Photovoltaics: Deactivated Deye and Sol-Ark inverters in the USA
PV inverters from Deye and Sol-Ark in the USA have ceased operation. Deye explains to heise online, as does Sol-Ark.
Error message from deactivated SolArk inverters.
(Image: heise online und Deye)
This week, cases became known in the USA in which photovoltaic inverters from Sol-Ark stopped working and displayed an error message. Those affected should contact their dealer. The Sol-Ark devices contain hardware and software from Deye. The company has commented on the incidents to heise online.
Deye explains that, according to its own investigations, only "a few inverters have displayed a pop-up message". These are all located in the USA, other regions are not affected. "Deye has not remotely controlled or affected the devices in any way. There is currently no evidence that these inverters were maliciously remotely controlled via Deye's cloud services," the company continues.
Lack of compliance with guidelines
"The contracts that Deye enters into with all distributors clearly discuss that products that are not UL certified and not listed by local electric utilities may not be sold in the United States because they do not meet US UL standards," the manufacturer explains. UL certification can be compared to the European CE marking, which is a conformity marking for devices to comply with EU harmonization legislation.
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If devices are used contrary to the directive, they could pose a significant safety risk, writes Deye. To prevent this, Deye has integrated a verification mechanism into the devices. The pop-up warning is triggered automatically by the device's authorization mechanism, without human interaction.
Deye inverters automatically check their authorization status on a regular basis. If the authorization check fails, a pop-up informs the user. The purpose of this is to ensure that the devices are used in accordance with the regulations.
As Deye does not sell inverters in the USA, the company is also unable to provide support for affected devices. To ensure normal operation, Deye recommends that affected users contact either their vendor or Deye as soon as possible to obtain regulatory approval.
Last year, Deye also struggled with compliance issues in Germany. A missing protective relay meant that Deye's microinverters did not comply with the VDE-AR-N 4105 standard. Deye solved this by subsequently supplying and recertifying an external relay box.
Sol-Ark said to heise online that the company has done nothing wrong and the inverters in question aren't Sol-Ark branded, though the display message indicates otherwise: "Sol-Ark has learned of the situation caused by the unauthorized sales of Deye-branded inverters within Puerto Rico and the USA. Though Sol-Ark has no control over Deye’s actions, we recognize that the messaging conveyed through the Deye-branded inverter’s screen suggests Sol-Ark can provide warranty or service for these cases, which we cannot. Though we are not responsible for Deye-branded inverters or any inverters that are not branded and sold by Sol-Ark or through an authorized Sol-Ark distributor or reseller, Sol-Ark has determined to offer a possible solution to those consumer households that have purchased Deye-branded inverters."
(dmk)
