Help with a faulty solaredge power optimiser

Andy80

Hello all,

I had 13 LG solar pv panels installed in Jan 2016. The company that installed them has since ceased trading as they went bust.

I also opted for solaredge power optimisers along with the inverter all of which have a warranty direct with solaredge. The power optimisers have a 25 year warranty and the inverter has a 12 year warranty.

The company which I employed to instal the system also took out an insurance backed warranty with ecosure for 10 years against defective workmanship.

2 weeks ago one of the panels stopped producing power and hasn't sent an update to the inverter and my monitoring portal for 2 weeks.

I contacted solaredge and they reviewed the issue remotely via the monitoring portal and have now sent me a new power optimiser.

My issue is that now I have to remove the faulty optimiser from underneath the solar panel on my roof and then replace it with the new optimiser.

I wasn't expecting to have to shell out for this due to a faulty product?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

theboylard

A competent sparky shoould be able to swap out the optimiser - just need to find one happy to go up a ladder!

Unfortunately the benefits with gaining granular level monitoring/split panel orientation/potentially better generation means putting more kit on the roof - you are reliant on your installer staying around to honour any warranty they may have offered to cover the cost of getting on the roof to replace the parts that may fail.

All the warranties that I have seen rely on the installer being around to fit the new kit - sorry!

zeupater

theboylard wrote: »

A competent sparky shoould be able to swap out the optimiser - just need to find one happy to go up a ladder!

Unfortunately the benefits with gaining granular level monitoring/split panel orientation/potentially better generation means putting more kit on the roof - you are reliant on your installer staying around to honour any warranty they may have offered to cover the cost of getting on the roof to replace the parts that may fail.

All the warranties that I have seen rely on the installer being around to fit the new kit - sorry!

Hi

I seem to remember having discussed exactly this eventuality years ago .... at the time there were plenty content to take the position that Optimiser/Micro-inverter manufacturer guarantees included supply and fit, which would obviously include safe access ....

The OP looks to be in a situation where a component which has a manufacturer component guarantee has failed, therefore the manufacturer will/has replace(d) ... and ... the installer's third party workmanship guarantee wouldn't necessarily cover manufacturer component issues.

Bit of a Catch22 situation really, but as it's summer and is costing money every day, a quick dig to find the 3rd party agreement and a quick call looks to be the next course of action, followed closely by a search for a friendly local installer (/someone), preferably with their own tower platform, to safely access the roof to lift the panels & swap-out the offending item ... (even if it's got singed squirrel-fur welded to it ... )

HTH
Z