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New to solar and new to this forum. We purchased a home last fall in the Phoenix area that had a Sunpower solar system with 28 panels that was installed in 2016. The seller used Open Door as the agent. We had it inspected (solar not included) and bought the home. I could tell the solar had been turned off because the switch from the panels to the inverter was off and the AC disconnect was off. We asked about it, but Open Door just said they turn it off while the home is being sold. Seemed odd to do that during the summer in Phoenix, but ok. We checked with the electric company (APS...Arizona Public Service) and they did say the home was under a grandfathered 1 for 1 credit solar plan, and they showed the system to be working for the prior owner.
The day we closed on the home I turned the system on, enrolled in the Sunpower app, and sent in the transfer forms to Sunpower for the warranty, which is 10 years on the inverter and 20 years on other parts. It all worked fine during fall, winter, and spring of 23. In late June when the heat started to crank up to 115 to 119 degrees, I checked the app and noticed the system didn't generate any power for 4 days. I looked at the inverter and it had a message saying "Elect Arc Detected...Check DC Gen." I did some research and found the manual for the inverter, an SMA 7700TL-US-22. I did a restart and tapped the screen twice as the manual suggested to reset and clear the warning. The system came back on fine for about 2 weeks and then turned off and displayed the error about the arc again.
I called Sunpower and they created a case number and gave me the name of a local solar company affiliated with them (the original installer is out of business). They came out within a couple of days and inspected the wiring and found nothing wrong. We reset the system again and it came on fine.....for a few days. They did find there is a module on the back of the panels that may be part of a "retrofit" from Sunpower. Apparently, the modules can create false Arc Detected messages. They have been "deliberating" for about 10 days now, waiting for approval to come out and replace the modules that they think will stop the error. From monitoring of the app, the Arc Detected message almost always occurs between 5 and 6 PM on the days it shuts down. Heat related? I'm also wondering if this problem isn't' with the inverter instead reading a false Arc due to the heat late in the afternoon? The inverter is on the east side, so not in the sun in the afternoon, but still the hottest time of day. So, right now, I'm waiting on that approval and resetting the inverter when the Arc Detected message appears.
The second issue is that the display screen on the inverter has 2 problems. One is it is difficult to read due to the outer lid being cloudy due to sun and heat. I would like to get a replacement lid for the bottom part of the panel but can't find any parts. The second is that the LED screen inside the panel is cracked on the right top side, so only the left and bottom of the display work. At least I can read the Arc Detected error, and the app shows the numbers of what is being produced by current/day/lifetime, but it would be nice to have a fully working screen. I can't see where that part is available either.
Sorry about the length of this. Wondering if anyone else has had these issues. According to the warranty documents, we should be fully covered, and it seems that would cover the broken screen inside the inverter itself? Of course, it would be great if they just replaced the inverter with 3 years remaining on the warranty. The other side is if I could get the part, it looks easy to replace. The big issue is stopping the thing from turning off every other day.
Thanks!
Dave
The day we closed on the home I turned the system on, enrolled in the Sunpower app, and sent in the transfer forms to Sunpower for the warranty, which is 10 years on the inverter and 20 years on other parts. It all worked fine during fall, winter, and spring of 23. In late June when the heat started to crank up to 115 to 119 degrees, I checked the app and noticed the system didn't generate any power for 4 days. I looked at the inverter and it had a message saying "Elect Arc Detected...Check DC Gen." I did some research and found the manual for the inverter, an SMA 7700TL-US-22. I did a restart and tapped the screen twice as the manual suggested to reset and clear the warning. The system came back on fine for about 2 weeks and then turned off and displayed the error about the arc again.
I called Sunpower and they created a case number and gave me the name of a local solar company affiliated with them (the original installer is out of business). They came out within a couple of days and inspected the wiring and found nothing wrong. We reset the system again and it came on fine.....for a few days. They did find there is a module on the back of the panels that may be part of a "retrofit" from Sunpower. Apparently, the modules can create false Arc Detected messages. They have been "deliberating" for about 10 days now, waiting for approval to come out and replace the modules that they think will stop the error. From monitoring of the app, the Arc Detected message almost always occurs between 5 and 6 PM on the days it shuts down. Heat related? I'm also wondering if this problem isn't' with the inverter instead reading a false Arc due to the heat late in the afternoon? The inverter is on the east side, so not in the sun in the afternoon, but still the hottest time of day. So, right now, I'm waiting on that approval and resetting the inverter when the Arc Detected message appears.
The second issue is that the display screen on the inverter has 2 problems. One is it is difficult to read due to the outer lid being cloudy due to sun and heat. I would like to get a replacement lid for the bottom part of the panel but can't find any parts. The second is that the LED screen inside the panel is cracked on the right top side, so only the left and bottom of the display work. At least I can read the Arc Detected error, and the app shows the numbers of what is being produced by current/day/lifetime, but it would be nice to have a fully working screen. I can't see where that part is available either.
Sorry about the length of this. Wondering if anyone else has had these issues. According to the warranty documents, we should be fully covered, and it seems that would cover the broken screen inside the inverter itself? Of course, it would be great if they just replaced the inverter with 3 years remaining on the warranty. The other side is if I could get the part, it looks easy to replace. The big issue is stopping the thing from turning off every other day.
Thanks!
Dave
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