Hey everyone! I recently moved into a new home in California, and as part of the building regulations, it came with a solar system—installed by SunPower, which is now out of business. Unfortunately, my solar system hasn't produced any power since August. I had an external solar contractor check it out, and here's what they found:
- The solar disconnect breaker shows 240V, indicating the grid is up and it should be producing power.
- They measured only 1 Amp at the solar breaker, which is significantly low for a working system.
- All the microinverters under the solar panels are blinking green like they should when working.
- The connections at a junction box on the roof look good, no issues there.
- Looking at the PG&E smart meter, it showed positive usage, meaning I'm relying on grid power instead of feeding back into it.
My neighbor's meter was sending power back, so something's off with my setup. Any thoughts on how I can troubleshoot this or get it working again?
2 Answers
What brand of microinverter do you have? This info could really help us figure out what’s going on. For instance, if it’s Enphase, you might see blinking green lights which could mean it's operational, but check if it's actually performing well because microinverters work individually. One panel might be functional while another might not be. Do you have access to the app for your system? That could give you deeper insights into performance.
From what the tech observed, you might only be producing around 240W with the current readings. If you have 12 panels, something’s not right—it's either not getting enough light or several inverters may be offline. Because microinverter systems are specific, you'll need the right monitoring setup to dig deeper.
Check which brand your microinverters are. Many SunPower systems use Enphase products. If it’s Enphase, look for their 'Envoy' internet gateway, which is crucial for monitoring. If SunPower is still branded on your stuff, it’s likely using that and wouldn’t work as SunPower's platform is kaput now. You'll probably need to get a new gateway directly from Enphase. It can be a bit pricey but worth it to bring your system back online and see what's really happening. Once you have that set up, you can tackle potential firmware updates or device replacements as needed.
I believe it’s a SunPower system, which probably means it has Enphase components. I'll find out how to check the app for real-time updates!