[RE-wrenches] OUTBACK power

Tue Aug 5 11:00:37 PDT 2025

Jeff:

If you know something about the future of Outback, I am sure there is no
rule here that prevents you from sharing that information.

If you are close to Showalter or his minions, there is certainly no rule
here on the wrenches that prevents you from picking up the phone and
telling him (them) that they are destroying trust in the brand.  It would
cost him nothing to put out a press release and explain what his intentions
are.  It would cost him little to get Optics straightened out.  If the new
owner really wants to keep Outback vital, those are obvious first steps.
Because they were not taken, most of us are highly skeptical about the
future of Outback.

This list is designed to help us deal with technical issues related to
installing and maintaining solar electric equipment.  It is absolutely
pertinent to discuss here the availability of essential tech support
services, or the lack thereof.

I favor a looser interpretation of the mission statement wherein we could
discuss the future of our industry and the incentives that keep it alive.
Unless you are living under a rock you know the current administration is
bent on dismantling renewable energy as a whole.  My inbox has lit up with
thanks from wrenches who did not know EG4 was supporting that effort.
Armed with that knowledge, each of us can now vote with our pocket books.

So please, what do you know that we don’t?

William Miller

Miller Solar

17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422

805-438-5600

www.millersolar.com

CA Lic. 773985

*From:* Jeff Clearwater [mailto:jeffc at villagepowerdesign.com]
*Sent:* Monday, August 4, 2025 10:11 PM
*To:* william at millersolar.com; RE-wrenches
*Cc:* RE-wrenches; William Miller
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] OUTBACK power

Having consulted for EG4 all I can say is you are all way off in your
conjectures.  James and his team have the industry’s best interests at
heart.

Anymore is only appropriate to discuss off list. Conjecture without direct
knowledge often results in unnecessary harm and projection of our fear
rather than useful sense making.

I believe the List has ethical standards that we should follow here.

May we all work together to continue to build on all the great cooperative
work we’ve done to uplift the solar industry over the years.

Best

Jeff Clearwater

Village Power Design

Since 1996

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 4, 2025, at 11:58 AM, William Miller via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

Friends:

One explanation is possibly that James Showalter wants to quietly remove a
well-respected, competing product from the market.

William

PS:  It is more than a bit off-putting that EG4 chose to post a note
<https://eg4electronics.com/energy-access-innovations-powers-americas-future-with-new-texas-facility/>
kissing up to DJT.  I’m suddenly way less anxious to give EG4 a try.

WM

Miller Solar

17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422

805-438-5600

www.millersolar.com

CA Lic. 773985

*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *Maverick Brown via RE-wrenches
*Sent:* Monday, August 4, 2025 11:39 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Cc:* Maverick Brown; RE-wrenches
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] OUTBACK power

James Showalter

Founder of EG4 Electronics, Signature Solar and partner in buying Outback
from Alpha / Entersys.

*linkedin.com <https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-showalter-9a0599156>*

https://eg4electronics.com/meet-james-showalter-founder-of-eg4-electronics/

He ran a solar installation business and then switched gears.

That’s about all I know.

Thank you,

Maverick

Maverick Brown
Off-Grid Solar Commander since 2006
Maverick Solar Enterprises, Inc.
 • Solar Commander Remote Power
 • SunFlow Systems Cathodic Protection
maverick at mavericksolar.com
512-460-9825

On Aug 4, 2025, at 1:21 PM, Chris Schaefer via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

Who is James ( I assume a partner of Signature Solar) and what is his
background?

Christopher

On Sat, Aug 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM Jay via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

I checked on a few websites and some do have some items.

I wonder if they bought it for the military contracts and the retail they
don’t really care about.

Because EG4 and signature solar and big battery all know how to market and
sell and make new good products.

One thing I heard was they bought it to  sell lithium batteries to legacy
Outback people.  I guess that they would make some changes to the mate to
communicate with their batteries. Which made sense maybe?

Hopefully someone will spill the info at somepoint because it’s weird

I could  see myself buying any OB products as replacement maybe but for a
new project, seems unlikely.

On Aug 2, 2025, at 12:52 PM, Maverick Brown via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

I do wonder what the real reason is that James bought outback and he also
invented flex boss and grid boss. The Outback transition has languished
uninformed to Wrenches and even to the DIY community.

Just like the Gudgel boys, James has also shaped the industry in the new
transition to the next era.

After 20 years in the solar/battery business we built a homestead from the
ground up in 2017 and the main inverter was a single Radian at the house
and the outbuildings all had used XW inverters. I always thought I’d switch
them to Radian  One of the XWs died after over tens years of service. I
replaced it with a Fortress Envy 12k. I guess if I have another failure
here, that’s what I’ll get.

Always open to customers wishes and have installed just about every
inverter that’s ever been made installed from Tucson to Tucumcari ;-) but
mostly in Texas. But, I’m Willin’ to work on the next best thing.

Thank you,

Maverick

Maverick Brown
Off-Grid Solar Commander since 2006
Maverick Solar Enterprises, Inc.
 • Solar Commander Remote Power
 • SunFlow Systems Cathodic Protection
maverick at mavericksolar.com
512-460-9825

On Aug 2, 2025, at 11:15 AM, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

The question I have is, if they come back, would you trust them again? It
would take a lot to convince me.

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 Sat, Aug 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

Any word on whether OUTBACK power is coming back to life or they just died.?
I sure miss the products personally, not to mention my whole system is
OUTBACK
Dana Orzel - dana at solarwork.com - 208.721.7003
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