to a new
> installer.
>
> WOW. Nobody wants to touch their hardware around here, and
> I must be the last one because SolarEdge tech support is
> literally giving customers my name when they can't find help.
>
> SolarEdge is done. Dead to me. They can find someone else
> to cover their warranty obligations.
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Desing Group
>
>
>
>
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> --
>
> *Kirk Herander / **kirkh at vermont.solar*
>
> *Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC*
>
> */Celebrating our 34^st Anniversary 1991-2025!!/*
>
> dba Vermont Solar Engineering
>
> 802.559.1225
>
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--
Christopher Warfel, PE
ENTECH Engineering, Inc.
PO Box 871, Block Island, RI 02807
(401) 447-5773
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