Sol-Ark problems by David Poz.. anyone else?

[A.Justice]

They pulled the same bs with me on their battery chargers. Bought $7k worth of batteries, rack and 2 chargers. I went to pick up my batteries and asked about getting the difference for the chargers since they are now 33% off with the purchase of a battery and I was told sorry, they can't do that. They did offer to sell me another charger with the 33% off! WOW!

I would have returned everything right there, and bought it all again at the discount.

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Yeah Signature Solar doesn't have the best customer service, minutes after placing my order through a sales person they all of a sudden had a "sale" on the equipment I just purchased and would not refund the difference, neither did they mention that they were about to change their prices down lower while on the phone with them shortly before.

The guy on the phone was quite rude as well considering we were spending thousands with them, he also caused his company to lose $1,800 in sales to another vendor due to not knowing correctly what they had in stock.

I did finally receive just about everything I ordered but the shipment was considerably slower than a competing vendor I purchased other equipment from.

At the end of the day it was an okay experience but I wasn't left convinced that we can push their products to our customers without issues like I was hoping to as a cheaper option over Sol-Ark.

Please PM me, I'd like to find out more information. Our customer service is what sets us apart from most DIY suppliers and we want to make sure everyone is taken care of. Thanks!

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

They pulled the same bs with me on their battery chargers. Bought $7k worth of batteries, rack and 2 chargers. I went to pick up my batteries and asked about getting the difference for the chargers since they are now 33% off with the purchase of a battery and I was told sorry, they can't do that. They did offer to sell me another charger with the 33% off! WOW!

All this and the eg4 lifepower batteries still won't turn on many inverters including mine, the custom $500 rack doesn't even hold the battery modules due to holes not lining up properly and their battery chargers don't work as advertised.

We do our best to offer the lowest prices we can and cater to the DIY community. This often includes honoring sales on previous orders, but sometimes it just isn't possible for one reason or another. That being said, we will always honor sale prices when they are advertised. We have all been in the situation where something went down in price after we paid, and it's a fine line to determine exactly which orders should qualify for sale pricing and which ones don't, and with that being said I can guarantee you will be hard pressed to find a product that performs to the high standards we require at a better price. We are definitely aware of the ongoing issue with third party inverters and have invested a large amount of time and money into finding a solution - more to come if you follow that thread. I've personally built the rack we sell and had no issues with mounting batteries - I'd love to know what is happening with yours. Please PM me and we can figure that out. As far as our chargers, as long as they are being used according to the manual with compatible batteries, they are the best out there that I've come across. Again - if you are having issues with yours PM me the info and I'll see what I can find out.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

First off, I’m building OFF-GRID.
This has been a sporadic problem, buy since we are now starting to use our system more to finish our build, the problems are just now showing up.
We installed our solar, 12K x 2 stacked, power house, well system, backup generator, etc before building our house.
Despite what people think of David POZ video and how he tripped Sol-Ark, please tell me why my Sol-Arks faults when I’m pulling no big load and only using a small Rigid hand held router, heat gun when making battery cables, portable band saw, corded drill? Faults are F-26 and F-41.
LED lighting is all that’s being used to work by until we use a device such those mentioned above that used power. Ive used other devices such as a 12” miter saw, drill press, 120v flux core welder, etc... with no faults.
Last week we had the Sheetrock guys out to hang and finish Sheetrock at our homesite. They were using a corded electric drill to mix the sheet rock mud to finish the sheet rock. I was not there to observe, but the electric drill tripped the Sol-Ark 4 times in about 2-hrs. My app shows all the faults!
My system was installed by Engineer775. So it was done by a professional.
Engineer775 says: “Okay so if you read the error code I don't think it is an unbalanced load if you read closely it says DC load on the AC output when off grid. That is what I believe is happening because of the green boards. The parallel system stop is always subsequent to this unbalanced load. So if the drywallers are mixing mud with a variable speed drill it is looking like a DC load to the inverters and shutting it down it is not an unbalanced load. Does that make sense?”
Apparently grid tied fixed or helps this issue, he said.
So with that being said, it appears you don’t need to overload one leg, to make Sol-Ark trip! At $7000.00 per inverter ($14,000.00) this is ridiculous!! I’ve reached out to Sol-Ark and they will only send out “their” transformer as a band-aid!! I wanted upgraded MCU or swap out blue boards but was told this isn’t possible. I then asked for replacement Sol-Arks and we’re not doing that either!!
Maybe I need to post a video like David POZ did to show Sol-Ark is not all it’s cracked up to be for the premium price!
Not to mention, for the last several weeks Sol-Ark has not started the generator when it needed to be started per preset limits! However a software update this week has seemingly fixed that?
So, any thoughts or input on my situation? Forgive me for being extremely angry here in my post, but hope you can imagine what it’s like to have these issues when you’re off grid. Paying for the best and get crappy results. To me a transformer, to fix a transformer-less inverter isn’t a satisfying response.

Edit: My bigger concerns are what else may trip Sol-Arks once we start living there? It’s a hassle and unnerving to not know how stable your only power source will be.
Never thought small items would do this either!

 

[MrM1]

First off, I’m building OFF-GRID.
This has been a sporadic problem, buy since we are now starting to use our system more to finish our build, the problems are just now showing up.
We installed our solar, 12K x 2 stacked, power house, well system, backup generator, etc before building our house.
Despite what people think of David POZ video and how he tripped Sol-Ark, please tell me why my Sol-Arks faults when I’m pulling no big load and only using a small Rigid hand held router, heat gun when making battery cables, portable band saw, corded drill? Faults are F-26 and F-41.
LED lighting is all that’s being used to work by until we use a device such those mentioned above that used power. Ive used other devices such as a 12” miter saw, drill press, 120v flux core welder, etc... with no faults.
Last week we had the Sheetrock guys out to hang and finish Sheetrock at our homesite. They were using a corded electric drill to mix the sheet rock mud to finish the sheet rock. I was not there to observe, but the electric drill tripped the Sol-Ark 4 times in about 2-hrs. My app shows all the faults!
My system was installed by Engineer775. So it was done by a professional.
Engineer775 says: “Okay so if you read the error code I don't think it is an unbalanced load if you read closely it says DC load on the AC output when off grid. That is what I believe is happening because of the green boards. The parallel system stop is always subsequent to this unbalanced load. So if the drywallers are mixing mud with a variable speed drill it is looking like a DC load to the inverters and shutting it down it is not an unbalanced load. Does that make sense?”
Apparently grid tied fixed or helps this issue, he said.
So with that being said, it appears you don’t need to overload one leg, to make Sol-Ark trip! At $7000.00 per inverter ($14,000.00) this is ridiculous!! I’ve reached out to Sol-Ark and they will only send out “their” transformer as a band-aid!! I wanted upgraded MCU or swap out blue boards but was told this isn’t possible. I then asked for replacement Sol-Arks and we’re not doing that either!!
Maybe I need to post a video like David POZ did to show Sol-Ark is not all it’s cracked up to be for the premium price!
Not to mention, for the last several weeks Sol-Ark has not started the generator when it needed to be started per preset limits! However a software update this week has seemingly fixed that?
So, any thoughts or input on my situation? Forgive me for being extremely angry here in my post, but hope you can imagine what it’s like to have these issues when you’re off grid. Paying for the best and get crappy results. To me a transformer, to fix a transformer-less inverter isn’t a satisfying response.

Edit: My bigger concerns are what else may trip Sol-Arks once we start living there? It’s a hassle and unnerving to not know how stable your only power source will be.
Never thought small items would do this either!

Just wow.

I would think if Engineer775 installed the system they should be handling the calls and bending over backwards to make it right.

Wondering why you chose Sol-Ark over a pair of Schneider XWs? I have always been sceptical of hi frequency inverters for whole house situations. (isn't Sol-Ark hi frequency?)

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Just wow.

I would think if Engineer775 installed the system they should be handling the calls and bending over backwards to make it right.

Wondering why you chose Sol-Ark over a pair of Schneider XWs? I have always been sceptical of hi frequency inverters for whole house situations. (isn't Sol-Ark hi frequency?)

Yes, it’s high frequency.
When I first chose to do this I wasn’t as informed as I am now. (Classic) My original installer was going use Schneider but couldn’t get his crap together, couldn’t get panels he promised in the contract, etc..
Was going to do install myself, bought panels, one Sol-Ark then saw engineer775. I found Sol-Arks EMP hardening, efficiency, bells/whistles attractive. However now all that seems meaningless if I can’t do basic things without faults?
Engineer775 did a great install, added a second 12-K to handle what we wanted to operate.

 

[MrM1]

Yes, it’s high frequency.
When I first chose to do this I wasn’t as informed as I am now. (Classic) My original installer was going use Schneider but couldn’t get his crap together, couldn’t get panels he promised in the contract, etc..
Was going to do install myself, bought panels, one Sol-Ark then saw engineer775. I found Sol-Arks EMP hardening, efficiency, bells/whistles attractive. However now all that seems meaningless if I can’t do basic things without faults?
Engineer775 did a great install, added a second 12-K to handle what we wanted to operate.

Yes I'm not trying to be critical or pour salt. Just curious what informed your decision. I know Engineer775 does nice work. Seen several of their videos. But I've watched the Sol-Ark with much curiosity as to why it would be chosen over the other products.

Hope you get it worked out

 

[OffGridInTheCity]

I've followed @Engineer775 for several years now and I don't recall him doing anything BUT SolArk - so I assume he's pushing SolArk or has a deal or something like that.

 

[Samsonite801]

I’ve reached out to Sol-Ark and they will only send out “their” transformer as a band-aid!!

Did they give you any link or reference to the transformer they'd be planning to use for this? Is it one of their part numbers, or some other brand or something?

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Yes I'm not trying to be critical or pour salt. Just curious what informed your decision. I know Engineer775 does not nice work. Seen several of their videos. But I've watched the Sol-Ark with much curiosity as to why it would be chosen over the other products.

Hope you get it worked out

I think mostly Sol-Ark promoted as/promised their inverters do “x,y, z”, on grid, off grid, etc...but obviously they have their issues, for me it seems! Classic over promise, under deliver.
EMP hardening is a good thing too others didn’t offer. Now I question will that really perform as advertised too?

 

[MrM1]

Engineer775 does NICE work. I put "not nice work" in my former post. I corrected it.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Did they give you any link or reference to the transformer they'd be planning to use for this? Is it one of their part numbers, or some other brand or something?

They have not, but was told it’s a transformer they offer....I requested a Solar Edge like David POZ used and was told :
“ We are more than happy to send you the auto-transformer we have in stock at our company free of charge and it work just as you intend the system to. We have been sending our customers these auto-transformers way before David Poz has and we know that these transformers will definitely help alleviate the situation.”

 

[Samsonite801]

They have not, but was told it’s a transformer they offer....I requested a Solar Edge like David POZ used and was told :
“ We are more than happy to send you the auto-transformer we have in stock at our company free of charge and it work just as you intend the system to. We have been sending our customers these auto-transformers way before David Poz has and we know that these transformers will definitely help alleviate the situation.”

So I guess the newer myth that the cutting edge high-frequency inverters can/will perform as well as low-frequency inverters is just not true.

Have you confirmed (when the fault occurs), that the DC battery side is staying up high and strong, and not dipping too low upon the AC output surge?

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Have you confirmed (when the fault occurs), that the DC battery side is staying up high and strong, and not dipping too low upon the AC output surge?

I have not, however Engineer775 came by last week to verify/evaluate the situation and what I posted early was his answer to the problem:

“Okay so if you read the error code I don't think it is an unbalanced load if you read closely it says DC load on the AC output when off grid. That is what I believe is happening because of the green boards. The parallel system stop is always subsequent to this unbalanced load. So if the drywallers are mixing mud with a variable speed drill it is looking like a DC load to the inverters and shutting it down it is not an unbalanced load. Does that make sense”

I’ve pulled higher loads with no issue... I think that’s not the issue..just variable speed loads it appears, SO FAR??

 

[Quattrohead]

Auto-transformer is not going to help if the inverter is shutting down due to it thinks there is DC load on its output, only a fully isolating transformer could help out.
But if these motor loads are back feeding weird voltage spikes/waveforms then they might still go through the transformer and trip the Sol-Ark, depends how big these spikes are and how sensitive the inverter is to them.

 

[Samsonite801]

“Okay so if you read the error code I don't think it is an unbalanced load if you read closely it says DC load on the AC output when off grid. That is what I believe is happening because of the green boards. The parallel system stop is always subsequent to this unbalanced load. So if the drywallers are mixing mud with a variable speed drill it is looking like a DC load to the inverters and shutting it down it is not an unbalanced load. Does that make sense”

Perhaps someone can translate that description into Laymen terms... I don't understand what it means, seems like a riddle I have to figure out...

Might have to measure the circuit with an oscilloscope and see what the actual waveform looks like (as the load is being applied).

 

[robby]

First off, I’m building OFF-GRID.
This has been a sporadic problem, buy since we are now starting to use our system more to finish our build, the problems are just now showing up.
We installed our solar, 12K x 2 stacked, power house, well system, backup generator, etc before building our house.
Despite what people think of David POZ video and how he tripped Sol-Ark, please tell me why my Sol-Arks faults when I’m pulling no big load and only using a small Rigid hand held router, heat gun when making battery cables, portable band saw, corded drill? Faults are F-26 and F-41.

What sized battery system are you using and what was the SOC at the time?
Did you ask Sol-Ark what error F-26 and F-41 are?
Did you let Sol-Ark log into your system and look at what it going on?

LED lighting is all that’s being used to work by until we use a device such those mentioned above that used power. Ive used other devices such as a 12” miter saw, drill press, 120v flux core welder, etc... with no faults.
Last week we had the Sheetrock guys out to hang and finish Sheetrock at our homesite. They were using a corded electric drill to mix the sheet rock mud to finish the sheet rock. I was not there to observe, but the electric drill tripped the Sol-Ark 4 times in about 2-hrs. My app shows all the faults!

How powerful a drill was this sheet rock mixer and was it an additional load to onto you existing loads or did you shutdown stuff to accommodate it?

My system was installed by Engineer775. So it was done by a professional.
Engineer775 says: “Okay so if you read the error code I don't think it is an unbalanced load if you read closely it says DC load on the AC output when off grid.

Sounds like your batteries might not be sagging under the load.

That is what I believe is happening because of the green boards. The parallel system stop is always subsequent to this unbalanced load. So if the drywallers are mixing mud with a variable speed drill it is looking like a DC load to the inverters and shutting it down it is not an unbalanced load. Does that make sense?”

Not sure what you mean, an AC Drill cannot look like a DC load. I have a 15A 120V drill that can most certainly unbalance a single Sol-Ark if their are other appliances on the house on that same leg.

Apparently grid tied fixed or helps this issue, he said.

Grid tied always helps and issue with any inverter.

So with that being said, it appears you don’t need to overload one leg, to make Sol-Ark trip! At $7000.00 per inverter ($14,000.00) this is ridiculous!! I’ve reached out to Sol-Ark and they will only send out “their” transformer as a band-aid!! I wanted upgraded MCU or swap out blue boards but was told this isn’t possible. I then asked for replacement Sol-Arks and we’re not doing that either!!

Thats odd because Sol-Ark said to me that they do not recommend transformers for their systems. I think Ben is the only one I have seen with one and he got it from Signature Solar.

Maybe I need to post a video like David POZ did to show Sol-Ark is not all it’s cracked up to be for the premium price!

You should, let's see what the problem is. You can replicate the situation and we may be able to see what is going on. Plus Engineer775 can respond to the Video.

Not to mention, for the last several weeks Sol-Ark has not started the generator when it needed to be started per preset limits! However a software update this week has seemingly fixed that?

Yes I heard they changed some of the Generator startup parameters in the latest update. I am glad they fixed that problem for you.

So, any thoughts or input on my situation? Forgive me for being extremely angry here in my post, but hope you can imagine what it’s like to have these issues when you’re off grid. Paying for the best and get crappy results. To me a transformer, to fix a transformer-less inverter isn’t a satisfying response.

I would not put a transformer on it. If I was you I would have Sol-Ark log onto your system and then with them watching power up the devices that cause the issue. The have great customer service and will gladly do that.

Edit: My bigger concerns are what else may trip Sol-Arks once we start living there? It’s a hassle and unnerving to not know how stable your only power source will be.
Never thought small items would do this either!

Small items cannot trip 18Kw of power unless something else is wrong. If it's not a battery issue them maybe one of your Sol-Arks has a problem and needs to be sent back to be fixed.

 

[robby]

I've followed @Engineer775 for several years now and I don't recall him doing anything BUT SolArk - so I assume he's pushing SolArk or has a deal or something like that.

Lol thats funny because he just happened to do a SolarEdge Install video yesterday.

 

[Tony Scott]

On the one hand, (I'm US) my AIMS inverters work the same way - e.g. each 120v let is only 50% of max and I went to a fair amount of trouble to make sure my circuits were well balanced so I could get 80% of the capacity. So I don't fault SolArk for this.

One thing that @Engineer775 emphasizes is that SolArks are EMP hardened. Implying that off-grid diehards might survive an EMP attack with a running system. Is this true at all? or is more just a surge protector?

You have to pay for that upgrade $1000 last year when I was thinking about buyimg one, too rich for my blood

 

[Shawn Hayes]

What sized battery system are you using and what was the SOC at the time?
Did you ask Sol-Ark what error F-26 and F-41 are?
Did you let Sol-Ark log into your system and look at what it going on?

For short term temporary power I’m using for four PCC-230’s sold by Sol-Ark. Have built a 16s4p power wall to use for our long term power.
Most of my work occurs during the daytime hours on the weekends and my state of charge is typically 90% or above most days usually 100%.

How powerful a drill was this sheet rock mixer and was it an additional load to onto you existing loads or did you shutdown stuff to accommodate it?

When the sheet rock guys was mixing the mud stayed a charge was 94% at 8:49 AM on the when the multiple faults occurred, after that stayed in charge was 100% the rest of the day. As of yet been able to find out the exact drill they were using.

Sounds like your batteries might not be sagging under the load.

Not sure what you mean, an AC Drill cannot look like a DC load. I have a 15A 120V drill that can most certainly unbalance a single Sol-Ark if their are other appliances on the house on that same leg.

That response was supplied by engineer 775 so you’ll have to ask him? I also stated in my post that the only other appliance running are the LED lights that we are using to work by. I do not have power to the house as it is still under construction. I only have temporary power to run lights and power up the tools that I need to use!

Grid tied always helps and issue with any inverter.

Thats odd because Sol-Ark said to me that they do not recommend transformers for their systems. I think Ben is the only one I have seen with one and he got it from Signature Solar.

I have emailed Sol-Ark to give me more information about the transformers that they are wanting to supply. However they are very slow to respond, typically my email gets answered sometimes the same day but typically takes 24 to 36 hours before I get a reply. Also you will note in when I have posted responses from either Sol-Ark or engineer 775 I have use direct quotes with a copy and paste from messages.

You should, let's see what the problem is. You can replicate the situation and we may be able to see what is going on. Plus Engineer775 can respond to the Video.


Yes I heard they changed some of the Generator startup parameters in the latest update. I am glad they fixed that problem for you.

I would not put a transformer on it. If I was you I would have Sol-Ark log onto your system and then with them watching power up the devices that cause the issue. The have great customer service and will gladly do that.

I have been back-and-forth with Sol-Ark about this issue for the last couple of weeks. Dylan Rup did not ever respond to the original email I sent. I called and left multiple messages and got a call back finally. I have been dealing with one customer service person since that time. Not once have they asked to log onto the system and take a look at what’s going on. My system is not online typically, but due to the issues that I’ve been having, I bought a tablet with a Wi-Fi hotspot and have my system connected to the Internet since January 1 so that I can track the data and Sol-Ark and see what’s going on. However after engineer 775 came over and visited last week, they pushed an update to the system that did seem to help my generator issue as stated. To my knowledge this is the only time they have looked into the system since these issues have been going on.

Small items cannot trip 18Kw of power unless something else is wrong. If it's not a battery issue them maybe one of your Sol-Arks has a problem and needs to be sent back to be fixed.

According to engineer 775, I have the early generation models with a green circuit boards. He claims that this is the problem and Sol-Ark should fix it/replace. Therefore I have gone back-and-forth with Sol-Ark trying to get a resolution and so far the only resolution they offer is sending some sort of transformer and I emailed asking more information about this transformer and have yet to get a response.