{"id":86804,"date":"2025-02-21T11:36:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T02:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=86804"},"modified":"2025-02-20T16:57:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T07:27:19","slug":"great-inverter-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/great-inverter-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Inverters Don’t Stick To The Script: Neither Should Customer Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Modern solar power systems are becoming complex beasts, so it’s more important than ever that you have the best possible support behind the product you buy. Read on as we share a masterclass in customer service from Fronius.<\/p>\n


\nI’ll be honest and say I’ve had no cause to ring Fronius lately, but as an installer I’ve always found them good.<\/p>\n

Fronius were the first on my phone to have an app<\/a> where you could register a warranty failure and get a new unit underway without having<\/em> to speak to a human. However, there was always someone available on the phone when you had a peculiar problem, an unlisted fault code or needed help setting up your first Gen24 unit.<\/p>\n

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I know this Fronius representative, he’s often logging on and fixing things well beyond normal working hours. Names have been blurred to protect the guilty because I’d hate to see him tagged to death outside the normal support channels.<\/p><\/div>\n

No Product Is Perfect<\/h2>\n

Of course, there will always be faulty machines from time to time. You find that out when installing thousands of them.<\/p>\n

Years ago my former employer was selling many Omnik inverters and was approached to be the local service agent for them. The factory offered enough extra stock to replace 2% of what we sold, as that’s what their own durability testing said the failure rates were.<\/p>\n

In reality, they struggled when loaded up to maximum capacity. With parallel arrays we could roast them in an Australian summer because there was no fan cooling. Connecting arrays in series would lessen the heat, but then they’d pop on cold winter days when the voltage climbed too high.<\/p>\n

They wouldn’t give us 5%, so there was no deal. Thankfully, my own Omnik blew up just outside of its 5-year warranty, teaching me not to buy cheap crap from my mates and giving me the opportunity to use Fronius instead.<\/p>\n

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Even the managing director for one of Fronius’ major competitors recognises good service when he sees it.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ask Your Installer; Have They Processed A Warranty Claim?<\/h2>\n

I’ve had one Fronius suffer a literal meltdown: we found melted metal solidified in the bottom of the case. Another went off with a bang when the DC cables on the roof were shorted to earth with a screw. The former was an illegitimate warranty claim, but neither posed any problem to get fixed.<\/p>\n

Many of the Fronius units I’ve replaced simply had water ingress problems from poor installation methods, back when all the cool kids put DC conduits straight into the back for a seamless look and the rules didn’t prohibit it.<\/p>\n

I’ve certainly never heard of a systemic fault with a particular model of Fronius, unlike the 5kW Growatt which ran to a 350% failure rate<\/a> on one of my jobs. Or the running industry joke that was SolarEdge<\/a> and their standard response of “highly unusual” when presented with yet another blown HD Wave unit.<\/p>\n

Companies pretending there’s no problem really winds people up when the evidence is staring them in the face.<\/p>\n

Some Support Could Be Improved<\/h2>\n

All tech support needs patience. Many of the “technicians” are I think just call centre employees, maybe graduate engineers. They strike me as people with a technical script but no lived experience.<\/p>\n

There have to be entry-level jobs like this, but it’s also a place you should find people with lots of experience. Attracting the trades who are too worn down or injured to lift panels up a ladder should be a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

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The hours you can waste on the phone can be highly frustrating.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tech Support Needs Two Tiers<\/h2>\n