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SolarEdge WaveHD inverter error “18xB5 Vcap11 Surge” meaning?
- Thread starter jhn_
- Start date
We’ll yes, but then there are other trade-offs. The installers we spoke to, the vast majority including Tesla recommended SolarEdge with optimizers for our east-west facing roof with some early morning and late afternoon shading at lower roof elevations, including installers than offered other equipment like microinverters. Only one recommend Enphase with microinverters, and they only did Enphase installs.
If I really wanted to put redundancy into the system I could have split the panels into two independent systems with two inverters. But then might not be using the inverters efficiently enough…
The only trade-off I'm aware of is cost. You said there were trade-offs but you didn't list any.
Been debated on these forums and the rest of the internet as much as anything else. Search and you get plenty of threads like these.
Enphase vs SolarEdge
I have two proposals from the same company. One uses SolarEdge with optimizers, at $2.50 per watt, and another uses Enphase IQ7 microinverters, at $2.80 per watt. The installer says that Enphase IQ7 is more efficient and generally produces more power than SolarEdge. They also have a better...
teslamotorsclub.com
My point wasn’t to debate one vs the other, but rather to say all situations are different and all tools have their place, but no one tool is right for all places.
I guarantee you I did more research on the topic than 99.99% of consumers who get solar.
I wouldnt doubt that at all, which would virtually guarantee that the solution is the right one, for you.
All things being equal, most installers will recommend the easier to service option which is not necessarily in the best interest of customers. My impressions is that many installers don't like microinverters because they have get on the roof and remove panels for replacement which they don't have to to do for string inverters even though a string inverter failure is a much bigger pain/impact for the customers compared to one or several microinverter failures.
I agree.
I have to say that I like the panel level reporting of microinverters, the fact that any failure is a small portion of the total, and, most of all, the 25 year Enphase warranty. I hate having to have things fixed by someone else, on their schedule, with their priorities. We also have shade issues that all but forced microinverters, but that is a different issue.
All the best,
BG
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
I'm fine with the Tesla solution, or optimizers if the situation calls for it.
No thanks to micro-inverter solutions like Enphase. I'm not a fan of AC wiring, and If possible I'll avoid proprietary solutions.
It was not accidental that Enphase was headed towards BK. Module level RS regulations saved their bacon ... for awhile.
No thanks to micro-inverter solutions like Enphase. I'm not a fan of AC wiring, and If possible I'll avoid proprietary solutions.
It was not accidental that Enphase was headed towards BK. Module level RS regulations saved their bacon ... for awhile.
Update
New inverter from the RMA arrived today directly from SolarEdge. Tesla is scheduled to be out on Monday.
New inverter from the RMA arrived today directly from SolarEdge. Tesla is scheduled to be out on Monday.
Update
Tesla came out today on schedule and replaced the inverter. The tech that came out had to go through all of Tesla’s troubleshooting of the failed inverter first though, even though we had the replacement on hand. Part of their process I guess. Nothing tried including flashing to the latest SolarEdge firmware was able to get the inverter to do its thing.
New inverter is up an running. Everything looks good in the Tesla app. Even though it was only 15 days without production, it seems a lot longer. It did cost about $175 per week of downtime I calculated from cost of grid electricity purchased and lost incentives and credits.
I do need to setup the SolarEdge app again though it seems. I asked about its Zigbee connection the inverter uses connecting through the little black box Tesla gave us at install. The tech said he would swap the card from the old inverter to the new inverter then change the serial in his online admin interface. But it still looks like my SolarEdge app is looking for the old inverter even though the black Tesla box seems happy and not connection error lights.
Tesla came out today on schedule and replaced the inverter. The tech that came out had to go through all of Tesla’s troubleshooting of the failed inverter first though, even though we had the replacement on hand. Part of their process I guess. Nothing tried including flashing to the latest SolarEdge firmware was able to get the inverter to do its thing.
New inverter is up an running. Everything looks good in the Tesla app. Even though it was only 15 days without production, it seems a lot longer. It did cost about $175 per week of downtime I calculated from cost of grid electricity purchased and lost incentives and credits.
I do need to setup the SolarEdge app again though it seems. I asked about its Zigbee connection the inverter uses connecting through the little black box Tesla gave us at install. The tech said he would swap the card from the old inverter to the new inverter then change the serial in his online admin interface. But it still looks like my SolarEdge app is looking for the old inverter even though the black Tesla box seems happy and not connection error lights.
One has to get the new inverter Serial number updated in the layout to work. He/she should do this
As a matter of policy, Tesla doesn't do customer layouts. I did get them to do it after bugging them a dozen times and escalating and escalating. When they did it, they made it clear this was a one time thing and they don't normally do it:
"Hi Alan,
This has been updated. They did make an acceptation because you provided the information needed. But we do not typically update the panel layout nor do we support
the app for our monitoring purposes."
I didn’t have a panel layout before. But it looks like I’m going to have to call SolarEdge to update my account with the new inverter. I don’t see anyway to do it myself.
Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
Maybe he didn't understand your point, but I did
I have an SE inverter that has worked perfectly for 5 years, yet recently had an optimizer fail. I called SE support and after looking at my system to verify that was the issue, they sent out a new one over night FedEx and I had it installed and working the next day. Great support and that is the first place I call in the future.