Sol-Ark needs a serious Change!

[Troubleshooter]

Sol-Ark’s response, or lack of, will be very telling.

Sol-ark responded with this to a similar comment/suggestion I made to them.

Thanks your your suggestions. We have great interest in local monitoring, however it is not something that we expect to be rolling out any time soon. Have you considered an eGauge as a means to monitor the power to your property? They do work on cellular data, though I cannot speak to where their servers are located.

 

[NwCali]

I honestly dont see how people took this long to connect the dots...i forgot the moniker "made in u.s.a" was a great marketing tool used by many...

You just dated yourself...

If your born in the 80's onward you have no idea what "made in the USA" means.

 

[robby]

I am not going to go over the whole Sol-Ark being designed in the USA and only being manufactured in China like most other product. I spoke to my local dealer who sells and repairs Sol-Ark and the Chinese clones. He has no bone in this fight and does not care which one you buy from him. I was surprised when he told me that contrary to what I had thought, he has pulled apart all of the units and he noticed that the Sol-Ark does not even use the same circuit boards as the others. He also said it has about twice as many boards and components jammed inside the Sol-Ark versus the others. I am not going to argue about this as he said he will send me some pictures of each of the units internals when they come in for repairs. As soon as I get those I will share them on this forum.

As for the servers being in china, that would not be my first choice and I find it far from ideal. Not because I am worried about some Chinese attack but because it means Sol-Ark doe not have direct physical control over them if they go down. The idea that China would start to shutdown Inverters across the USA is ridiculous. It would mean that we where in a full state of war against them! If that time should come I will just pull out my dongle and manage my system as though it is off grid in the middle of nowhere. It's not like you need to mess around with a properly setup Sol-Ark. Mine has been up for 8 days and already I have gotten tired of monitoring it. The system just works and it works flawlessly.

 

[Roqm]

You just dated yourself...

If your born in the 80's onward you have no idea what "made in the USA" means.

Lol you didnt have to call me out like that...i think im still young...ish??

 

[Roqm]

I am not going to go over the whole Sol-Ark being designed in the USA and only being manufactured in China like most other product. I spoke to my local dealer who sells and repairs Sol-Ark and the Chinese clones. He has no bone in this fight and does not care which one you buy from him. I was surprised when he told me that contrary to what I had thought, he has pulled apart all of the units and he noticed that the Sol-Ark does not even use the same circuit boards as the others. He also said it has about twice as many boards and components jammed inside the Sol-Ark versus the others. I am not going to argue about this as he said he will send me some pictures of each of the units internals when they come in for repairs. As soon as I get those I will share them on this forum.

As for the servers being in china, that would not be my first choice and I find it far from ideal. Not because I am worried about some Chinese attack but because it means Sol-Ark doe not have direct physical control over them if they go down. The idea that China would start to shutdown Inverters across the USA is ridiculous. It would mean that we where in a full state of war against them! If that time should come I will just pull out my dongle and manage my system as though it is off grid in the middle of nowhere. It's not like you need to mess around with a properly setup Sol-Ark. Mine has been up for 8 days and already I have gotten tired of monitoring it. The system just works and it works flawlessly.

Deye 8k internals and video it was grabbed from is here

Solark 12k internals and video it was grabbed from is here

Just so you dont have to wait on your buddy here are also so screen shots to see if they are even remotely simular...

 

[houseofancients]

compair the same models ..

 

[Texas-Mark]

EMP Shield - Home EMP & Lightning Protection + CME Defense (SP-120-240-RL / Concealed Model)

The WORLDS FIRST and ONLY Military Tested EMP Protection Device for Your Entire Home! Protects all phases of an EMP (E1, E2, and E3). The home model EMP Shield provides complete and tested protection from Electromagnetic Pulses (EMP), Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), Lightning, and All Forms of...

www.empshield.com

Late to the thread, but anyone who thinks this thing even remotely will protect against an EMP, does not know what an EMP is or does. More like a glorified (meaning expensive) surge suppressor. I would love to see the inside.

 

[robby]

Deye 8k internals and video it was grabbed from is here

Solark 12k internals and video it was grabbed from is here

Just so you dont have to wait on your buddy here are also so screen shots to see if they are even remotely simular...

Well they certainly do look very close in the inverter and CPU side of things. The connection boards and Comms boards seem to be completely different. Your right though, there is nothing more in the inverter side that I can see unless there are boards below the main board. I had originally assumed it was the same circuit board just populated with less expensive components, his statement of there being more boards inside does not seem to be accurate.
Thanks for the videos.

 

[Roqm]

Well they certainly do look very close in the inverter and CPU side of things. The connection boards and Comms boards seem to be completely different. Your right though, there is nothing more in the inverter side that I can see unless there are boards below the main board. I had originally assumed it was the same circuit board just populated with less expensive components, his statement of there being more boards inside does not seem to be accurate.
Thanks for the videos.

No problem...they have made revisions to the inverter over the years...emp hardening, better circuit breakers on ac side and the panel mount battery breaker are the obvious changes.

 

[Roqm]

compair the same models ..

The 12k is actually a 8k with bigger mppt capabilities...so i am comparing the same inverter..they say they invert at 9kw... deye specs say 8.8kw inversion max....

 

[Bleedingblue]

We recently installed a new Sol-Ark 12k EMP controlling 32x400 watt Q-Cell Panels. During the finalization of the setup and building a plant, we couldn't get the Sol-Ark to communicate with the monitoring servers through our wired home network. A phone call to tech support was interrupted when I had an epiphany and thought to ask where these monitoring servers are located. I informed the technician that if the monitoring servers are based in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea or any country that is unfriendly with the United States, our router will intentionally block those IP addresses on all inbound and outbound traffic. The tech took a long pause and told us to "hold-on"..... when he returned he admitted that the monitoring servers are in China. The Phone app also uses Chinese servers.

The #1 existential threat to the United States, especially our power grid, is China. Giving China the ability to monitor the solar power production of Sol-Ark systems here in the United States is grossly irresponsible. Needless to say that I'm disappointed that a "Veteran Owned" company would not consider the implications of this corporate decision.

Sure, I could just use the system unmonitored - which is what we are doing in the interim while we await the power(s) that be at Sol-Ark to pull their heads out of the sand.

Spending the additional premium to purchase an EMP hardened Sol-Ark system seems a bit untoward to then give control of the same system to the #1 country that might choose to use an EMP device against the United States in the future.

Before you folks decide to jump in here and start telling me that I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, just know that those Chinese servers can be used by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to change your setup, flash your firmware to render your system inoperative, or possibly make it completely unsafe. Give that some thought.

I've written a letter last week to the CEO of Sol-Ark and received no response. More people need to call and write them to have the monitoring server and services brought back onto and into the United States.

Oh, and before you assume that your non-Sol-Ark brand inverter is safely monitored in the USA or the EU, you might want to check to see where the monitoring servers are located before you just assume.

I agree but it seems our own government is becoming so hostile towards its own taxpayers that you just might not see a difference between our government and the communist government of china

 

[Bleedingblue]

I'm a retired, software development engineer. I will NOT connect to anything outside my home. Any data you 'give away' will be used to track you and be sold. The iComfort on my whole-house heat pump is an example - I refuse to allow it to connect and store my heat/cool stats outside of my home. You might think - who could ever connect my 'annoymous' heat/cool use or SolArk solar stats or X or Y or Z to me - but you'd be wrong. These bits of data can be leveraged thru analysis and often connected together and sold or used to market you or used for nefarious purposes down the road. The way AWES (Amazon Web Services) and Dell (EMC/Vmware services) works is that virtual servers can migrate and/or be replicated and/or backed up anywhere in the world. You can have a primary service here and replicate/backup there. Personally - I just won't buy a product that requires off-site interconnect to be used.

I know in Texas this summer outside companies were messing with people's thermostats. Remotely turning the cool setting to a higher temp

 

[Bleedingblue]

Aren’t these inverters made by the Chinese (Deye) and basically rebranded for the USA. Hard to avoid the topic of this post when basically using a Chinese inverter.

Yes they are. I made the comment on a solark installation video on YouTube. Solark then commented on it saying if I did buy a Deye and install it they would remotely shut it off. That they solark are the sole proprietor of that inverter in North America.
And yes it's way more pricey than a deye but you also have a support staff and a built in emp shield so to speak

 

[Cheap 4-life]

Yes they are. I made the comment on a solark installation video on YouTube. Solark then commented on it saying if I did buy a Deye and install it they would remotely shut it off. That they solark are the sole proprietor of that inverter in North America.
And yes it's way more pricey than a deye but you also have a support staff and a built in emp shield so to speak

Wow they would remotely shut it off? I wouldn’t think the Chinese would have it so SolArk could not shut down any of the Deye inverters

 

[the_colorist]

I hate to say this about anyone but this just sounds like they are just attempting a scare tactic to protect their bottom line. And if they did do it, there would be potential legal repercussions regardless of IP issues IMHO. Especially if they did it without notice or warning OR without clearly stating they did it with legally backed reasons as to why, they will be in a world of problems. In this case, the user of X product didn't sign any such exclusivity agreement with regards to where they can use the product they purchased.

Furthermore, they are NOT exclusive in the USA. They are one of the 3 agents that Deye has in the US. This is coming from Deye directly, it's not hearsay.

I have not seen a Deye fail yet (of installations I know of).....

 

[MurphyGuy]

you can get and EMP shield and skip all o the sol-ark branding margin

EMP Shield is a bit of a scam.. its nothing but an over priced surge protector that is about equal to a Siemens FS140.

EMP Shield claims that it will protect your equipment from an electromagnetic pulse, but that's only 50% true.. the other 50%, which they won't admit to, is a total lie.

Pretty much the only EMP we're concerned with for this discussion is a high altitude nuclear attack.. When that happens, the electromagnetic pulse comes in two flavors: 1) Conductive and 2) Radiative.

I have little doubt the EMP Shield product could stop the conductive pulse.. I'm sure it would probably do a fine job, as would some other surge protectors like the Siemens FS140 for only $180.

The problem is that there is no way for the EMP Shield to stop the radiative component.. at least not without breaking the laws of physics. The radiative part of the EMP pulse will directly couple into your home's wiring and your electronics.. and there's nothing that even the best and fastest surge protector can do about that.

Is Sol-Ark insulated from an EMP? Well, they say it is.. and we can make two observations about that.. 1) protection against the conductive component isn't difficult, and 2) protection against the radiative component will require a conductive Faraday cage.. IE: A metal container.. which I believe the Sol-Ark is a metal box.

But the real question about Sol-Ark's EMP protection is "how much protection?" Faraday cages are NOT like condoms or seat belts.. its not an ON or OFF thing.. Faraday cages are more like safes.. the better the safe, the harder it is to break into. How much attenuation does it's metal case provide with all those holes, buttons, and display's ? You need 40db for a standard nuclear weapon.. but you'll need about 60db or more for a super EMP weapon.. and making a super EMP weapon isn't hard to do.. you just replace the neutron reflector, called a tamper, with something less reflective..

That said, I'd be very surprised if the Sol-Ark could survive the electromagnetic hot-spot of a high altitude nuclear attack.. It might survive the middle or edges of the radiative pulse, but I'm skeptical of a direct hit.

My electronics are stored behind two layers (steel - aluminum) and that provides about 75db of attenuation.. My super sensitive electronics like the HAM radios, computers, etc, are stored behind 3 and 4 layers (steel-aluminum-aluminum), and that provides about 120db.. Nothing is getting through that..

 

[MurphyGuy]

The #1 existential threat to the United States, especially our power grid, is China. Giving China the ability to monitor the solar power production of Sol-Ark systems here in the United States is grossly irresponsible. Needless to say that I'm disappointed that a "Veteran Owned" company would not consider the implications of this corporate decision.

Sure, I could just use the system unmonitored - which is what we are doing in the interim while we await the power(s) that be at Sol-Ark to pull their heads out of the sand.

Spending the additional premium to purchase an EMP hardened Sol-Ark system seems a bit untoward to then give control of the same system to the #1 country that might choose to use an EMP device against the United States in the future.

Before you folks decide to jump in here and start telling me that I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, just know that those Chinese servers can be used by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to change your setup, flash your firmware to render your system inoperative, or possibly make it completely unsafe. Give that some thought.

I've written a letter last week to the CEO of Sol-Ark and received no response. More people need to call and write them to have the monitoring server and services brought back onto and into the United States.

Oh, and before you assume that your non-Sol-Ark brand inverter is safely monitored in the USA or the EU, you might want to check to see where the monitoring servers are located before you just assume.

China is an economic threat.. but they aren't going to blast their number one customer into the stone age.. it would hurt them as much as it hurts us.
But I understand your position.. personally, I wouldn't allow anyone to monitor my power usage or anything else if I can avoid it. I'm about to purchase an IoTaWatt home energy monitor specifically because it doesn't require a 3rd party..

I have two SMA Sunny Boy SB6.0 inverters as well as several home IP security cameras, and they are all blocked in my router from accessing the internet..

 

[synergicity]

Aren’t these inverters made by the Chinese (Deye) and basically rebranded for the USA. Hard to avoid the topic of this post when basically using a Chinese inverter.

Yes it is made in China in the same factory owned by Deye. Also sold as SunSynk in South Africa, and there is one more name I can't remember maybe in Australia. The OP is using a Chinese manufactured hybrid invertor which is phoning home to where it was made and where its firmware was created.

 

[MurphyGuy]

Some designs might help with an EMP from the sun, modern EMP weapons are more than 4x as powerful they where not long ago, directed weapons far above that.

Most people are just background noise on the spy front

An EMP from the sun shouldn't even be called an EMP because its not a pulse, its a slowly rising wave that allows us hours to respond to.

A solar CME takes hours and hours to arrive, and when it does, not much happens until it builds up and is able to push our planet's magnetic field around.. it is the movement of that magnetic field that causes the so-called "EMP".. As the planet's magnetic field moves around, it interacts with all the wires distributing electricity to our homes.. basically, its just passing a magnet by a conductive wire, no different than a home generator really, but on a much larger scale.

A CME takes hours to arrive, during which time, NASA and every responsible authority on the planet would be aware of it because we watch the Sun very closely.

And all you'd have to do is turn off your main circuit breaker in your home and you're safe.... unless your home is 2000 feet long (LOL)

 

[houseofancients]

Yes they are. I made the comment on a solark installation video on YouTube. Solark then commented on it saying if I did buy a Deye and install it they would remotely shut it off. That they solark are the sole proprietor of that inverter in North America.
And yes it's way more pricey than a deye but you also have a support staff and a built in emp shield so to speak

they are full of sh@t...
there are now a number of us authorized resellers, including lion energy, who use them in their systems.

i am very confident Deye would never agree to such measures.