Why your SolarBridge SPM-100, SPM-101, SPM-102, SPM-103 is not working

[LeeLewis]

I've seen several people post about this and I've replied here and there but it's probably lost so I thought I should just make an info post about it.

Several years back, the SolarBridge manager stopped being monitored remotely, leaving all owners high and dry for many.

Local Access
This meant your only option was to connect directly to the manager, locally, on your own LAN to see how the panels and output is doing. Many were not aware of this so thought they would never be able to see the results again. All you need to do is find the IP that the manager has on its display then use a browser on the same LAN and you'll reach it. Login is 'admin', and password is 'admin'.

Starting application error
In some cases, the manager no longer seems to work or shows 'Starting application' and you can never see the dashboard.
This is a technical problem that requires knowing about Linux operating systems and how to access the device.

There is no such thing as a technical manual that I know of. There is a user manual but it doesn't get into the OS. Only the developers know about this device and they will never share the information. It's an embedded system running an old OS and there is no connection for keyboard/monitor, it's by ssh only.

The reason you are seeing 'Starting application' making the manager look like it's working is most likely, the storage is full.

When they shut down the remote monitoring services, the manager would collect all this data but not be able to do anything with it. Since it could not be sent and the developers didn't consider this, the files end up remaining on the system until it fills it up. This prevents the software from running correctly but it is still running.

No longer getting credits
When it runs out of space, it stops being able to generate the display as well and unfortunately, is also not able to update the second meter that the power company uses to keep track of your usage. This means it's running, generating power but it's 100% wasted.

In my case, there was something more. Many of my inverters seemed to be dead and were going to be replaced until the solar company I bought from left me hanging. After around three years or so, they stopped working on my system and I was left hanging to figure it out on my own.

The interesting thing I found was that many of my inverters were just fine, they were simply software disabled. There is a software command you can send to the inverters which disables their output being used, as if there was a grid failure. I re-enabled them using software commands and most of them came back.

To me, this smelled like a scam. PurSolar (Arizona) would getting paid for support work AND get a free inverter replacement by the manufacturer they would then sell to other customers.
That or they really hated working on my system and wanted to get out of it somehow. They always found a way to make me the bad guy. They would barely respond to me then wonder why I would get impatient for example.

Anyhow, for anyone wanting to better understand what is happening or was happening to their SolarBridge manager, this post is here for you.

[ops_coordinator]

Greetings from an Ops Coordinator trying to wake up a sleepy Solarbridge/Mage 250w x 12 mods system (installed in 2013). Can you elaborate on the statement: "The interesting thing I found was that many of my inverters were just fine, they were simply software disabled. There is a software command you can send to the inverters which disables their output being used, as if there was a grid failure. I re-enabled them using software commands and most of them came back."
I have not been able to get into the admin page for the controller while connecting with a WIN 7 laptop. You mentioned Linux? Also, the command used to switch the inverters back to producing vs grid loss shutdown? I was able to see the modules (12), but no production was showing.
I was able to see the serial numbers and confirm there were 12 mods. There appears to be space on the SD card. I suspect improper shutdown corrupted a data string or software.

[LeeLewis]

Hi,

When I say Linux, I mean the operating system is Linux on these managers.
The commands have to be sent from the command line on the manager itself meaning, you have to log into it using command line, not GUI.

If you can see the modules using the GUI, do you see DC voltage and no output or nothing at all?
If you mouse over the status of each module, do you see the other details such as Power, AC and DC volts?

[ops_coordinator]

I wasn't able to get my laptop to connect to the GUI. I followed the info exactly as shown in the manual. On the controller, I was able to see the modules and serial numbers and it was a cloudy rainy day so I don't know if they were producing or not. Showed 0 watts output. I was thinking the inverters are not "seeing" the grid and in rapid shutdown mode. It's been a persnickety series of reboots and with some info showing at times and others not so much. The customer had renovations done and I can be certain the proper shutdown of the controller was not followed. The SD cards show a good amount of space available. This is ferry access on an island in Casco Bay Maine. At this point I'm wondering if I might have succeeded in waking up the system and perhaps it will show on their next utility bill...any kind assistance you can render is appreciated.

[LeeLewis]

I'm not sure what you mean by the sd card showing available space as the OS is actually embedded and not running off of an sd card.
Unclean shutdown would not be an issue with these things, they simply re-start however, free space on the main storage is an issue.
If there is not any or enough space, the OS will run but it will not be able to show anything in terms of wattage being generated in the GUI because it cannot process the results that it's polling from the modules.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you could not connect to the GUI but you can see the data on the controller?

[ops_coordinator]

The controller screen shows the capacity of the SD card, something over 1,150mb. By GUI I meant the Controller port that you plug in a cat cable that connected to my Win 7 laptop trying to facilitate the "local" connection so as to get into the login page and review the system. I followed the instructions exactly but was not able to get the screen going on the laptop. Glad to hear the OS is embedded and you don't feel it's improper shutdown. There is a "legacy" dual utility meter as opposed to the newer Smart meters. I was wondering if perhaps the micro inverters are reacting somehow and seeing "no grid" thus shutting down?
On the controller I was able to confirm 12 mods but not producing. It did show the serial numbers of each micro inverter. No info showing wattage, volts, AC or DC at the controller. I am aware of what the software GUI looks like if you are locally connected via the IP address etc. but could not get that to work on the laptop.

[LeeLewis]

To save you some time, here is some info.
The device gets its IP from your DHCP enabled router/firewall, on your network.
Your PC does too so all you need is to keep both connected to your network then just enter the IP of the manager into your browser to reach it.
You don't have to connect directly to the manager.

I didn't spend that much time trying to reverse engineer the OS because it's hugely custom and a really old version of Linux that is no longer supported.
It took me a lot of hacking hours to get to a point where I could at least get a good part of my system back up and to keep it running.

My interest was mainly to figure out why so many of my inverters were not working according to the solar company that left me hanging.
Dual meters is fine. A grid tied system has power coming from utility to the inverters so they know the grid is up. So long as the panel that your inverters are connected to is still connected to your main panel as a feed, then all should be fine.

From here however, I could not say why your inverters appear to have been shut down unless they aren't seeing utility power anymore.
I'd say check the breaker that feeds the panel that your inverters are connected to and check that panel as well to make sure it's getting utility power.

[ops_coordinator]

The controller is in the basement, no "network" per se. Just a cat cable direct to the controller to the laptop. Yes - the breaker is on and tested ok. We were also checking at the roof j-box as well. I'll share this with our Solar Tech Bob , but I'm thinking he had dome what you suggested. Too funny, I've been kidding that I fell we need a "hacker"!
I feel your pain for "solar company that left you hanging". Before we quote a revamp with new micros, I was hoping to salvage the industry reputation by waking up this system. If I can do that, I'll be a hero for 5 minutes! Your kind assistance is very much appreciated!

[LeeLewis]

I bet if you test your panels, most if not all are just fine so the only problem you have is the inverters maybe.
The cost of replacing those should be compared to the cost of getting rid of the grid tied junk and putting in an inverter or two that can handle the panels with batteries.
Then you'll have power when the grid is down which for crying out loud, is what most people think about when they think about getting solar .

I learned the hard way too. Never again grid tied BS.

[ops_coordinator]

Good points for sure. Thank you. Who knows, he may end up showing production on his next utility bill. A single string inverter may be his best choice after all is said and done. He has a great location and shade is not a concern. Grid tie and net metering are still the main focus in this market until they screw up that NEB process. The battery question is a consideration...

[yanky79]

Stirring up this thread again, as I am trying to get the output of my system closer to what it is capable of producing. I just had a dead microinverter replace - and like magic, it started working. I have about half my system though that I can see is connected, and I can ping, etc. but they are not producing. I am able to identify the issues are with two reported firmware revisions. On set indicates 0V, but when tested they have the expected 34v - so I think it is perhaps something that could be with the inverter Firmware. I can access the web interface just fine; but not through SSH. I first found out that SSH was moved to port 23. So once I figured that out, I try to connect and get permission denied (publickey).

You said you connected to SSH, was it using simple username & password authentication or publickey (where did you find the key)?

[ops_coordinator]

We have the go-ahead to retrofit Enphase micros and add a gateway. We're not going to try working with the old micros or controller crap any longer.