New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment....

[solarmad]

Hi Guys, I'm new to this site but looked through many posts whilst trying to decide on what type of system to install. Great site I must say.

A couple of weeks ago I had approx 4kW worth of Kyocera panels fitted (two strings of 8) which were connected to SolarEdge Inverter. Power optimisers fitted to each panel. Within days I realised that only 8 (presumably one string) were working.

Two weeks later and no communication from my installer to rectify the problem. I have sent a letter to explain my position but no response.

What do you guys reckon my next move should be?

Much of the installation has been somewhat farcical with two changes of panel manufacturer and I can see the optimisers have only been attached with one bolt rather than two. I'm not at all happy and feel cheated yet how to proceed I'm not sure.

Any comments will be most welcome. Cheers..

 

[Somecamel]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Hi,

Were you dealing with a 'proper' MCS registered company?

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Hi Somecamel. Yes, the installer is MCS registered. I checked they were before signing up. I have all completion docs in hand including MCS certificate. I'm thinking of getting my solicitor involved to try and get some movement.

 

[moggy1968]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

2 possibilities there.
either there is a cable not connected on the roof or there is reverse polarity on that circuit so the inveter won't pick up the supply. reverse polarity is easy for the installer to rectify. a missing connector is more tricky depending on wether the scaffold is still up. If the roofers are working ahead of the sparks I always say to leave the scaffold until testing is finished, just in case.
This should have been picked up on testing. how could they commission the system with one string not working? answer, they couldn't!!
If the scaffold is still up don't let them take it down until the problem is rectified.

 

[dansk]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Were are you based?

 

[Somecamel]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Were are you based?

Was about to ask the same question

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Hi Moggy, cheers for your reply, scaffold still up but no sign of the installer to rectify the problem. Will keep your suggestions close to hand. Installing spark said that the system was commsioned and was working as required but as you say it couldn't of been. Optimisers have only been installed using one bolt to rail also so I hope the come and double bolt each of them as I could end of with warranty issues in future. I can only hope the brackets are secured to the roof trusses below my tiled roof properly.....

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

In Inverness, Scotland.

 

[Somecamel]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Wow- sorry too far for me- I'm down in Sussex. Wish you the best and hope their is possibly a more local company that can come and have a look.

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Cheers Somecamel. Hopefully I hear something back from Installer tomorrow but i'm not hopeful at all. Then I guess its time to contact MCS, REAL and OFT? I need to find out where I stand legally also? I guess 8 panels better than none and at the end of teh day my FiT application was lodged 10 days ago or so. Thanks again.

 

[SolarCity]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

With a bit of luck, it will be something simple like reverse polarity that is the issue.

Get on to the MCS and see what they say. We pay them as an assurance to our customers that they will be getting an A1 install - make sure they earn that money.

Don't be afraid to find every site that the company is registered on and leave the poor feedback. We all make mistakes but to ignore your phone calls is pathetic.

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Thanks for your comments Biggs. Managed to make contact with Installer late yesterday and I'm assured representatives will be round over the weekend. I'll not be holding my breath. If no action by next week I'll be on to MCS, REAL and anyone else that will listen. I have also asked that the optimisers be secured with two bolts as per the manual as at the moment they are secured by one only. A bit shaby to say the least. We'll see.....

 

[SolarCity]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

What a diabolical situation.

MCS, REAL and Greg Barker should hang their heads in shame for this mess that they have created.

 

[mogga]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

part of the PV problem IMO is the shady way the gov announced drop in FIT and havent got a replacement ready and the fact that so many people want it they are almost being forced to take it from who is available not nesecarily the best or their chosen contractor as they may have been booked out Places where the bad weather over the past few weeks has stopped instals going ahead ect ect the whole thing has been planned badly orginised badly from day ONE they say people "over subscribed" and that the FIT rates are to much then WHY o WHY wasnt this looked at before the nFIT rates were announced FFS

 

[Olias]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

If the installer cannot resolve your complaint you should refer it to the Certification Body that certificated them. They can then investigate and potentailly withdraw the installer's registration.

 

[loskie]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

As a consumer I have the worry if I report my installer to MCS or REA for the list of non compliances then they will declare my installation as non compliant and revoke the MCS certificate thus making my installation worthless or only attractiing the current FIT.Could this happen?

 

[Somecamel]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

I suppose anything is possible at the moment although unlikely

 

[Eco Deal]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Solar edge only needs one string!! Ive installed 100's of these systems
Get my mobile number from my web site
And i will see if i can help you over the phone

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Hi there, many thanks for your offer. I was told that I could have one or two strings but there was no difference really so ended up with two. What do you reckon is the best setup? Hopefully the installing sparky will be round to the house tomorrow morning to sort the problem out. I may well give you a shout early next week. Much appreciated.

The optimisers I see have only been attached to the rails with one bolt, you reckon this is ok? The manual indicates that two should be used....?

Thanks to everyone else who has commented. I'll post tomorrow when I hope all will be up and running...

Thanks again

 

[Eco Deal]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

no two bolts !!!

heres a tip

1. PRESS GREEN LED BUTTON UNDER INVERTER (to light up screen)

2. look in bottom left hand corner of screen


SHOULD READ THIS <P_OK_16/16>

IF ALL PANELS & PBS ARE OK

 

[rwilliamson]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Any shading on the panels? This could kill the second string as well. Otherwise hopefully its just a faulty connection or as others said reverse polarity.

 

[moggy1968]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

you would still have something if it's shaded
A complete absence of power is a dodgy connection or reversed polarity

 

[rwilliamson]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Yeah good point Moggy

 

[Scooby]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Sorry - completely off-topic, but, 'love the new avatar, Biggs - what a loss... :sad:

 

[SolarCity]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Thanks Scoob

Yeah, heard about it on my hols - absolutely gutted.

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys..... After a couple of letters to contractor stating my position I finally got hold of one of the main guys and a sparky came to the house. He found a connection not made up and blamed the roofer! This is coming from the guy who apparently commisioned the system and said that all was working fine!! I'm now waiting for contractor to come back and bolt my optimisers to rails with two bolts rather than just one as per the manual. More battling in the new year methinks... Hopefully they will also tidy up the cabling to stop it flapping around all over the roof when they are here? Do installers normally cable tie cables to rails?

 

[Earthstore]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Yes they should cable tie the cables to the rails.
Your system should be up on your roof, working for 25 years, if the cables are flapping about in the breeze there is a fair chance they will rub through causing them to short out. I think you have guessed that yourself.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[moggy1968]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

securing cables is a requirement of the regs

 

[solarmad]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

Gents, sorry for bing away for so lond and not reporting back sooner. One problem remedied you seem to quickly move on to the next....

Finally I managed to get the installer to send round a sparky and a roofer. They quickly found a loose connection and once connected the panels paired up nicely. During their visit I asked them to tidy up all cabling and ensure that all cables are up off the roof and no lengths are flapping around. The guys did this whilst they removed each panel one by one to secure each optimiser with two bolts instead of just the one. The guys also found at least two tiles under the panels that were smashed. Obviously the initial installers thought that I'd never know, that is until the water started to pour in!! I must say that the guys that came round were 1st class and couldn't do enough to help. Anyway, that is it, the system is working well and I can monitor via teh Solaredge online portal as I have connected my inverter to my router. 11.2kwh seems to have been the best day I've had since Nov11. Here is hoping for many more sunny days! Thanks again guys for all your comments, hopefully I can be of help to someone some day? All the best. Craig

 

[telectrix]

Re: New PV Installation only half working and Installer giving the silent treatment..

it's always good to see an installer ( whether it be solar or not ) come back and fix any issues to the customer's satisfaction. OK, we all make mistakes from time to time, but fixing issues like thi sis what distinguishes genuine sparks/pv installers/ whatever, from the cowboys.