I made a decision to go w Enphase when Solar Edge was a viable
competitor. I did not like some aspects of Solar Edge, and I am glad I
went with Enphase. I only install on this small island, 22 systems
starting with M250's. Average project is 16 modules. I have had only
one microinverter failure, and it emailed me to let me know and then
ordered the replacement. The experiences do seem installer specific. Chris
On 2/19/2025 9:29 PM, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches wrote:
It's really interesting how different our experiences and perspectives
are on these issues. I know a close colleague who still loves
SolarEdge. We're still friends. :)
I have also heard the XX%+ failure rate on M-Series experience before,
which I find strange. I'm not suggesting it's not true, but it's far
from my experience. The M190 clearly had issues, but the M215 and M250
were leaps and bounds better, and we had nowhere near that kind of
failure rate experience. And I'm in arguably one of the most grueling
environments in terms of heat and corrosive (coastal) environments,
which is one of the fears people have always had against
microinverters. Maybe the M-Series was more susceptible to cold
weather issues (freeze/thaw issues).
My home's M215 system is visibly beat up. Having been through 4 major
hurricanes in its lifespan and having been removed and reinstalled
once and used and abused for numerous training exercises, I really
would have expected it to be a headache. But with only one
microinveter failure in a decade, I am very happy. One system is
obviously not statistically significant, but it goes to show that
people have had widely different experiences with early generation
microinverters.
I regrettably installed a Soladeck AC aggregator on the roof with
fuses and a combined feeder back to the interconnection point, but
shockingly I have only replaced one fuse when it popped years ago.
Other than that, smooth sailing with my M215 micros. I leave the one
failed unit as it is to show clients what to expect in the monitoring
system if a microinverter fails.
Jason
On Wed, Feb 19, 2025, 8:59 PM Kirk Herander via RE-wrenches
<[email protected]> wrote:
I will never promote, support, or use Enphase products again. My
personal decision is a result of a 50% plus failure rate of the M
series, as an early adopter. Now I am admittedly biased,
regardless of their reputation now.
Enphase tried to make it right, and I'm still replacing the
replacements of the replacements 12 years later, sans-labor
reimbursement. Yes, the latest micros w/adapters are still free
under warranty.
.
We all know that through the years, every OEM has not lived up to
expectations at times, be it products or support.
For me, tolerance of some OEMs is different than others,
depending on the particular problem and duration of it,
individual OEM history, and customer reaction,etc.
What are we, as individual installers, willing to put up with
before we pull the plug on a manufacturer? It's an individual
decision. History and relationships are right up there to support
stay on board, or go.
In the case of inverter RMAs, Vermont takes them for free at
recycling centers, treating them as old electronics
(ie. obsolete PC's). So we as a group don't have a dog in every
policy fight that others may.
Some OEM products & service policies are more of a thorn than
others. Obviously, No one will ever come out with, or evolve into,
perfect product or policy to make us all happy all the time.
just my 2 cents worth
On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM Matt Partymiller via RE-wrenches
<[email protected]> wrote:
I'm not going to defend Solaredge here, there are clearly
better ways they could handle account transfers but the
rah-rah Enphase conclusion is maddening.
It wasn't that long ago Enphase did something far worse when
they dropped their labor warranty and then told basically
every m-series customer to pay them distribution prices for
new Micros that would function for more than two months or
risk spending thousands a year on labor replacing their early
junk. Basically Enphase invalidated all their original 25 year
warranties and then sold new product with their full margin to
effectively captive customers. Meanwhile, as the installer, we
were stuck fielding the angry customer phone calls wanting to
understand how we misled them into Enphase. I guess Enphase
managed to stay in business though....
Matt
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* RE-wrenches
<[email protected]> on behalf of Jason
Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <[email protected]>
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 19, 2025 6:20:01 PM
*To:* RE-wrenches <[email protected]>
*Cc:* Jason Szumlanski <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge Has Gone Too Far
Caution: This email originated from outside SES. Do not click
links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
know the content is safe.
I just wrote a scathing blog post, notified my staff not to
take on new SolarEdge service clients, and blasted out
messages and DMs on social media about this despicable new
move by SolarEdge. Imagine being one of the many system owners
impacted by solar contractors going out of business, only to
find out that the manufacturer of your equipment wants to
charge you to have a new willing contractor authorized to
monitor and service your system.
By contrast, Enphase owners can have as many contractors
monitor their systems as they want, and they can initiate it
themselves and for free, 24 hours a day without delay.
Jason Szumlanski
Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group
NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)
Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956
Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208
On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM Jason Szumlanski
<[email protected]> wrote:
When I fill out the online form to transfer an existing
SolarEdge system to my company for monitoring, the site
now takes me to a payment form demanding $99 to transfer
the site monitoring.
I have been told that as of 2/17/2025, SolarEdge has a new
policy, and now changes for transferring a site to a new
installer.
WOW. Nobody wants to touch their hardware around here, and
I must be the last one because SolarEdge tech support is
literally giving customers my name when they can't find help.
SolarEdge is done. Dead to me. They can find someone else
to cover their warranty obligations.
Jason Szumlanski
Florida Solar Desing Group
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