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Tesla solar panels plus Solar Edge Inverters= frustration
- Thread starter Chris25
- Start date
I reached out to my advisor and she claimed it will work once I get my PTO and they activate the system...so we will see.
On solar only installs they dont seem to activate everything before PTO. On solar + powerwall installs done by tesla, since the gateway in the powerwall does the measuring, its all "on" when they leave even without PTO.
That seems to be one of the differences in what people are experiencing, at least from reading here.
thanks for posting that as we do have both solar and PWs installed now so it helped us. My husband tonight was able to see the Tesla energy home page screen in his account on his phone and we completed the steps in the link you posted. Looks good at least up to this point. Nice to see the green lights on the PWs and the energy display on the phone. We put a call in to inquire about scheduling a few maintenance items and hoping it won’t be long. Holiday Monday so maybe later next week. Know they can’t request the PTO until they finish and get City out, then PG&E. So happy to be entering the solar world and having the backup. Heard on the news with the high temps over the holiday weekend we are in Flex Alert status and could be more rolling blackouts.
Bigriver
Member
When I call the support number, it directs me to the troubleshooting guide on the website. I went through that process, did the rebooting it directed me to try, and that still did not resolve my problem (1 of my 2 inverters is in a fault state and is not working). It asked that I submit my problem, and then it gave me a thank you screen, telling me that a member of the technical support team will be in touch with me within 3 days. No follow up email. Nothing in my online account that indicates I have an issue pending.....
Is this how this is suppose to work? Any chance I will actually hear from them within 3 days? Do I just sit back and wait or is there a way to be a squeaky wheel? Any way for me to get a key to what the error code means? (Solar Edge HD wave)
Certainly every time I’ve called that number I’ve been able to speak directly with a person, but It’s been at least a few weeks since I’ve needed to call, so it’s possible that they’ve changed things. Again. I have had good luck with them getting back to me when they say that they will, so hopefully you will get a call back.
SolarEdge has a lot of documentation available on their site, so you should be able to figure out what’s going on. What are the symptoms you are seeing and what is the error code you’re getting?
Bigriver
Member
@BrettS, thanks for your reply and help.
I noticed yesterday afternoon that my solar production seemed particularly low for a mostly sunny day. I still have access to my solar info through the solarcity site (in addition to the Tesla app) and through the former I can see the contribution from each of the 2 inverters. One of them had stopped producing. I checked the display on the inverter which confirmed no output, then kicked into showing error 18xB5, “HW error.” I have searched solar edge info and see nothing more than confirming it is a hardware error.
I went through the Tesla online troubleshooting guide immediately yesterday afternoon which said it was submitting a report to the technical team. I did get an email back from them this evening. They said it will probably require that the inverter be replaced. The email said that the timeline is about 2 weeks for it to get ordered and to come in, then they will put me on the schedule.
Today was a cloudless, perfectly sunny day, and the panels connected to the still-functioning inverter produced 26 kWh. The perfectly sunny day a few days ago when all was still working produced over 60 kWh. So this puts me at about 43% of what it should be. Better than having the whole system down, and glad it is October not June, when I would really be missing out. But sunny days while it is down will be a bit frustrating. I hate to be missing out on harvesting the sunshine.
I noticed yesterday afternoon that my solar production seemed particularly low for a mostly sunny day. I still have access to my solar info through the solarcity site (in addition to the Tesla app) and through the former I can see the contribution from each of the 2 inverters. One of them had stopped producing. I checked the display on the inverter which confirmed no output, then kicked into showing error 18xB5, “HW error.” I have searched solar edge info and see nothing more than confirming it is a hardware error.
I went through the Tesla online troubleshooting guide immediately yesterday afternoon which said it was submitting a report to the technical team. I did get an email back from them this evening. They said it will probably require that the inverter be replaced. The email said that the timeline is about 2 weeks for it to get ordered and to come in, then they will put me on the schedule.
Today was a cloudless, perfectly sunny day, and the panels connected to the still-functioning inverter produced 26 kWh. The perfectly sunny day a few days ago when all was still working produced over 60 kWh. So this puts me at about 43% of what it should be. Better than having the whole system down, and glad it is October not June, when I would really be missing out. But sunny days while it is down will be a bit frustrating. I hate to be missing out on harvesting the sunshine.
I have never seen that error before, but I did find this in a quick google search.
2 months old SolarEdge inverter bites the dust. Anyone had this error before? Installer replacing with a new one tomorrow : solar
Unfortunately it looks like it’s related to a bad batch of capacitors that solaredge got a while ago and there’s nothing you can do to resolve it.
2 weeks does seem like a long wait to get it replaced
2 months old SolarEdge inverter bites the dust. Anyone had this error before? Installer replacing with a new one tomorrow : solar
Unfortunately it looks like it’s related to a bad batch of capacitors that solaredge got a while ago and there’s nothing you can do to resolve it.
2 weeks does seem like a long wait to get it replaced
In a way, I am glad that I am not the only one so super frustrated with Tesla. First the gateway would not connect. The skinny pagelet which comes with the gateway router just says, plug it in. Nothing about LED lights or anything. So, I take it that that needs to work for my solar system to appear in my app.
Since I turned on the system, one of the inverters has not been working. Blinking Green Light. I have no clue if my system is producing or not. I called the support and they asked me to setup a service call using the app. But since the app is not working, I cannot setup the service.
Since I turned on the system, one of the inverters has not been working. Blinking Green Light. I have no clue if my system is producing or not. I called the support and they asked me to setup a service call using the app. But since the app is not working, I cannot setup the service.
Bigriver
Member
Just a quick report that indeed my Solar Edge inverter had a hardware failure after only 2 years and it has been replaced. Here is basic timeline:
- Oct 8: Hardware failed and I reported it to Tesla
- Oct 9: I responded to a request for pictures of the display and serial number.
- Oct 20: I was notified that the inverter was approved for replacement.
- Oct 27: I received text and email that the part was in and to schedule an appointment in the app. First available appointment was Nov 10, but I checked the box that I would like an earlier appointment if one becomes available. I got a text a few hours later that appointment had been rescheduled for tomorrow.
- Oct 28: New inverter was installed. It took a few hours before the Tesla app showed it generating power.
On Oct 9 I had been told to expect 7 to 10 business days from the time the part was ordered until the installation could get scheduled. What I wasn’t told was that there was a lengthy process to gain the approval to order. I can’t see behind the veil to know what was happening between Oct 9 and Oct 20, although I did email and call them for statuses. The Oct 20 to Oct 28 part was ok by me, especially the scheduling me for the very next day. Would have liked a little more urgency to the first part of the process because this was the equivalent of my car being stranded with a flat tire. Hope Tesla can continue to move forward with improvements to their service. In the end, though, I’m happy to have my system back up and running on this very sunny day.
- Oct 8: Hardware failed and I reported it to Tesla
- Oct 9: I responded to a request for pictures of the display and serial number.
- Oct 20: I was notified that the inverter was approved for replacement.
- Oct 27: I received text and email that the part was in and to schedule an appointment in the app. First available appointment was Nov 10, but I checked the box that I would like an earlier appointment if one becomes available. I got a text a few hours later that appointment had been rescheduled for tomorrow.
- Oct 28: New inverter was installed. It took a few hours before the Tesla app showed it generating power.
On Oct 9 I had been told to expect 7 to 10 business days from the time the part was ordered until the installation could get scheduled. What I wasn’t told was that there was a lengthy process to gain the approval to order. I can’t see behind the veil to know what was happening between Oct 9 and Oct 20, although I did email and call them for statuses. The Oct 20 to Oct 28 part was ok by me, especially the scheduling me for the very next day. Would have liked a little more urgency to the first part of the process because this was the equivalent of my car being stranded with a flat tire. Hope Tesla can continue to move forward with improvements to their service. In the end, though, I’m happy to have my system back up and running on this very sunny day.
