[RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark Tech Support - Getting Nowhere
pgiroux at mindspring.com
pgiroux at mindspring.com
Mon Jun 16 14:03:46 PDT 2025
Jason
So very sorry to se / hear your frustration with Sol-Ark. I too had some issues a year ago and it just seemed to go on. Finally reached out to my sales rep and she helped me get a new unit ( what was needed all along ). Please give her a call.
Peter Giroux
American Solar
From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2025 5:28 PM
To: david quattro <david at quattrosolar.com>
Cc: Jason Szumlanski <jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com>; RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark Tech Support - Getting Nowhere
I'm not sure that I have standing. I did not purchase the inverter. And I do not own the inverter. I simply installed it. But I do like the idea.
I have not tried to switch the master slave relationship of the system, but that is not really the issue. Sol-Ark can see the dongle on their end, but the inverter attached to it is not reporting data. I already replaced the Wi-Fi board at their direction (after I told them that it was ridiculous and unlikely to resolve the issue because the dongle was already obviously connected to their servers). At this point, they should be sending me a new inverter. The whole situation is totally asinine.
And yesterday when I looked for an update I got the good old, "actively investigating" BS. I don't know about you, but when I get a client that is having a serious issue that has dragged on for this long, I am banging heads together and not sleeping until it is resolved.
Here's what I think the real problem is. I think they are relying on people overseas who wrote the software and handle the servers to resolve the issue, but they have no real direct control over them. I could be way off base on this, but I'm not buying the claims that everything has been brought in house and they have control over all of the software and settings and monitoring.
At this point, there is no excuse. Once it gets escalated to the highest level of technical support, and it can't get resolved in 24 hours, send me a new inverter already. I am literally in direct contact with the head of technical support. They really do not understand the concept of what a reasonable service, support, and warranty policy is.
If these were EG4 inverters and James Showalter got wind of this issue, I'd venture to say I would have a new inverter and an apology right now. I'm no EG4 fanboy, quite the skeptic actually, but they are listening to their customers. They're going to wipe out Sol-Ark if things don't change.
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 Sun, Jun 15, 2025, 5:12 PM david quattro <david at quattrosolar.com <mailto:david at quattrosolar.com> > wrote:
sounds like you don’t want to take them to small claims court. I found it to be easy and very effective.
Did you try switching which inverter is the lead vs follower?
On Tue, Jun 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> > wrote:
I’m once again dealing with a painful support experience from Sol-Ark that’s confirming the broader concerns we’ve all been talking about.
Today a customer's system went completely down due to an AC coupling issue that seems to have been triggered by a factory reset I was instructed to perform on a previous visit. On that previous visit, the master inverter would not connect to MySolArk, regardless of what dongle is used on it, so remote monitoring is dead. Despite promises of escalation to Level 3 support last week, no one has followed up. I’m still in the dark, and the master inverter remains offline. Calling Sol-Ark today was pretty useless, as they were having phone problems. The level 1 tech I finally reached was no help whatsoever. They told me the level 2 tech I was previously talking to would call me. That never happened. Sound familiar? No follow-through as usual. I "resolved" the AC Coupling issue myself by turning it off, but we need that solar production!
I have tried to resolve this MySolArk connection issue on multiple trips to the site. Any dongle I use in the master inverter connects to MySolArk (Connection Status OK), and they can see the dongle on their end. But they can't see the inverter. Replaced the WiFi /RS232 board already under RMA. That was useless. That was after having to convince the completely illogical Level 1 support tech that the dongle was not the issue.
To make matters worse, I have a slave inverter that needs replacement, but I’m reluctant to proceed while the master is still offline. Sol-Ark’s RMA process is a mess—slow responses, redundant requests, and a $3,000 deposit with no real accountability or urgency on their part. Phone calls drop, emails go unanswered, and when I do get someone, they’re clearly not up to speed on the case. This isn’t a one-off experience anymore—this is a pattern. If you’re considering using Sol-Ark on any upcoming projects, proceed with extreme caution. Their hardware might still check boxes on paper, but the support is downright awful.
The return visits to this remote site have easily cost me more than a new inverter.
Jason Szumlanski
Principal Solar Designer
Florida Solar Design Group
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