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SolarEdge Inverter Replacement
- Thread starter BruceHulkBanne
- Start date
Wow, I am not alone. I got the PTO 20 months ago. I am on my third inverter failure and have lost 5 months of production. I am now 12 weeks into this failure with nothing but platitudes and finger pointing by Tesla at SolarEdge. While it appears the inverters might have problems, I note that I can buy one on eBay if they are on eBay, why Tesla can't get one. If I can verify that it won't void my warranty on the rest of the system which is about 12 kWh of solar and 2 Powerwalls and swap the dead one for the one they claimed to have ordered, I think I will buy one and get it installed so I will have a spare. I have lost close to $1,000 of electricity and do not have the solar backup I expected for hurricane season.
I feel competent to swap it myself, but suspect there could be issues since I am not licensed.
I thought about doing what someone else did and going straight to SolarEdge as this appears speedier, but if Tesla already has a claim for this serial number inverter, that might cause yet more trouble.
I feel competent to swap it myself, but suspect there could be issues since I am not licensed.
I thought about doing what someone else did and going straight to SolarEdge as this appears speedier, but if Tesla already has a claim for this serial number inverter, that might cause yet more trouble.
My SolarEdge inverter failed 4 weeks ago. Tesla originally told me up to 6 weeks for a replacement, today that has morphed into 8-12 weeks (?!)
I have the case number and have been checking with SolarEdge daily but the replacement hasn't shipped - surely Tesla should be putting pressure on them to speed this up?
I have the case number and have been checking with SolarEdge daily but the replacement hasn't shipped - surely Tesla should be putting pressure on them to speed this up?
That would not be ethical to the customer who bought a new inverter down the road.
Warranty replacements are not guaranteed to be new and often are repaired from other RMA if possible. Also Serial numbers are important and if Solar Edge catches you lying about the serial number, or swapping them as you propose its bad news.
I'm in a similar boat. My 10kw Solaredge inverter failed (capacitor) on May 30, 2022 and Tesla investigated a few days later. The technician told me two weeks. Then Tesla told me up to 6 weeks, then it changed to 6-12 weeks. I chatted with Tesla a few days ago after 12 weeks and they still have no status and are now saying up to 20 weeks. It doesn't feel like they are even trying. Very frustrating.
Sure, Tesla could buy one, but that would be one their dime. They, just like you, want to use the warranty so that SolarEdge pays for it. (They may even pay Tesla for the labor to swap them, it all depends on the warranty terms they have with SolarEdge.)
I doubt there is anything Tesla can do to get SolarEdge to refurbish and ship replacement inverters faster. (It could be that SolarEdge is waiting to get replacement capacitors, as a result of a supply chain issue. Or even that they are passing the warranty "buck" on to their supplier which probably takes longer than ordering new capacitors.)
The physical swap is probably easy enough, the more difficult part is probably getting it all configured properly.
My Tesla solar has been down for 3 months on this failure. It has a SolarEdge inverter which has failed 3 times for over 5 months of failure out of 20 months of permission to operate. The loss of electricity is now about $1,000. I am aware that SolarEdge inverters are problematic, but my view is that Tesla saddled me with it, they are responsible for getting it fixed promptly.
All I can get from Tesla is finger pointing at SolarEdge and platitudes. They keep lengthening the time span to make the repair and are now up to 20 weeks, so even if they make this, I will lose 2 more months.
Oddly, I could buy the same model inverter this second online. The "chat" person advised I would void the warranty if I bought one to use while waiting for the warranty replacement. I also have 2 Powerwalls and am afraid that if I were to change anything, I would wind up losing the warranty on them too.
I am wanting to rip out all of the SE stuff and have Enphase installed and hope the panels will remain covered by the manufacturer, but losing the warranty on the Powerwalls would hurt. It does not help my mood that it is hurricane season here. The only bright spot was I was finally able to make a chat person turn me over to a Powerwall person who understood my request to charge the Powerwalls from the grid so they did not go to 0 and have some backup. We have frequent short power failures where I live.
I keep asking to escalate this to a higher level and the chat people refuse. Anyone have a secret phone number or email address? The people who were helpful during installation appear to have left Tesla as their addresses now bounce.
The only fun I am having over this is talking people out of getting Tesla solar. I am going to put up a yard sign.
All I can get from Tesla is finger pointing at SolarEdge and platitudes. They keep lengthening the time span to make the repair and are now up to 20 weeks, so even if they make this, I will lose 2 more months.
Oddly, I could buy the same model inverter this second online. The "chat" person advised I would void the warranty if I bought one to use while waiting for the warranty replacement. I also have 2 Powerwalls and am afraid that if I were to change anything, I would wind up losing the warranty on them too.
I am wanting to rip out all of the SE stuff and have Enphase installed and hope the panels will remain covered by the manufacturer, but losing the warranty on the Powerwalls would hurt. It does not help my mood that it is hurricane season here. The only bright spot was I was finally able to make a chat person turn me over to a Powerwall person who understood my request to charge the Powerwalls from the grid so they did not go to 0 and have some backup. We have frequent short power failures where I live.
I keep asking to escalate this to a higher level and the chat people refuse. Anyone have a secret phone number or email address? The people who were helpful during installation appear to have left Tesla as their addresses now bounce.
The only fun I am having over this is talking people out of getting Tesla solar. I am going to put up a yard sign.
Forgot to note that efforts to get through to SolarEdge have been a frustrating waste of time.
Today Tesla advised that would void the warranty on the system which is a lot more than just the inverter, panels, Powerwalls and Gateway.
I am now looking for an Enphase dealer who is certified to install Powerwalls and Gateways. That might be a way to get out of the SolarEdge hole. I could them sell the warranty replacement to recoup some of the cost of swapping out all the SolarEdge crap. This is probably not practical, but worth looking into at a lost of $200/month I am suffering now. The lawn sign that says Don't Buy Tesla Solar will go up shortly.
It's really bad. I'm still waiting for a replacement inverter and when I've called to ask for an update the customer service staff are incredibly rude - it's as if you're putting them out by daring to ask when they're planning to fix the system you've paid them tens of thousands of dollars for!
I forgot to point out that both of our car dealers provide loaners for service that takes more than an hour. That's a $30-40k Subaru or similar Ford. Tesla could have some spare inverters on hand when they are going to hang something unreliable on your home.
I am in a rotten mood over SolarEdge inverter failures and Tesla's cavalier attitude about it. It appears I am far from alone. I have seen the idea of there being enough people to have a class action suit, so looked about and found this. Are there others here interested in this sort of thing? I normally detest the idea of involving lawyers, but I have been unable to get through to SolarEdge and Tesla is doing nothing but finger pointing and issuing platitudes while refusing to let me talk to anyone beyond the chat line. Anyone else at this point?
Berger Montague is investigating a potential nationwide class action lawsuit against companies that manufacture and sell solar panels, inverters/microinverters, and other components of residential and commercial solar power systems.
That doesn't really fly. Alternate transportation is a feature of the warranty on vehicles. Does your Tesla Energy warranty have a production guarantee?
Also, Tesla didn't know they were going to be unreliable when they installed them. Them turning out to be unreliable, and Solar Edge' slow warranty, is probably part of why they stopped installing them and made their own. (They had problems with the Delta inverters too.)
You should be comparing Tesla Energy Service to Chrysler or Alfa Romeo. Tesla energy is about the cheapest price for the masses, not great service.
A few years back, Subaru had an issue with their motors and they were destroying themselves in less than 100k miles because of a manufacturing defect. I know of 2 different owners who had to rent another car, because Subaru was taking multiple months to replace these engines
While I see that you are upset that Tesla hasn't come through for you, the performance guarantee of the Tesla contract protects you. If your system has underproduced for a significant portion of its life then you will be eligible for a reimbursement check. Granted their promise of production is pretty conservative such that it is pretty rare to come in under the kWh they estimate, but that is the contract you signed up for.
I thought that they discontinued the production guarantees years ago. Like when they stopped leasing solar systems.
I am actually not sure about these details, maybe someone with a recent system can speak to this.
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