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Hi,
I just saw this forum and decided to join up hopefully to learn more.
I had a on-grid SolarEdge system at my previous home and was very happy with the performance, reliability, and quality, so when I bought my current home last year, I went back to my installer and had a system installed at the new place.
It is a 11.9 kW system with 28 Hanwha 425W Q.Cells, a SolarEdge 7.6 kW inverter, optimizers, SolarEdge Energy Hub with backup interface, Generac generator, and (as of August) a LG RESU16 16 kWh battery.
It's been a rough road (still) trying to get this system fully operational, with:
So, I'm waiting for the firmware update to integrate battery and generator (and the transfer switch can be removed), and be able to configure the battery.
I've been trying to be actively involved as much as possible, learning about the system, and trying to resolve things (or at least troubleshoot) as much as possible.
One thing I have realized is that the system can fail, and unless I'm checking the monitoring web site or phone app, or happen to be in the basement and see the red LED on, I don;t know there is a problem. As a result, I was able to get my installer to give me an authentication token for the SolarEdge API interface to their web site. I've been working on an app that will poll the site every 10 mins and text/email me, if it enters a failure mode.
I'm also working on having this app extract the production/consumption/import/export/battery information each day and store it in a database, along with my providers energy rates and RECs, so that I can quickly calculate my savings and ROI on the system. I've been doing this with a spreadsheet so far, but it takes a lot of effort to update each month.
It's been interesting, especially with the SolarEdge API (of course I'm having trouble getting a hold of them to discuss issues, doc errors, and questions on the API).
I'm looking forward to posting some questions on the on-grid forum to seek some guidance on questions I have.
I just saw this forum and decided to join up hopefully to learn more.
I had a on-grid SolarEdge system at my previous home and was very happy with the performance, reliability, and quality, so when I bought my current home last year, I went back to my installer and had a system installed at the new place.
It is a 11.9 kW system with 28 Hanwha 425W Q.Cells, a SolarEdge 7.6 kW inverter, optimizers, SolarEdge Energy Hub with backup interface, Generac generator, and (as of August) a LG RESU16 16 kWh battery.
It's been a rough road (still) trying to get this system fully operational, with:
- My small installer company that is just overwhelmed with all the work they have (and focusing more on new installs than getting things working for existing customers)
- SolarEdge customer support, which is frankly, terrible.
- Their data sheets had stated that the Energy Hub integrates with a generator, only there was an asterisk that said "with updated inverter F/W" . Both the installer and I assumed that the F/W was available. Found out when the battery arrived, that the F/W was not ready. It's been over a year now, and I hear that, maybe, the F/W is available, but I'm not positive.
- There have been numerous issues with their monitoring website not reporting consumption/production properly, and it would take several sessions with the installer working with SE to resolve. In one case, they had to revert to older F/W.
- I've have two times, since install where the inverter stopped producing power and was in a "LOCKED_INV_ARC_FAULT". Each time, it took SE hours to days to resolve (after the installer and I tried everything possible locally and remotely)
- They take1+ weeks to respond to cases, and often close them as resolved, without fixing the issue, requiring me to reopen numerous times
- Because of the F/W issue, the installer added a transfer switch, so that we would have generator backup, when the grid goes down during the Winter last year (and likely this year). With this setup, the battery is not used, when the grid fails.
- For now, the battery charges in the morning, and then provides some power in the late afternoon. However, it is configured to only discharge 20%, so I'm only getting about 3-4 kWh out of it. I've been trying to get the installer to adjust the discharge amount and give me admin permissions for the site, so I can adjust the settings.
So, I'm waiting for the firmware update to integrate battery and generator (and the transfer switch can be removed), and be able to configure the battery.
I've been trying to be actively involved as much as possible, learning about the system, and trying to resolve things (or at least troubleshoot) as much as possible.
One thing I have realized is that the system can fail, and unless I'm checking the monitoring web site or phone app, or happen to be in the basement and see the red LED on, I don;t know there is a problem. As a result, I was able to get my installer to give me an authentication token for the SolarEdge API interface to their web site. I've been working on an app that will poll the site every 10 mins and text/email me, if it enters a failure mode.
I'm also working on having this app extract the production/consumption/import/export/battery information each day and store it in a database, along with my providers energy rates and RECs, so that I can quickly calculate my savings and ROI on the system. I've been doing this with a spreadsheet so far, but it takes a lot of effort to update each month.
It's been interesting, especially with the SolarEdge API (of course I'm having trouble getting a hold of them to discuss issues, doc errors, and questions on the API).
I'm looking forward to posting some questions on the on-grid forum to seek some guidance on questions I have.