So I had the system commissioned near the end of May 2023 and it was working brilliantly until a few weeks ago. I had the sudden SOC drop to 0% like alot of other people so I upgraded to the 3013 firmware. About a week or so ago, I noticed in Home Assistant that the battery wasn't charging despite it being a bright and sunny day. I tried to restart it and then it worked fine until yesterday when it exhibited the same behaviour again and restarts did nothing. I took a poke at the logs and it seems there is now a relay fault. I contacted the installer who promptly got ahold of Givenergy who remote'd in and poked at a few settings but to no avail. I've now been told by my installer that Givenergy has yet to set an appointment time for an engineer to come out but, to add insult to injury, it appears that it might be a few weeks until they can make it up to the Edinburgh area where my installation is.
I paid a crapload of money for this system as well as shelling out extra for the 10 year warranty. I also just signed up for Flux a few days before so this delay will also start to cost me more money as most of our usage is between 4pm and 7pm.
So my question to the forum: any ideas on how to encourage Givenergy to set an appointment and just replace the inverter? My installer said he suggested to them that they send a replacement unit that he would then fit and he'd return the faulty unit (which given the error of faulty relay) seems like a reasonable offer but they refused and are insisting on sending out an engineer who will probably not being bringing a replacement unit so then I'll have to do without until they can sort that out and an appointment time with my installer.
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#2TX200
They only have so many engineers. A different department books the installer visits, support desk can't do that - which is why they can't tell you straight away when it'll be.
I suspect they try to arrange the appointments so they are all roughly in the same area (region/city?) each day.
When mine was replaced they said 3-4 weeks, but it was sorted in exactly two weeks.
The engineer did have a replacement inverter in the van and swapped my faulty one out.
#3hoggy
Not sure if you've also posted on Facebook but there's been a few on their recently aswell this week with relay faults. Unsure if it's a location thing and there's been a grid fault that's affecting your region, a bad inverter batch or just pure coincidence.
K
#4KamenMacKay
hoggy No, I'm not on facebook but I have seen other posts in the forums here with similar symptoms. Can you explain how a grid fault would cause a problem? Are we talking about a voltage spike from the grid that the inverter would detect and shut itself down to protect itself or something else?
#5hoggy
KamenMacKay yes basically a short voltage spike causing damage to the inverter relays / grid input side of the inverter.
However I've just noticed you said it was installed in May. I believe that looking back at the FB post yesterday those were also installed in May so that makes 4 of you I think with that in common.
You should be able to view that without an account.
K
#6KamenMacKay
hoggy Yup, it looks like bad batch so this should be a top priority fix for Givenergy in my opinion. If you wouldn't mind, can post in that same forum that I've had a similar issue with a link to my post. Maybe if we get enough eyeballs on this, we can get something done quickly about this.
Hello. I'm one (possible the first to post it yesterday) on Facebook that has the same issue.
Gen 2 5kw with 9.5kWh battery installed 22nd May. I'm in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
I am livid. Hear this GivEnergy - LIVID! GivE are now costing us money as our systems are down and we have to import from the grid.
I have no interest in "they only have a few engineers" and they "arrange them to cover an area at a time" talk. I know that, and it's a poor show. GivE are good, their kit and it's integration with other stuff is great. Paul and the team that watch Facebook are superb but their engineering aftercare side in this type of situation is a disgrace. Absolute disgrace. And they need to sort that out.
If there is a wider issue going on here with firmware, or settings, or grid overvoltage then I'm happy to assist in helping to diagnose that, but 2 to 3 weeks for service is not good enough.
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#9KamenMacKay
what we need is a plan of action then?
Who should we start calling, one by one, at givenergy? which number do we need to call to get the ball rolling. If that fails, who can we contact in the press regarding this? Maybe one of the UK youtubers (EV Man or Speak to The Geek) could help out here if anyone has personal contact with them to make this issue more public?
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#10KamenMacKay
@DMC3445546hoggy@TX200 They haven't responded to my support ticket or my installer. I've been on hold for over 20 mins now trying to get ahold of their phone support. Not encouraging.
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#11alfwro
Perhaps some good old-fashioned social media pressure? Start posting negative reviews wherever you can: Facebook, Trustpilot, Google Maps, and any other platforms you can think of.
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#12KamenMacKay
I just spoke with support and my request is apparently waiting for manager approval and then apparently 2 - 3 weeks to get someone out here. I was fed some bs that they don't have a lot of engineers as they don't find too many engineers qualified enough to work for them which is why it was going to take so long.
I suppose the take-away here is to call support asap so they can tell you where you are in the queue.
#13hoggy
Do you all have the same batch number at all?
First 6 digits of your inverter serial:
Example:
SD2039 is 2020 Week 39.
ED2315 is 2023 Week 15.
(First two letters denote what your inverter is, either Gen1,2,3 and kW output)
So I called GivE at 4pm today and went through to the Site Visits extension. The agent said that my case was pending approval from a manager, who was on half day today. They said it would be Monday before they could act.
I made my displeasure known and they put me on hold. They came back and said a manager would call me "shortly". It's now 19:15 and there's been no phone call.
Now, according to their very own warranty documentation, you have to file a claim report and mail it (yes, snail mail!) and they have to respond within two days. I'm also looking into the Consumer Protection Act to see how this can help us. I'll be calling Home Energy Scotland who provided the loan for me to buy this system to see if they can assist in this matter as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!
M
#17mrand31
So the battery isn't charging and you are losing a pound or two a day while you wait for a repair, due to importing electricity at peak times?
You are still generating during the day and either using or exporting that energy.
Get a grip, It's a trivial amount in the grand scheme of things!
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#18DMC3445546
mrand31 How about you get a grip and check your facts.
The entire system offline, no generation either.
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#19KamenMacKay
@mrand31 Perhaps you just like being a misinformed troll so I shall educate you (I can't help you with being a troll, though)...due to the system we all bought (a DC-coupled inverter) so if the inverter is broken, I don't generate any power as the solar panels generate DC. Houses, as you may or may not be aware, work on AC so the inverter is required to make the panel energy usable for the home. The energy which was already stored in the battery is also unusable as it also requires the inverter to convert it to work with a AC powered house. So logically (a concept you may be unfamiliar with as it's obviously more fun just to be a jerk to random people), I can't generate or export. Thus the entire system is just a fancy-looking hunk of metal under my stair until Givenergy fixes this. The whole reason any of us bought this is to save a few quid a day so we have huge long-term savings.
What smart-ass comment do you have now? Come on, I know you can think of something being the clever, informed guy that you are...
Nowhere in your posts does it say that the system is completely down. Only that the battery wasn't charging, It was working until three days ago, a restart did nothing and a Givenergy engineer subsequently managed to connect remotely to the inverter...
I'm sorry that I'm not telepathic!
Perhaps you could cool off a bit and describe exactly what symptoms occured, in what order and when rather than assuming that people can interpret more than you wrote.
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#22Tim
KamenMacKay You're angry. Most of the members of the community here are end-users, just like you; posting here for help and support. Don't take it out on other members.
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#23KamenMacKay
@hoggy@DMC3445546 And, in the ultimate of ironies, having applied to Octopus last week for an export MPAN (and expecting that process to take weeks/months), I received an email saying that it's almost ready and they expect to switch me over today. Love it.
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#24AndyW
I have the same problem. System installed in May (5kW hybrid inverter & 9.5kWh battery) and got home to find system down and relay fault listed in the notifications. I’ve tried 3 remote resets through the gateway and a total power down and restart with no success. I’ve emailed my installer, but after reading what’s happened with others here I’m not holding out much hope that they will be able to help.
With this number of failures from all around the same installation time, it does seem a bad batch is highly likely. (Mine is ED2301).
K
#25KamenMacKay
AndyWAndyW I'm finding that what works is calling support & having a ticket started that way as emails don't seem to be doing the trick. Get the ticket # from the friendly support rep so you can pass it on to your installer but be prepared to be chasing this down yourself.
This is almost certainly a bad batch.
#26Mickey (GivEnergy)
We appreciate the constructive questions and answers we get from the forums but insinuating an argument from our customers for trying to help isn't what this forum is about.
I'll be locking the thread. Please be a bit more constructive going forward
