Now that SolarBridge monitoring is gone...

[LeeLewis]

It would be great to come in contact with someone that better understands these managers or knows how to set up the full admin on the GUI.

[Don B]

I have 12 panels with Solarbridge micro inverters. I purchased them from a company exec after they sold to Sunpower.

I am connected now offgrid using AC coupling to a Schneider XW Pro and lithium NMC battery. The XW can use frequency shift to control output, but I have no manual for the inverters. I'm trying to find out if they have frequency shift, what parameters, and can the parameters be changed?

Anyone here have access to manuals or know offhand what the specs are? My concern with frequency shift is also whether the frequency tame will mess with my Daikin minisplit heat pump, heat pump clothes dryer, computers, we t,.

Thanks!

[Mike90250]

The Frequency Shifts are so small, that appliances won't notice them.
( usually less than -+1 Hz )

[CharlieEscCA]

Is there anyone who has SolarEdge Inverter SetApp privileges able to assist me in getting my SolarEdge HD Wave (no screen) 7600SE inverted communication method setting changed from cellular to Ethernet? If so, perhaps you can PM me.

I've got the cable physically connected, and it shows connected in the "view only" mode of the SetApp IOS application. I submitted a ticket to SolarEdge and they said they cannot give my account installer privileges even for an hour while I make the change (very disappointing).

I'm working to get my solar company to come by and make the change - I assume other than travel time its ten minutes maximum to make the change. As I understand it the inverter can be offline from connecting in for 10 to 14 days (I like to have my day, month, yearly data accurate), so the sooner I get this done, the better my nerdy / concerned side will be.

I've been connecting via the SolarEdge app to the invertor to grab the daily production figures at the end of the day for my spreadsheet I use to keep track of where I am with SDGE NEM credits going into air conditioning season, but I'd prefer to get back to having the daily info available directly in the mySolarEdge app.

[CharlieEscCA]

Is there anyone who has SolarEdge Inverter SetApp privileges able to assist me in getting my SolarEdge HD Wave (no screen) 7600SE inverted communication method setting changed from cellular to Ethernet? If so, perhaps you can PM me.

I've got the cable physically connected, and it shows connected in the "view only" mode of the SetApp IOS application. I submitted a ticket to SolarEdge and they said they cannot give my account installer privileges even for an hour while I make the change (very disappointing).

I'm working to get my solar company to come by and make the change - I assume other than travel time its ten minutes maximum to make the change. As I understand it the inverter can be offline from connecting in for 10 to 14 days (I like to have my day, month, yearly data accurate), so the sooner I get this done, the better my nerdy / concerned side will be.

I've been connecting via the SolarEdge app to the invertor to grab the daily production figures at the end of the day for my spreadsheet I use to keep track of where I am with SDGE NEM credits going into air conditioning season, but I'd prefer to get back to having the daily info available directly in the mySolarEdge app.

Just an update that I was able to get credentials as a "Self Installer" to make be able to use SetApp to change the communication method to Ethernet.

I didn't get this done until yesterday, however I'm happy to report that all the data from June 1, 2022 thru yesterday did report to the SolarEdge servers, and thus I lost no data.

[LeeLewis]

As an update of my own... it turns out that most of the problems with the Pantheon II inverters are not because of poor hardware but poor software development.
When I started this, my system of 42 panels was putting 0 watts out. I could not believe for one minute that all of the inverters had died.
Now I have 4KW coming out of that and I did nothing but play with the software.

I hacked into the solarbridge manager's operating system and found that the last person that worked on the manager messed it up badly.
The PurSolar support person they last sent did something to the manager and the first thing I noticed was that the drive was full.
After clearing some drive space, some of the inverters came back online.
That got me wondering if this was more of a software problem than a hardware one so I focused all of my energy on the manager.
After a week of messing with the operating system, I then went outside and gathered up all of the serial numbers on the inverters and at which position they are.
I then put a little map together and started digging more.
I found I could send controls to the inverters that are still working and noticed something peculiar.
Many of the inverters are actually working but they have their output disabled, as if there is a grid failure.
I used the PLC software to try and regain those but have only been able to get some back, the rest will not change condition.
I can see the panels are feeding the inverter a good voltage and I can see the 240V grid on them and I can also see they aren't outputting.

As far as I can tell, most of the inverters are probably good but some techs at Pantheon must have messed something up so bad that people think it's crummy hardware when it's actually the software preventing them from being useful.

If anyone knows how to use the PLC software on the SolarBridge managers, I'd be happy to work with you and see if we can get these things working otherwise, I have a very expensive yard ornament that is putting out much less than it should be.

[yanky79]

As an update of my own... it turns out that most of the problems with the Pantheon II inverters are not because of poor hardware but poor software development.
When I started this, my system of 42 panels was putting 0 watts out. I could not believe for one minute that all of the inverters had died.
Now I have 4KW coming out of that and I did nothing but play with the software.

I hacked into the solarbridge manager's operating system and found that the last person that worked on the manager messed it up badly.
The PurSolar support person they last sent did something to the manager and the first thing I noticed was that the drive was full.
After clearing some drive space, some of the inverters came back online.
That got me wondering if this was more of a software problem than a hardware one so I focused all of my energy on the manager.
After a week of messing with the operating system, I then went outside and gathered up all of the serial numbers on the inverters and at which position they are.
I then put a little map together and started digging more.
I found I could send controls to the inverters that are still working and noticed something peculiar.
Many of the inverters are actually working but they have their output disabled, as if there is a grid failure.
I used the PLC software to try and regain those but have only been able to get some back, the rest will not change condition.
I can see the panels are feeding the inverter a good voltage and I can see the 240V grid on them and I can also see they aren't outputting.

As far as I can tell, most of the inverters are probably good but some techs at Pantheon must have messed something up so bad that people think it's crummy hardware when it's actually the software preventing them from being useful.

If anyone knows how to use the PLC software on the SolarBridge managers, I'd be happy to work with you and see if we can get these things working otherwise, I have a very expensive yard ornament that is putting out much less than it should be.

LeeLewis - I am on the exact same path that you have already walked; same initial installers, same abhorrent support from SunPower, same issues with a subset of the microinverters not producing, etc. My difference is the array is on my rooftop and it is a steep incline - not pleasant. I had one microinverter replaced that was truly failed; and that restored a couple of other downstream modules to production; but I am left with about half my array showing online but barely producing or not producing at all.

I have tried to get into the PowerManager SSH, but it was moved to port 23 - once I found that I tried and discovered that the login is via public/private key - no Login/Pass authentication. I am currently attempting to brute force the sbtech credential in the web interface to see if that gives me any more access. I can usually get my way around in Linux, but I got to get into shell first. I was considering the "reset to factory defaults" but that seems unnecessarily disruptive and would require me to fully set up everything from scratch.

What was your trick to get to the shell? Was it the hidden USB and you used RS232 protocol, or some other means? What commands / shell program were available to you that you were able to force the Inverters to reset and start working?

[LeeLewis]

No one seemed to care about all the work I put into this, meaning, it wasn't of much help to anyone so I've pretty much lost a lot of that.
The problem is, even if you get in, it's *VERY* easy to break the OS and it's almost impossible to put back together because there are no repos for that version, no packages for their custom packages, no way to recover unless you have some pretty deep knowledge of not only Linux but such an old version.

You can reset to factory, it's just an embedded OS so it'll always go back to it's defaults which is the installed custom OS they put on it and configured.
What do you mean when you say same initial installers, was it PurSolar out of Prescott Valley, AZ? That's who installed mine and who left me hanging high and dry.

[yanky79]

No one seemed to care about all the work I put into this, meaning, it wasn't of much help to anyone so I've pretty much lost a lot of that.
The problem is, even if you get in, it's *VERY* easy to break the OS and it's almost impossible to put back together because there are no repos for that version, no packages for their custom packages, no way to recover unless you have some pretty deep knowledge of not only Linux but such an old version.

You can reset to factory, it's just an embedded OS so it'll always go back to its defaults which is the installed custom OS they put on it and configured.
What do you mean when you say same initial installers, was it PurSolar out of Prescott Valley, AZ? That's who installed mine and who left me hanging high and dry.

Yes - PurSolar; abandoned Flagstaff altogether and anything to do with Solarbridge specifically. The previous owners had another array installed before I bought the home, and it is managed by Rooftop Solar. Rooftop quoted $3500 just to diagnose. At least they tied it into the Enphase system; but have the original array is just sitting there either producing and I am not getting credit or worse yet not producing at all.

[LeeLewis]

My suggestion... get rid of the grid tied aspect of the system and go for a hybrid or fully DC setup. Be done with it once and for all.
After the initial cost, you won't have to count on these solar companies as much. It sounds like you are technical so could figure out how to maintain it from that point on.
It's a lot of work converting a system if you don't know anything about it yet and to me, would be worth paying for at least some guidance though $3500 just to look at it is why the solar industry has such a crummy name these days.

Non grid tied is so much more useful anyhow, you keep every watt you make instead of selling it to a power company that gives you pennies for your hard work and investment.

[LeeLewis]

Also, I tried to find other PurSolar customers that were left hanging and didn't have the energy to follow up since I got heavily caught up in other things.
It makes me wonder how many people they left hanging over the years. The owner really disliked me and I suspect it's because I was a little too technical for his liking.

[yanky79]

Some weirdness that I am seeing is that I have 3 distinct groups of microinverters - each can be tracked to the reported firmware and serial number similarities:

• Group 1 - Works as expected (11 modules)
  • Firmware == 1122011218
  • Serial numbers == 20105141xxxxxx
• Group 2 - Mixed, 2 run as expected, 1 kinda sorta produces, 6 brief spike followed by 0 production (9 total)
  • Firmware == 46974696
  • Serial numbers == 179512248xxxxxx
• Group 3 - none produce, all shoe online and report, but no DC or AC power reported
  • Firmware == 46970
  • Serial numbers = 17951248xxxx

Below you can see what a normal module is doing in a day (peaks ~200AC & ~150 DC); and the abnormal 1 spike at 3 AC & 1 DC, followed by nothing)
Screenshot 2024-03-12 151429.png
Screenshot 2024-03-12 151352.png

[LeeLewis]

Yes, there's some problems alright. I suggest you stop putting money into the solar companies pockets. Learn what you can about going hybrid or better, DC if you have the budget for batteries. Get rid of the grid tied stuff and the never ending support calls from companies that want to suck every dollar they can from you no matter if you end up with something useful or not.

Hire one company or pro to help you with it and be done with it.

I'm not sure what else to add. This just brings up all the frustration I went through .

[yanky79]

Oh, my $$ are not going to the solar companies. I do have a electrical contractor that I use to work on the modules and roof and has been helping me. I just cant justify the cost of ripping out 1 system that is operating as designed and was turned on only 2 1/2 years ago and taking out the other one that is operating at ~50% capacity and would only cost ~$500 for parts and ~$500 for labor to swap microinverters and get ~80-90% capacity for another 6 or so years - especially when they were here when I bought the place.

[yanky79]

Yes, there's some problems alright. I suggest you stop putting money into the solar companies pockets. Learn what you can about going hybrid or better, DC if you have the budget for batteries. Get rid of the grid tied stuff and the never ending support calls from companies that want to suck every dollar they can from you no matter if you end up with something useful or not.

Hire one company or pro to help you with it and be done with it.

I'm not sure what else to add. This just brings up all the frustration I went through .

Sorry to stir up the old frustrations. I guess the good news is that I am getting though the 12 stages must faster because I can build on your experiences that you shared here. :-/