Are you experiencing issues with your solar system? This may be due to faulty panels, wiring, inverter or even grid issues. Determining the cause of an underperforming solar system can be tricky, which is why you should always get CEC Accredited Installers and Designers to check your equipment.
Our solar technicians are fully licensed professionals who will help you get the most out of your solar power equipment, whether it was installed with us or not. They’ll check your installation thoroughly, detect and correct any existing issues, and determine their origin in order to prevent them from causing failures in the future.
How does a solar health check work?
1. Symptoms and Diagnostic
First of all, our operators will collect as much information as possible about your solar power system (when it was installed and by whom, how often you’ve had it serviced, if you’ve ever encountered issues before and what they were) and work to determine the origin of your issue in order to give it the appropriate response. Here are four common issues:
- You’ve noticed that your inverter is switching off and trying to restart during the day: this may be because the grid tolerance parameter is set too low, the grid voltage at your property is set too high or because of a faulty meter.
- Your isolator is burned out and the export to the grid is dropping: this can be due to a poorly terminated, tightened or polarised cable.
- One of your panels has failed by going into open circuit: there might be a diode failure that’s causing your inverter to run at a small percentage of its capability.
- Your inverter is failing to start in summer: this is probably due to the hot temperature of the panels and can be fixed by spraying panels with cold water or installing additional panels.
There are as many possible causes to your problem as there are solutions to solve it!
2. Examination and Tests
Then, our experts will inspect your entire equipment and make sure it’s in good condition, functional and well-maintained. This includes your:
- Inverter
- Panels
- Cables (fly leads, pinched cables…)
- Isolators (wiring termination, tightening, polarity)
They will also take your system’s vitals by measuring voltage and run a number of tests such as inverter live and dead tests, VOC and ISC checks.
3. Preventive Treatment
Optimising your power consumption
Our specialists can estimate your savings and provide guidance on how to use your system better in order to reach your financial and environmental goals. For example, using your electrically intensive devices in the daytime will allow you to use more of what you produce from solar and reduce what you need from the grid at peak rates. Using these items during peak solar production times (10am – 4pm) will see you use more of what you produce, resulting in savings on your energy bill.
Keeping your solar panels clean
We also recommend washing your solar panels regularly in order to maintain them in good condition. However, the associated cost of soiling tests and cleaning of solar panels to the increased performance output does not stack up financially. Do not get us wrong, washing panels at the time of the electrical health check is warranted, but unfortunately, we have seen the rise of window washing companies with no electrical qualifications recommending in some circumstances 3 monthly washes, which is a complete waste of money. A regular shower every 6 months is enough to remove the transient soiling for the more stubborn. Soiling every 12/24 months is more than enough.
Get best-practice advice from our qualified staff!
4. Curative Treatment
Even if your inverter is no longer covered by warranty, we can still help! Replacements begin at $750 for a 1.5kW inverter. Our experienced technicians can carry out an inverter health check to test your system for faults. They can resolve minor faults on the spot and can provide an onsite quote to resolve any larger issues.
If they determine that your inverter cannot be repaired, they can install a replacement inverter during the same visit, saving you further down time and additional call out fees.
Book your solar health check now
Let us take care of your inverter headaches. Book your system in for an inverter health check by calling us on 1300 73 93 55 or by completing this form.
