[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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