{"id":35533,"date":"2019-12-09T14:07:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T03:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=35533"},"modified":"2024-07-03T12:22:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T02:52:21","slug":"exploding-isolators-inverter-recalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/exploding-isolators-inverter-recalls\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tale Of Exploding Isolators: Alliance Solar, Can You Hear Us?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"risk

De-energising a solar system can be dangerous if done incorrectly.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alliance Solar doesn\u2019t seem to have a media manager, and that\u2019s a problem, because we reckon a bit of crisis communications will be in order. SolarQuotes emailed the company at its only public address, the ubiquitous info@ format, because its website doesn\u2019t mention a media contact.<\/p>\n

Why? Because a solar power system owner has posted tales of exploding kit in their reviews of Alliance Solar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The solar isolator explosion, which seem to arise from tech support telling people to disconnect an isolator while the system is under load, have also alerted an Alliance Solar customer, Peta and Lee, that their inverter brand was subject to a recall last year.<\/p>\n

There was Peta\u2019s review, which said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had our system installed two years ago. The alarm light came up recently so my husband called to report an issue. He was talked through a shutdown process and the unit proceeded to blow up in his face. Yep! He could of been killed . Nearly two weeks later no response from customer service so I did some googling today. I found out that the inverter brand we were sold was recalled two months after we bought it as it does not meet Australian standards and is potentially dangerous. I\u2019m beyond shocked and will be contacting the ombudsman in the morning.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We confirmed the details of the review in conversation with Peta last week, and in addition Lee added:<\/p>\n

\u201cSales person was good enough. Promised the world at an acceptable price for the ‘German Technology’.\u00a0Chinese Products installed with incorrect frames.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inverter blew up in my face whilst the ‘Technician’ on the other end of the phone talked me through a reset procedure. After some digging we found out that the brand we had been sold was recalled shortly after installation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I suspect from the huge flash, the bang that put me on my arse, and the smoke emanating from the box that If I had been in contact with it at the time things could have been much worse.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We would like to talk to Alliance Solar about this, but as I said, the company hasn\u2019t responded to our e-mail.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s going on? Peta\u2019s photos provide a hint.<\/p>\n

\"Inverter

Peta’s damaged isolator, and the recalled inverter. Image: supplied<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Damaged

Close-up of the damaged isolator<\/p><\/div>\n

As you can see, it\u2019s the isolator that went \u201cbang\u201d rather than the inverter, and to find out why this would happen we talked to Abs Sultan of Sunseeker Electrical. He explained that in larger systems where strings of solar panels are connected in parallel, users must not shut off solar panel isolators if the system is under load.<\/p>\n

Where people most often get it wrong is when a fault on the system raises an alarm, and they have to reset the inverter.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay you have 30 amps on a string – if you try to just shut it off, you send that 30 amps back up to the isolator.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis happens when you have strings in parallel on the roof – a fault will happen in one string, and when you cut it off, it will try to run through the other string, it will go through the other isolator.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

From Finn:<\/em><\/p>\n

A warning to homeowners: if you are not confident how to reset a solar inverter safely – don’t.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A warning to solar companies: be very careful if asking a customer to reset their solar inverter over the phone – if at all possible physically do it for them.<\/strong> Even if you give them the correct instructions, from the other end of the phone it is hard to be sure they are switching off the inverter’s AC isolator, not the DC isolator(s).<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Abs sent us a video showing just how dramatic it can be if you get it wrong!<\/p>\n