Tesla says one inverter isn't producing, but numbers in the app look good?

[ScottRiqui]

Just received PTO this morning for our system (16.32kW + four Powerwalls, with two of the new Tesla-branded inverters). My project advisor told me to call Tesla so they could "activate the system on their end." The woman I spoke to said that as far as she could tell, inverter #2 "wasn't producing." She had me cycle the breakers to the inverter, but still no production afterward.

The curious thing is, the solar production reported in the app is reasonable, considering the time of the day and the cloud cover. And when I shut the breakers off for inverter #2, the solar production reported by the app dropped by about half. And when I turned the breakers back on (and waited a few minutes), the solar production went back up to what it was before I turned the breakers off.

She's elevated the issue to "Tier 2" support and given me a case number. Supposedly they'll call me in 1-3 days and see if they can fix the issue remotely. If not, someone will have to come out and inspect the inverter.

Has anyone here had experience with an inverter appearing "bad" to Tesla, while seeming to work just fine?

 

[SolarBob]

I had a similar problem and it was pests had damaged wires into the panels on one of my inverters. Inverter was fine but was not producing any energy.

 

[wjgjr]

I had a similar problem and it was pests had damaged wires into the panels on one of my inverters. Inverter was fine but was not producing any energy.

This sounds different - in OP's case, it appears the inverters are both working fine, producing energy, and the data is seen in the app. Yet, for some reason, Tesla has indications on their end that something is wrong.

For OP, can you confirm by looking at your utility meter flows that the amounts being produced match the app? That would rule out some sort of weird situation where inverter #1 is somehow getting its data doubled when inverter #2 is on (though that seems really unlikely.) Overall it sounds like a weird mix-up that hopefully Tesla can resolve because it seems like things are working and reporting correctly in the app, which would mean Tesla is getting the data from your inverters. At least the good news is that, unlike some, while you wait for resolution, your system is operating normally.

If these had not been Tesla-branded inverters, I might also have speculated something is off between the energy/backup gateway and the solar gateway, but with the Tesla inverters, I assume you only have the energy/backup gateway.

 

[ScottRiqui]

This sounds different - in OP's case, it appears the inverters are both working fine, producing energy, and the data is seen in the app. Yet, for some reason, Tesla has indications on their end that something is wrong.

For OP, can you confirm by looking at your utility meter flows that the amounts being produced match the app? That would rule out some sort of weird situation where inverter #1 is somehow getting its data doubled when inverter #2 is on (though that seems really unlikely.) Overall it sounds like a weird mix-up that hopefully Tesla can resolve because it seems like things are working and reporting correctly in the app, which would mean Tesla is getting the data from your inverters. At least the good news is that, unlike some, while you wait for resolution, your system is operating normally.

If these had not been Tesla-branded inverters, I might also have speculated something is off between the energy/backup gateway and the solar gateway, but with the Tesla inverters, I assume you only have the energy/backup gateway.

Correct - the only new boxes on the wall are the Tesla gateway and the two Tesla inverters (and a big blade disconnect).

I don't think I can get any useful information from the meter, as I don't think Oncor has gotten around to reprogramming it yet. Supposedly at some point, there will be a display on the meter that will tell me accumulated electricity sent *to* the grid, in addition to my current display showing accumulated electricity *from* the grid. But right now, all of my solar production is either going to the house or to the Powerwalls, so the meter probably wouldn't know anything about my solar production anyway.

 

[ScottRiqui]

Just a quick update - I was expecting a call from Tier 2 support, but instead they just went ahead and scheduled a service appointment for tomorrow. Perhaps they tried to fix the configuration remotely and didn't have any luck. Meanwhile, the system is still producing fine; we hit 14 kW yesterday (on a 16.32 kW system), so both inverters must be producing regardless of what Tesla's servers are seeing.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

agree,, producing just not communicating. i have 320*56=17.9Kw on IQ7+ inverters and produced 15kw yesterday.

 

[ScottRiqui]

A quick update - the Tesla tech came out yesterday and spent some time on the phone with the office troubleshooting the inverter. As everyone here suspected, it was working just fine and communicating with my home network, but couldn't communicate with Tesla's servers. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that means that Tesla can't push updates to it when they become available.

Interestingly, the tech ended up on the phone with "Tier 5" support (who he said he'd never even heard of prior to this), and they were able to pull up the history for my inverter all the way back to manufacturing. They said that my inverter initially failed testing at the factory, but was re-tested and passed, so it got boxed up and shipped out.

All in all, this has been a very tiny hiccup in a project that has gone great otherwise, and as several people have pointed out, at least the system is working and producing while I wait for them to replace the inverter.