New 4.8KW installation in San Diego just finished

[thejq]

Would you mind sharing your installer via PM, please. Thanks!

Done. Check your PM. GL.

[genesmasher]

Thanks for the tip. I will keep a tap on it. I just got the net metering application processed, and the city inspection also passed yesterday. So it's at least going. I paid just south of $3.5/W (before incentive) for the whole thing including Solaredge Zigbee communication gateway and client. The installer (a general electrical contractor) is quite reputable in SD, and has been in business for 25 yrs. So I'm quite happy with how things worked out.

Would you mind sharing your installer via PM, please. Thanks!

[SunEagle]

It's working again after re-pairing the gateway and the client. A simple power cycle didn't bring it back to life. Hopefully it's just an isolated incidence, fingers crossed.

Do you have it on a UPS. Even a very short power dip can make wireless equipment fault requiring a hard reboot.

[thejq]

Interestingly enough, just today, for the first time ever, I lost all connections to the inverter. I called home, both internet and inverter are working. So maybe my Zigbee connection is not as reliable as I thought it was .

It's working again after re-pairing the gateway and the client. A simple power cycle didn't bring it back to life. Hopefully it's just an isolated incidence, fingers crossed.

[Stix]

Looks good.

[thejq]

Interestingly enough, just today, for the first time ever, I lost all connections to the inverter. I called home, both internet and inverter are working. So maybe my Zigbee connection is not as reliable as I thought it was .

[lkstaack]

I'll chime in and say my zigbee has been less than reliable on my solaredge system... Its within 25 feet ( no easy way to get a lan cable), and I have had to reboot the gateway 3 times to get it reconnected (poor auto retry mechanism?).

I am thinking of putting in a powerline solution and see if that is any better...

My eagle gateway (also zigbee) is on the other side of the house (over 50 feet and a few walls inbetween) and is not having the problems of the solaredge setup.

YMMV

BMak

My Zigbee is an unplugged paperweight. Mine started acting up three days after it was installed. It would refuse to receive, but quickly came back online when I did a hard reboot. Then, it stopped receiving completely. After calling my installer who opened a trouble ticket, Solar Edge performed a remote reset and everything was fine. For a while. Then, it stopped again.

My solar installer said they have continuing problems with Zigbee and advised me to run a hard wire to it; they were through with it. Instead, I contacted Solar Edge and they said they would RMA a new one to my solar installer. When I called a week later, they said that all units were on back order and didn't know when they would get more. So I bit the bullet and plumbed in a hard wire to the inverter. A day later, my solar installer called to say they got the new Zigbee in.

Not a big fan of Zigbee or my installer. At least I never have to worry about receiving reports now.

[Darkon]

I've had mixed results with powerline network adapters, but that was probably due to having an older house that likely already had noisy lines. However, a friend of mine is using a powerline network adapter for his solar system and says it is working great.

[gvl]

That is an option as well, as I have a bunch of both lying around (I used to be a product manger at netgear, so had access to stuff like that for "testing"). The benefit of using powerline is it will allow me to put the unit inside a metal box.. I was thinking of putting it in my outdoor CPE box that has a power outlet in it (might be rough for 2.4 MHz wi-fi) and it is sitting next to my SE inverter.

Cheers
BMak

The downside of powerline is that you're sending high-frequency noise on your power lines. This has long been considered a bad thing but apparently is okay now because of market needs. I know in my previous home the garage door opener started to work less reliably since I added a powerline adapter in the garage for my car charger.

[makarowski]

Have you tried the WiFi bridge like what sensij did? They are relatively inexpensive and frequently on sale at Frys.

That is an option as well, as I have a bunch of both lying around (I used to be a product manger at netgear, so had access to stuff like that for "testing"). The benefit of using powerline is it will allow me to put the unit inside a metal box.. I was thinking of putting it in my outdoor CPE box that has a power outlet in it (might be rough for 2.4 MHz wi-fi) and it is sitting next to my SE inverter.

Cheers
BMak

[sensij]

This is what I used:

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-9_TL-WR710N.html

I put it in "client" mode, which is what I always understood a bridge to be, although the terminology for network topography is not my strength.

Ignore the picture showing the european power connector, mine had normal 120 V blades. I didn't have an outlet there so I tapped the voltage coming from (going to) the inverter, which is surely not to code, although I put in fuses to protect it. A single port version would be maybe $10 less.

I would have stayed with the Zigbee if I wasn't installing the meter that needed ethernet access... it wasn't perfect, but worked well enough that the hassle of re-wiring wasn't worth the difference in cost of the Wifi solution.

[thejq]

I'll chime in and say my zigbee has been less than reliable on my solaredge system... Its within 25 feet ( no easy way to get a lan cable), and I have had to reboot the gateway 3 times to get it reconnected (poor auto retry mechanism?).

I am thinking of putting in a powerline solution and see if that is any better...

My eagle gateway (also zigbee) is on the other side of the house (over 50 feet and a few walls inbetween) and is not having the problems of the solaredge setup.

YMMV

BMak

Have you tried the WiFi bridge like what sensij did? They are relatively inexpensive and frequently on sale at Frys.

[makarowski]

I'll chime in and say my zigbee has been less than reliable on my solaredge system... Its within 25 feet ( no easy way to get a lan cable), and I have had to reboot the gateway 3 times to get it reconnected (poor auto retry mechanism?).

I am thinking of putting in a powerline solution and see if that is any better...

My eagle gateway (also zigbee) is on the other side of the house (over 50 feet and a few walls inbetween) and is not having the problems of the solaredge setup.

YMMV

BMak

[gvl]

I believe he said WiFi extender. So yeah ethernet to WiFi bridge is what it is.

I always thought a Wi-Fi extender is another name for signal booster/repeater, might be wrong.

[thejq]

Does SE support Wi-Fi (I thought it didn't) or you used a Wi-Fi to wired Ethernet bridge at the inverter?

I believe he said WiFi extender. So yeah ethernet to WiFi bridge is what it is.