Dead PV Panel

Exiled_Tyke

So I've been relatively quiet on these boards recently. This is partly because of being very busy at work and partly because I've had a bit of a downer on my system - clearly the weather hasn't helped but there's more......

Over Christmas I noticed a panel underperforming. It was maxing out at 36w output!

I contacted the installers only to discover that the original installer operated as an independent franchisee under a brand name and had ceased trading. The franchisors were very helpful even though it wasn't their responsibility.

I contacted Solar Edge who told me that the optimiser was operating normally and it was a problem with the panel.

I next contacted LG who after a few questions, and a quick look at the monitoring data from SE immediately offered a replacement panel. They found me a new installer to look after the replacement.

So on the whole service has been great. The only downside is that the work to change the panel will be £250 or so -so a good few years of output needed to reach pay back on the replacement.

On the plus side - I'm very pleased I went with a SE system. I'm sure it would have taken longer to spot the problem (a 10% in output would be tough to identify) and a lot of effort/cost to identify the issue.

I'm not sure there's any thing else to say other than I hope other PVers find this interesting and may be potentially useful.

zeupater

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

... On the plus side - I'm very pleased I went with a SE system. I'm sure it would have taken longer to spot the problem (a 10% in output would be tough to identify) and a lot of effort/cost to identify the issue ...

Hi

:eek: ... but I would have thought that it's probably be picked up sooner as the entire string would have been underperforming therefore the difference would have been greater than dropping one panel ... I'd certainly not notice a 10% reduction, however 40%-60% would stand out like a sore thumb ....

HTH
Z

Merlin139

Also having a SE system eachday I look at the layout figures to make sure all the panels are working.

And eachday I see that some panels are not as good as others due to shading. The reason I went with a SE system.

EricMears

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

On the plus side - I'm very pleased I went with a SE system. I'm sure it would have taken longer to spot the problem (a 10% in output would be tough to identify) and a lot of effort/cost to identify the issue.

Without SE, a dead panel would have caused a whole string to stop generating. Depending on the setup, that would be either 50% or 100% of last output - much more noticeable than 10% !

But where SE has scored is that it clearly identified which panel was faulty. Without it, a whole string of panels would have had to be checked out individually - probably by taking them all off the roof for testing at ground level.