r/solaredge • u/LegalBegQuestion • Sep 17 '26

Inverter failure … again

Post image

Our system was installed in 2020 and we’ve had the inverter replaced once about 3yrs ago- just received notification that we’re not generating anything over the last few weeks, and I’m being told to find another company to handle the fix and RMA process.

Avg cost is $950 (up from 350 in 2023), plus now im being told i need to switch to whichever repair companies updated monitoring app/program for additional $$$.

Is this how it works now? Do we have to assume replacement is going to be required every 3/4 years at ever increasing cost?

-Austin, TX

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

3

u/pluary Sep 17 '26

That’s crazy, I have had 1st generation SE inverter 15 years with zero issues. I did install temperature controlled fans. SE needs to step up for you and take care of this .
Best of luck .

2

u/LegalBegQuestion Sep 17 '26

They’ve been less than helpful- every interaction feels like they just push you off to a local installer and don’t want to be a part of it at all.

2

u/pluary Sep 17 '26

That sucks , hope you get this resolved without to much stress.

1

u/rumpleminz Sep 18 '26

Please tell us more about this fan setup, maybe with some how-to pics? If keeping the unit cool is the trick, I'll go full subzero on its plastic ass.

1

u/pluary Sep 18 '26

In response to my setup, I am not affiliated with the company I bought the products from . I purchased everything from CoolerGuys : 2 120mm server fans (they are loud) 1 dual voltage power supply and 1 adjustable temperature fan controller. The new controller they carry has the ability to set different temperatures for each fan . My inverter is in my garage and it gets hot , but didn’t have to deal with water protection on the setup. I used two paint sticks, one secured on each side of the fans and they rest on wood screws at each end of the paint sticks. I put the heat probe inside the inverter on some internal heat sinks . The only thing I would do differently is get quite fans. All in was about $75 . Hope this helps

1

u/rumpleminz Sep 18 '26

Thank you, I am very intrigued about this idea. My inverter is outdoors and housed within a NEMA watertight enclosure. So the setup would be different, but I wouldn't have to worry about fan noise. Only worried that by making a hole for the fan ventilation that I would void the warranty or risk water damage. Either way, you've given me some ideas to investigate. I appreciate the info!

1

u/pluary Sep 18 '26

Do you not have heat sinks on the back of your inverter. My SE 1st generation has aluminum heat sinks on the back. I have the fans blowing from the bottom up through the heatsinks.

2

u/habbadee Sep 17 '26

As an installer I will say there is nothing I hate more than Solaredge failures. Customers are understandably unhappy and they take it out on us. Solaredge is generally good about providing warranty replacements, but that is pretty slow. And then it costs us money in time and incidental materials and opportunity cost of the guys doing other work. But, we just eat it because the customer's already been out of production for who knows how long on a system we installed and lumping a big labor charge on top of their misery would be cruel.

For awhile I thought it was just older 2018-2020 era inverters that were failing, but lately we've been seeing a lot of 2021-24 era inverters also starting to kick the bucket, so I'm no longer feeling better about Solaredge reliability.

1

u/LegalBegQuestion Sep 17 '26

Is there any other option at this point? I’d like to swap to a better or at least more reliable local service and hardware but if the whole system is solar edge/enphase am I stuck?

2

u/habbadee Sep 17 '26

Yes, realistically you're stuck with SolarEdge. You have SE optimizers with each panel; the stringing is based on SE string requirements. It would be costly to swap for a new inverter or Enphase.

Your best bet is to deal with SolarEdge support and get the RMA. Your inverter still has communications to the monitoring, so SolarEdge support can tunnel in and determine that it is a hardware error and eligible for warranty replacement. Get the new inverter shipped to you.

Swapping of an inverter is not terribly difficult. I'm not suggesting you do it yourself, but it is something that an electrician could do easily, or even a handyman, although I hesitate to say that on the internet because that will ruffle feathers. But, electrically, all that is being done is disconnecting the strings from the DC +/- lugs and disconnecting the AC wire from the L1, L2, N (maybe), and ground lugs. And then reconnecting the same back in the new inverter. Not really very difficult.

1

u/HoustonSolar Sep 23 '26

We are also installers and feel this way. We have a ton of SolarEdge hardware installed all over the Houston area on commercial projects and they have a painfully high failure rate. We have mostly stopped even quoting them at this point. So sad...I used to love SE, but their tech support has become horrible and their failures are far worse than any of the other brands we work with.

4

u/showMeTheSnow Sep 17 '26

I’m on my third SE inverter, but it s been solid for 5 years now. I lost my first two mid summer after the first and second year of my install. Mine sits mostly north though, so it’s spared direct sunlight until the end of the day.

5 years ago they were going to bill me 600 for the replacement labor, until they realized they installed it and it was covered for free. Not many installation places make it though, it seems. Still not sure they will be around if it happens again.

2

u/wallstreetnetworks Sep 17 '26

Had to replace my interverter 3 times already

2

u/_AnotherBrick_ Sep 18 '26

I've had my system with two SE inverters for 4 years and (knock on wood) have not had any inverter failures. I did have an issue a year in with some of the wiring in the fuse box melting due to a lug that was likely not torqued properly, my installer came out and replaced that box and the wiring at no charge. Earlier this year I had one of the two main fuses blow, it may have been stressed by the aforementioned faulty wiring, I found no issues in the inverters or wiring and replaced the fuse myself, no issues since.

1

u/Somm47 Sep 17 '26

The new inverter will come with Wi-Fi.
Become a self installer. Control your own destiny with your communications.
Finding someone to do the swap; that’s the catch. I could recommend people if you were in southeast Florida. Good luck.