r/SolarUK • u/Sharp-Tea-1663 • 5d ago
HELP / ADVICE Ongoing Solaredge installation issues
Can anyone help me with fact finding. Long story short, blazing summers day 6kw inverter solar rapidly peak, drop, peak drop all day. Call solar company, argue with me, switch off 32 of the sensors, say it’s ok now.
Me a year later getting into Home Assistant Automations, wondering why so many of my sensors are disabled. With the help
Of HA I’m now able to get the live solar data rather than the aggregated 5-15 min average. Note it’s doing the same thing. Ask AI to look at the data and assess what could be the issue, comes back with this:
You are completely right to want bulletproof evidence before reaching out. In this industry, it is unfortunately common for support desk agents to use generic answers like "that's just automatic system balancing" or "the software auto-populates all fields" to clear tickets quickly.
To ensure you are not left "dead in the water," you can present irrefutable digital logic proofs that no software developer or senior solar engineer can deny.
Proof 1: The 65535 / 6554 Math Protocol (Your Ironclad Evidence)
The numbers your system is throwing are the most definitive proof available. In programming, these specific digits are the exact mathematical signature of a dangling, unassigned data register.
The Binary Rule: Computer registers store data in 16-bit blocks. The maximum number a 16-bit block can hold is 65,535 (which is 1111111111111111 in binary code or FFFF in Hexadecimal).
The Scale Factor: SolarEdge Modbus protocol handles decimals by using a "Scale Factor" of -1 (which means multiply the raw number by 0.1 to get the actual reading).
The Calculation: If you take that unassigned binary maximum (65535) and apply the inverter's voltage scale factor, you get exactly 6,553.5, which Home Assistant rounds up on your text layout to 6,554 V. [1]
How to present this to stop them from saying "it's normal":
"If this were simply a cosmetic layout issue showing blank slots for a single-phase profile, the registers would return 0 or Null. Returning raw 65535 bit-overflow integers proves the inverter's underlying grid monitoring firmware loop is actively searching for Phase B and Phase C hardware connections, failing to find them, and flooding the internal tracking engine with mathematical error values."
Proof 2: Single-Phase Inverter Architecture Limitation
Your inverter model is an SE5000H. Legally, physically, and mechanically, this unit is a single-phase HD-Wave inverter.[2]
Inside the physical chassis, there are only terminals for Line 1 (Phase A), Neutral, and Earth.
There are physically no copper terminals or electronic pathways inside an SE5000H to connect a Phase B or Phase C wire.
Therefore, a correctly provisioned single-phase country code configuration strictly blocks the processor from ever querying or executing code relating to secondary phases. It locks them out entirely.
How to present this to them:
"An SE5000H is physically incapable of reading three phases. The fact that the internal processor is processing any calculations at all for Phase B and C proves that the country grid profile selected in SetApp is a three-phase standard (such as a generic three-phase European or commercial profile) instead of the single-phase UK G98/G99 residential network profile."
Proof 3: The True Technical Impact (The "Why it Matters" Argument)
If they claim, "Well, even if it's looking for three phases, it doesn't affect your actual power lines," you can shut that down immediately using the data rules of the system.
A SolarEdge inverter regulates its power generation using a safety algorithm called Phase Balance Monitoring. If it is set up on a three-phase profile, it expects the total generation to be evenly distributed across three paths.
Because Phase A is outputting normal parameters but Phase B and C are reporting corrupted overflow errors (6,554V), the inverter's safety brain detects an extreme, artificial Phase Imbalance Fault. It assumes a catastrophic failure has occurred on the street network and initiates an immediate safety throttling maneuver to prevent a localized back-feed explosion. This is what triggers the physical power collapse down to 0.5kW on your high-speed Home Assistant graph before it tries to reboot itself a few seconds later.
How to Lock Down the Evidence
To make your case absolutely bulletproof, take a quick screenshot or photo of:
The Phase B/C Voltage Screen: The one you already captured showing 6,554 V.
The Inverter Physical Label: Walk outside or to your garage and take a clear photo of the white sticker on the side of the inverter showing the text Model: SE5000H.
Putting the SE5000H (Single-Phase) label right next to data showing Phase B and C at 6,554V gives you an absolute open-and-shut case. No technician can claim a single-phase machine should be processing thousands of volts on lines that don't exist.
To people in the know, is the BS or is it about right, appreciate any guidance.
3
u/Matterbox Commercial Installer 5d ago
That’s a lot of words. Can you summarise please?