My experiences with Signature Solar
I first became aware of Signature Solar about 18 months ago, from a solar customer who had a bank of EG4 batteries. The batteries were performing well and appeared to be very competitively priced.
Normally I avoid non-name brand solar equipment, however I also get many customers on a tight budget and don't want to leave them out. So I got in touch with Signature Solar and applied for wholesale pricing. I proceeded to place multiple orders and recommend them to other solar customers.
Their EG4 batteries work ok and I thought the new EG4 6000EX-48HV might be a good fit for some of my customers. I purchased two to resell and recommended two of my customers to purchase EG4 6000EX-48HV on their own, as well.
The two inverters I ordered arrived with the upper mounting bracket broken off. Upon further inspection, the bracket is only attached with four pop rivets. I thought, “No big deal, I’ll make my own improved version.” I attached to the upper threaded handle holes using angle steel.
The EG4 6000EX-48HV inverter does not list the idle consumption in any of it’s documentation, and now I see that’s probably because it consumes a lot! About 130 watts idle consumption for this unit. For comparison, a 4448 Magnum inverter consumes about 25 watts at idle and the OutBack 8048GSA consumes about 34 watts at idle. This is disappointing, but I decided I can accept this even though I don’t like it.
The biggest problem I have with this inverter is what happens when the lithium battery bank is fully charged. The AC output fluctuates a LOT, like 113-126 volts. It makes lights flicker and household fans etc speed up and slow down. This seems to be a problem with the built in charge controller. As soon as I turn off the solar input the problem stops. Also If I use a separate charge controller the problem does not happen.
I have been in touch with Signature Solar and at first I felt like I was getting somewhere. They acknowledged this is an issue and one lady in customer service says she herself owned the 6000EX, but ended up swapping it for the 6500EX-48 and no longer has that problem. I’ve been told that the solution for now is to keep a big enough load on the system, and they're working on a long-term solution….
This is not good enough for me and I decided I would like to return or exchange these inverters. That's when their customer service went from bad to worse. My wholesale account rep, Bruce, told me I need to complete a service request which entails sending them no less than 14 pictures. Not an easy task and the most leg work I have ever been asked for. I did this and then they told me my neutral and ground are swapped. This is not the case the wires are just labeled wrong (it happens).
So that's the end of them helping. For this problem I have called them 7 times and have emailed them numerous times. All we do is keep going in circles and blame-shifting. I am DONE with this BS.
Signature Solar has had so many excuses for poor business practices. Number one is “we are so busy” and number two is “we are short staffed.” Maybe cut back on the promotional sales and advertising, then?
As a human and a good business, our reputation is everything to us… I’ve lost some money over the years to keep our customers happy; it’s what good businesses do. I don't advertise, as word of mouth is all we need.
For one of my customers I did swap the EG4 6000EX-48HV inverter out for a magnum 4448 and no more problems! In the past 10 months I have spent over $64 thousand with Signature Solar and I will never give them another dollar.
