IQ7+ not reporting, can it still be producing power?

[tomuo]

I've had one IQ7+ in a string that stopped reporting back in August.
The enlighten website shows clearly that it's been offline since then.
My installer said "but it's still producing power". That sounds like BS, but could it be true?

 

[skepticcyclist]

Yes. It can still produce power without the Envoy recording it. It could be a communication issue. Does the Enphase APP show all inverters communicating under Powerline Communication?

If you know which inverter it is, you can cover that panel and see if your total production drops while it is covered. Then remove the cover and see if it goes back up.

But what does sound suspicious is how does the install know it is producing power if the envoy isn't reporting? Is there another meter? They may just be looking at total production and think that it is in line with what your system should be producing.

 

[holeydonut]

I've had one IQ7+ in a string that stopped reporting back in August.
The enlighten website shows clearly that it's been offline since then.
My installer said "but it's still producing power". That sounds like BS, but could it be true?

You should have a CT feeding solar generation data to your Tesla App.

Find a sunny day before and after the Enphase Envoy stopped reporting, and see if your daily noon-time peak is materially different as recorded by Tesla.

If you have a full calendar year's worth of data, you can also compare yesterday's peak kW production with a sunny day in early February 2021.

 

[tomuo]

Yes. It can still produce power without the Envoy recording it. It could be a communication issue. Does the Enphase APP show all inverters communicating under Powerline Communication?

If you know which inverter it is, you can cover that panel and see if your total production drops while it is covered. Then remove the cover and see if it goes back up.

But what does sound suspicious is how does the install know it is producing power if the envoy isn't reporting? Is there another meter? They may just be looking at total production and think that it is in line with what your system should be producing.

The Enphase website shows that one inverter showing a much older firmware version than all the others and "Microinverter not reporting", last reported 13-Aug-2021

Covering the panel would be a good experiment if I can get up there. The graphic shows it as one corner of a set of 6, so should be easy.
The installer will request a warranty RMA with enphase.

They were probably looking at total production, but it's only a 100-150 watt difference.

Looking at the enphase webpage, stepping back to the day before it failed, the output was about half of the rest of them.

 

[tomuo]

Finally got it inspected. There was a loose connector between the panel and the microinverter, so it was definitely not producing.

 

[el-guapin]

Finally got it inspected. There was a loose connector between the panel and the microinverter, so it was definitely not producing.

Good to know!. But was the inspection done by the same installer that had originally said the IQ7+ was producing power?.

 

[tomuo]

No, it was just phone support that implied the panel was working fine even though there was no data.