Quick Answers for SunCommon Customers

You may be able to clear the error by resetting your inverter. Before you do anything, please write down the error message or take a picture of it so we can help with additional steps if needed. Once you’ve recorded the error, try these simple steps to reset your system, be sure to do this during daylight hours.

Watch our easy to follow video:

or, follow these step by step instructions below.

1. Turn off the DC disconnect on your inverter. This is the black dial on the front or bottom of the inverter. Simply turn it to the “off” position.
2. Turn off your system’s AC disconnect. This is located outside next to your utility meter and is just a lever that you’ll pull down into the “off” position.
3. Wait five minutes, then turn them back on in reverse order. Throw the AC lever back up into the “on” position, then turn the dial on the inverter back to the “on” position to bring the DC back online.

The inverter will start to turn back on and may take a minute or two to reboot. You should see the main screen as normal once the reboot is complete with no error message. If the issue persists or if you’re not seeing information that pertains to your system, please give us a call at 802-882-8685.

If you find that you have had to reset your inverter more than a couple times for whatever reason, please let us know. We will to look into that.

Solar monitoring is a great tool that allows you to check in on your solar system and see how it’s doing on any given day. That said, monitoring applications can be a little finicky sometimes.

First, let’s confirm that your system is operating and the problem is just with the internet connection or software that reports your production. To confirm your system is operating, please check your inverter for any error message or red lights. If you see an error, please take these steps to try and reset your system. 

If you have green lights on your inverter and no error messages, then you know your system is operating just fine and it is the reporting software that has lost its connection. Follow these video instructions on reestablishing your connection.

 Things to keep in mind:

Whether your monitoring is working or not does not affect how you are credited by your utility.   That is the job of your production meter that is tied directly to the utility meter.

Some of you may be able to see your production on your utility’s website when you log into your account – the utility website in fact is a more reliable and accurate way to see your production.

Your monitoring will not show production at night because your system shuts down when the sun goes down.

The short answer is no. We’d prefer you don’t climb on your roof to wrestle snow off your panels or use a rake to pull a load of snow down on top of you. The panels are dark and will soon gather enough sun to melt the snow which will slide off the slick glass surface. Swinging a rake or shovel up there could harm a panel or catch on a roof-mount. And of course the warranty doesn’t cover damage caused by the homeowner.

Things to keep in mind: We designed your system with deep winters in mind, meaning we planned for short cloudy days and snow coverage. Don’t worry; you’ll make up for it in the summer!

If you would like to learn more about snow on solar panels You can find information in our full length article Snow on Solar Panels. 

Solar doesn’t work at night. But that’s okay! At night your solar panels and inverter power down. The inverter isn’t running overnight because it doesn’t want to draw power. Instead it’ll wake back up when the sun shines in the morning.

Your home and solar system are connected to the utility grid. On long, sunny days, your solar panels pour power past the meter – running it backwards – racking up credits on your utility bill. You draw down those credits overnight or during the darker, winter months. This is all thanks to a process called net-metering. It’s that simple.

Solar panels do produce better at cooler temperatures! Heat is hard on electronics in the summer, so the cooler months provide more efficient solar production. So, those hot blue sky summer days? Your solar system will be cranking, but you won’t see it performing at its max power level.

Learn more in our full length article How do the seasons and weather affect my solar production?

Unless you have Home Energy Storage, solar doesn’t produce energy when the power is out.  If your power goes out, contact your utility company to be sure they are aware of the outage.

Once the power is back on, there are a few steps you can take to check the system and make sure it’s all working as usual:

• You may need to reset your internet connection to re-establish monitoring communication – just unplug your router for about 5 minutes, then plug it back in. It can take your monitoring a day or so to come back online.

• Take a look at your inverter. If the display looks normal, great! Your system is working properly and producing clean solar energy. If there’s an error code, simply reset the inverter by following these steps:

1. Turn off the DC disconnect on your inverter. This is the black dial on the front or bottom of the inverter. Simply turn it to the “off” position.
2. Turn off your system’s AC disconnect. This is located outside next to your utility meter and is just a lever that you’ll pull down into the “off” position.
3. Wait five minutes, then turn them back on in reverse order. Throw the AC lever back up into the “on” position, then turn the dial on the inverter back to the “on” position to bring the DC back online.

The inverter will start to turn back on and may take a minute or two to reboot. You should see the main screen as normal once the reboot is complete with no error message.

If you take these steps and still aren’t seeing information about your system on the inverter, please give us a call at 802-882-8685.