Solar panels not generating and company gone bust

annet01

We had solar panels installed in 2015 and everything was fine until February 2018. Then we received an email saying that our system had generated no electricity in the last 24 hours. Since then we have been checking the meter daily and, indeed, there are days when it does not generate. One of then was yesterday (19th April 2018) the hottest day since 1949....
Unfortunately Solarking, the people who installed the system have gone bankrupt. We have contacted the people who we were told have taken over the business, and the "engineer" who dealt with us, said that this was perfectly normal and the National Grid was rejecting the electricity generated. Is the really true? (I suspect he thought he could fob off a female!) If it isn't, is there anyone else we can complain to?
Does anyone else have this problem of intermittent generation?
Thanks

cjmillsnun

No. It's BS. If you're exporting energy, you're exporting. The national grid doesn't just reject power.

It sounds like either the inverter is kaput or there is a problem with one of the panels themselves.

One check you can do is check the breaker in the fusebox. The panels will either have their own box or there will be a breaker in the main consumer unit. If its tripped, put it back in and see if you start generating. If it trips again or you don't generate anything (or if the breaker hadn't tripped in the first place) call out someone.

With the company having gone bust, your warranty is only with the manufacturers of the panels/inverter. It may be expensive to fix as the labour probably won't be covered.

Contact another solar engineer. http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/consumers/installer-search will find you one.

Wobblydeb

I am not sure that the grid is capable of rejecting solar production :huh: My understanding (which may not necessarily be correct) is that the only time otherwise healthy inverters stop exporting is when there is a grid fault.

We are experiencing intermittent generation at the moment due to an inverter problem. Coincidentally (?) the 19th was one of the days that our inverter tripped out ... at 7:50am. If we spot it, we can re-set the inverter and get it up and running again. If we don't it seems able to reset itself overnight.

Obviously you may not have the same problem but it is one area to investigate. Do you have any way of monitoring your inverter?

Martyn1981

annet01 wrote: »

We had solar panels installed in 2015 and everything was fine until February 2018. Then we received an email saying that our system had generated no electricity in the last 24 hours. Since then we have been checking the meter daily and, indeed, there are days when it does not generate. One of then was yesterday (19th April 2018) the hottest day since 1949....
Unfortunately Solarking, the people who installed the system have gone bankrupt. We have contacted the people who we were told have taken over the business, and the "engineer" who dealt with us, said that this was perfectly normal and the National Grid was rejecting the electricity generated. Is the really true? (I suspect he thought he could fob off a female!) If it isn't, is there anyone else we can complain to?
Does anyone else have this problem of intermittent generation?
Thanks

Sounds like BS, especially as you've been ok for years, but ....... and this is a very longshot but ..... your inverter might be shutting down if the local grid voltage is hitting 253V or more.

Solar inverters are supposed to shut down at this point as they have to 'pump' out the leccy at slightly higher voltage than the grid to get it out of the house. If the voltage has already hit the max at which the DNO (district network operator) are supposed to be at (230V -6%/+10 = 216V to 253V range) then the inverter shuts down to prevent a rising spiral as it tries to 'shove' ever higher voltage leccy out onto the local grid.

Your inverter, when on, should tell you the AC voltage (don't worry about the DC voltage), if it's near that 253V figure that may be a clue. You can also buy a simple power meter that monitors how much energy your appliances are using, these will also tell you the voltage in your house. They cost about £10.

Apologies for the long waffle as this is probably a wild goose chase, but if the local voltage is over 253V then the DNO is responsible for sorting the problem.

The legislation actually states that it's their responsibility even if there are SSEG's on the local network. SSEG's are small scale electricity generators, such as demand side wind and PV connected to the grid. This means you with a GTI - grid tied inverter.

Just worth a check as voltage can rise when demand falls, the classic being a Sunday early afternoon. HTH.

Merlin139

Charlieamelia wrote: »

I would recommend getting your inverter checked. I got mine replaced by Solar Dynamix UK Limited

As the OP has not been on MSE since 27-05-2018 8:42 PM I doubt they will see your post.

TheMoneySpider

Rejecting the energy? That is a new one.


I have images of a baby refusing to eat a spoonful of babyfood.

Cardew

Luther_L wrote: »

I had a similar issue, I spoke to a company called New Age Innovation who were able to resolve it

Welcome to the forum.


How did they solve it? and how much did it cost?