Electrical

Solar Hybrid Inverter gone Pop

Anonymous user 16/03/2024 - 2.46 PM

Hi, I'm really sorry this is a bit long-winded but please stick with it! Just after a recent power cut, I noticed our solar hybrid inverter had a massive outward dent in the case and was not looking at all well. The installers said that it's outside of their two-year workmanship warranty but they suggested that it could have been a surge and to contact Northern Powergrid to see if one was logged. No surge logged by NPG but they could see the power cut - nothing to do with them they said (and they caveat everything to say that they won't pay for damaged equipment either). The inverter was sent to the UK suppliers and possibly on to the manufacturers in China (although not sure about this) and they have said it's not something they're willing to replace, despite having never seen this problem before (I think they said that a transformer had blown). They claim it's something on the house side (possibly relating to a surge-like event) but I'd have thought the consumer unit would have dealt with this. Buildings and contents insurance won't cover it as they say the inverter is within its 10-year guarantee (which it is) and so it's not something they'd cover as it wasn't accidentally damaged - seems crazy that if I'd accidentally taken a hammer to it then they'd cover it but having done nothing wrong, they won't... One final possibility is that we had the consumer unit replaced 6 months before the inverter went pop and the electrician who did the work replaced the 16A fuse on the solar system with a 40A fuse. At the time, I'd showed him the MCS paperwork that we got with the solar system which clearly shows a 16A fuse. The electrician said that the wire (H6242Y Twin and Earth Cable, 6mm²) connecting the consumer unit to the solar system could take the load but my concern was that it would then just transport the higher load to the solar system which didn't sound good. He assured me that he knew what he was doing and I gave in to his expertise. I'm now wondering if this could be the root cause of the issue and that something has happened which the consumer unit should have absorbed but the higher rating of this fuse has actually allowed the inverter to get zapped instead. I clearly didn't pay enough attention to my physics lessons at school so I'm well outside of my knowledge base here. We're now looking down the wrong end of a quite large replacement cost and I'm wondering if there's anything that I can do to help recover some costs. I got a Part P certificate from the electrician but I'm not sure whether that gives me any grounds for recourse and whether it's anything to do with him anyway. Can anyone tell me if the 40A fuse is likely to be a problem or if it's a red herring please? If it is how would I prove that please? If not, could it be the inverter? Would I have any luck chasing an apparent warranty from a Chinese company (nothing wrong with Chinese but I know they work under different legal standards) Cheers, Sam