Brucey
Velcro Man
At some point doesn't FTC require disclosure of compensation? Just like the youtubers?
Sol-Ark will be doing Server Maintenance Jan 20 - 22
- Thread starter robby
- Start date
redriverguy
New Member
Checked all the settings a few times. I see nothing that could limit the output. Currently, only grid sell selected, max 15KW export with no TOU or other options selected. Batteries are only at 50%. Still limited at 500W/hr. Can't find any setting that could cause it.
42OhmsPA
Who likes Electrical Gremlins?
No idea on that one but it's a good question. Would be really hard to enforce.
robby
Electronic Engineer
- Joined
- May 1, 2021
- Messages
- 5,187
Since this morning I no longer see TOU slots on the Web Portal.
Are you sure your TOU slot power output on the Inverter have not been messed with?
Check the LCD.
Do you also have SolarAssistant running? SA is showing all the correct data.
Brucey
Velcro Man
Make eg4s_sig solars continued participation on the forum dependent on providing a list of "compensated members" to forum management for tagging as "sponsored by eg4"?. Just like I'd expect if someone was receiving discounted Victron, Midnite or sol-ark gear.
Quattrohead
Emperor Of Solar
Then you lot would have to show payments from whomever is paying you to hate on eg4 LOL.
SunDave
Solar Addict
Thou doth protest too much.
robby
Electronic Engineer
- Joined
- May 1, 2021
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- 5,187
Times have certainly changed and I guess you have to change with them.
There is an American company called called MFJ Enterprises that sells Cheap versions of ham radio accessories.
It's owned by a guy called (Martin F. Jue). He is one hell of a Character, you can find some Interview videos with him on YouTube
If you want to see a old 100% Chinese guy speak with a heavy Southern Mississippi accent then go watch him. Martin is a brilliant engineer, he designs and builds his own prototypes and then builds his own production lines.
Anyway the top Equipment reviewers back in the day would typically not review his equipment or keep reviews really short, like saying "Yes there is also the MFJ version of this product".
The idea was not to be rude and say it was bad or poorly made, but to just avoid having to mention it so viewers would avoid buying it.
Then one day a Operator on the Air said that MFJ stood for "Mighty Fine Junk"
Within weeks everyone was joking about it.
Well that fixed the Problem, people had no issues doing reviews anymore because we were all on the same page about what kind of product you were getting when you bought an MFJ product.
There is an American company called called MFJ Enterprises that sells Cheap versions of ham radio accessories.
It's owned by a guy called (Martin F. Jue). He is one hell of a Character, you can find some Interview videos with him on YouTube
If you want to see a old 100% Chinese guy speak with a heavy Southern Mississippi accent then go watch him. Martin is a brilliant engineer, he designs and builds his own prototypes and then builds his own production lines.
Anyway the top Equipment reviewers back in the day would typically not review his equipment or keep reviews really short, like saying "Yes there is also the MFJ version of this product".
The idea was not to be rude and say it was bad or poorly made, but to just avoid having to mention it so viewers would avoid buying it.
Then one day a Operator on the Air said that MFJ stood for "Mighty Fine Junk"
Within weeks everyone was joking about it.
Well that fixed the Problem, people had no issues doing reviews anymore because we were all on the same page about what kind of product you were getting when you bought an MFJ product.
Brucey
Velcro Man
He/she didn't deny a thing ....
SunDave
Solar Addict
42OhmsPA
Who likes Electrical Gremlins?
I don't need or get paid, I'm just an honest asshole. I never would have bought a SolArk from the get go, I won't buy a deye after the remote bricking fiasco either. I did consider EG4 / Lux for a minute but had a bad taste left in my mouth after a PM...
Currently the 4 OEMs I would spend my money on are Schneider, SRNE, Victron and the real Midnite.
SunDave
Solar Addict
Could I ask why? Just curious. I know why on Deye with the recent lack of communication as to why inverters were bricked.
Cost, opposition to marketing tactics?
Myself I am open to most brands in solar, cars, computers, TVs. But once I get burned, I often steer away from the brand.
42OhmsPA
Who likes Electrical Gremlins?
The whole claiming to be made in USA then changing the website was the main reason for me. The cost compared to the same Deye was also part of it.
Brands don't mean much to me either. I care more about reliability and durability.
ksmithaz1
Solar / EV Junkie
SolArk products are solid and stable, and I'd say the EG4 gear is rapidly reaching parity. The nice thing about EG4 is they keep SolArk honest, witness price drop once the 18Kpv got traction. In the grand scheme if you are not DIY'ing $1-2000 on a $50K system is not going to sway much, of a decision, and reality is a contractor generally has fixed configurations that are tested and functional as designed with whatever their favorite gear is. When you DIY you see a lot more of the warts in particular with immature products, because people often use and configure items in ways that were never envisioned by the designers.
Further companies that worked mostly with contractors (like enphase) have had a chance to fix their warts slowly and quietly and under the radar with the help of the quiet experience of these folks bringing the problems to light directly to the manufacturer. I have confidence SolArk will correct any issues, and frankly the EG4 monitoring is not all that wonderful either, though it has improved dramatically, bloviation of the company aside.
I find it amusing to assume that all SolArk owners decided to make changes to their inverters during a major upgrade/maintenance window. Their CIO should probably look for another gig, after this fiasco, there really is no excuse for trashing an inverter: Step 1. Disable any remote updating of inverters during the change. DOH! But they will get it corrected.
Further companies that worked mostly with contractors (like enphase) have had a chance to fix their warts slowly and quietly and under the radar with the help of the quiet experience of these folks bringing the problems to light directly to the manufacturer. I have confidence SolArk will correct any issues, and frankly the EG4 monitoring is not all that wonderful either, though it has improved dramatically, bloviation of the company aside.
I find it amusing to assume that all SolArk owners decided to make changes to their inverters during a major upgrade/maintenance window. Their CIO should probably look for another gig, after this fiasco, there really is no excuse for trashing an inverter: Step 1. Disable any remote updating of inverters during the change. DOH! But they will get it corrected.
SunDave
Solar Addict
Thank you. I like to hear why, even at the risk of making my decisions look dumb
Marketing gimmicks are more of a turn off than most companies think. For anyone that actually does research anyhow.
I went into my planning phase knowing a year or two later I would want to sell to the grid. I wanted UL, fewer connections, I didn't love the idea of a sub-panel (wanted to back up the whole "main panel"). There were two other Sol-Ark installs locally, one 15k and one 8k. That was part of my last minute change to Pytes for battery. One of them had Pytes, and the UL combo listing made the inspector happy with the batteries all in one spot. Not a knock on EG4, but I'm glad I switched to Pytes last minute just for the good coms, and the combo listing. Was looking at the LL series at the time.
Things change fast. Would have probably got the Pytes V5 today, but I'm happy with it as is.
42OhmsPA
Who likes Electrical Gremlins?
That's the most important part of it.
If your system works how you planned and you are happy that's all that matters. Who gives a damn what others say or think, I sure don't.
No argument there, they have good roots.
Give em time.
That was quick. Now what are we going to pick on each other about, geez I'm taking my popcorn to another thread.
Armorer266
Power Companies Hate This One Trick
Have you been able to confirm that a change in the app won't screw up the unit. I had to travel this afternoon and my TOU setting are still screwed up, pulling from the Grid and not batteries. I had thought I placed all the settings back to where they were on the unit guess not, I always used the app and not the panel... I was charging batteries and sending power to the grid when I left DC solar and Micros were making power.
Either way waiting until I get home to do it manually on the inverter. The issue this morning was I fixed my battery, TOU, and micro inverter settings... then hit update as i saw thay were all wrong and panicked as the sun was starting to make power. I never checked that whatever they did on their end in the app update/ server whatever system would FUBAR all the grid settings and other crap ad well so the system faulted and shut down. It did restart but that moment in the morning drinking coffee reading emails was a big WTF moment. Not gonna chance my wife out there with a flashlight trying to factory reset all this crap and turn breaker and disconnects off.
Someone let me know if they can update a setting with causing a fault. Not doing it tonight we can draw power from the grid for a day until I get home. Just let me know. Thanks
He doth. She doth. Thou dost.
redriverguy
New Member
Don't have SA yet, hopefully soon. Yes, I did check LCD and no TOU selected. Despite that it was happening. A power cycle took care of it! All is fine now. Thanks
Armorer266
Power Companies Hate This One Trick
To answer my own question if anyone else is wondering yes the App is working again and adjustments can be made on it again.
robby
Electronic Engineer
- Joined
- May 1, 2021
- Messages
- 5,187
I am going to go on the record and say that Sol-Ark kind of mismanaged this update.
They should have taken the setting options offline and just kept the Power Generation data online.
These are two different servers so I don't know why they could not link the Settings page to one with just a notification that the systems are under Maintenance.
If that was not possible then they need to disable the Save button and put up a small screen notification that they are doing maintenance.
For Veteran users we knew it was a bad idea to do anything in the settings when we saw all of those weird values showing up, but for newbie's this was a serious trap.
They should have taken the setting options offline and just kept the Power Generation data online.
These are two different servers so I don't know why they could not link the Settings page to one with just a notification that the systems are under Maintenance.
If that was not possible then they need to disable the Save button and put up a small screen notification that they are doing maintenance.
For Veteran users we knew it was a bad idea to do anything in the settings when we saw all of those weird values showing up, but for newbie's this was a serious trap.
churizo2004
New Member
I had issues prior to this update going back to September 2024 but the outcome is the same. My Sol-Ark for my system properly collects data however it cannot actually read or apply parameters. I verified this last year and this week that it presents a confirmation if I change a parameter (say as simple as TOU Time entry or grid sell limit) but it doesn't apply the change to my inverter. I have several fundamental issues with this, primarily that my inverter (15k) doesn't give me access to such things as limit "ranges" such as max solar power and so I can't update that even from the inverter and require My Sol-Ark to access it, which it has been unable to do. It seems I will again have to engage solark support to try to determine how to remedy this. I would like to get to a point where I can disconnect from the Solark servers altogether, but since they don't provide the same access to parameters (such as Max Solar Power) in the inverter software, this represents a huge problem and limitation for users desiring to go off grid and off My Sol-Ark.
SunDave
Solar Addict
While solar assistant can be work to set up, and is not perfect. I appreciate having another tool to make changes if needed. So that is an option you could look into.
I would definitely get Sol-Ark support to fix any issues first of course.
Quattrohead
Emperor Of Solar
Sounds like you may still be connected to the China server for the settings part, this has happened to other people.
Solark got themselves into a right pickle doing this conversion.
Solark got themselves into a right pickle doing this conversion.