This company are a rare gem, I had a very unusual problem following a failed firmware upgrade on my GivEnergy kit. I then found out GivEnergy were in administration and had dismissed all their support staff! None of the usual fixes to try and restore my inverter comms would work, and I looked everywhere, forums, GivEnergy youtube support videos - even AI couldn't figure it out. My installer was talking about huge sums for system replacements, and being vague / evasive about if they'd even install replacement GivEnergy inverter. Enter Solar Tech Support, reassuring and knowledgeable from the very start, I've learnt loads about my solar system though the friendly chat while my engineer worked as he diagnosed the problem and figured out a fix procedure that I've not found anywhere else - amazing. If you need solar system repairs - especially if you like me have been left high and dry by GivEnergy, I cannot recommend this company enough. Give them a call.
When 4 inputs aren't 4 MPPTs A SunSynk 8kW diagnosed by graph
- Real customer fault
- Diagnosed from monitoring data
- Bad engineering, named
If sunny days look flatter than they should — or one MPPT consistently lags the other — the wiring may be the problem, not the panels. A remote diagnostic confirms it within one sunny day.
Book your free diagnosticSunSynk support hubI can add to the list of customers who had already 'given up' on GivEnergy due to their appalling customer service, and that was before they went into administration. So you can imagine my desperation when, having changed my ISP and my Inverter, predictably, proving to be the only device that didn't connect automatically to my new network, I found zero prospect of any customer support with GivEnergy having called in the administrators just five days earlier! The salvation came from Solar Tech Support. My IT advisor stumbled across their web site and some very helpful tips for beleaguered GivEnergy customers, as well as an offer to provide direct assistance. Nothing ventured, I decided to drop them an E-Mail, with very low expectations based on my experience of GivEnergy customer support. Within an hour Ron had responded with some pin point advice, and after a few exchanges of E-Mails he had nailed the problem, enabling the combined efforts of my IT advisor and solar installer to resolve it and reconnect my Inverter. Thank you Solar Tech Support, and Ron in particular, for coming to the aid of a deserted and despondent GivEnergy customer. Expert, razor sharp advice and first class customer service, even though I wasn't officially a customer.
Contacted Solar Tech Support in desperation. After explaining the issues I had with my system a diagnosis was made and a solution proposed. Fantastic service, even contacted a manufacturer to arrange replacement parts for me. Great communications, explained all they were doing and what I had to do, clearly and precisly. Followed up to confirm all was ok. Excellent service.
Big thanks to Ron. He was incredibly patient and helpful over the phone, taking the time to walk myself and the installer through every troubleshooting step. Through lots of testing he figured out the issue was definitely a hardware issue, which allows us to consider our next steps. Support fees are clear and they operate a “no fix no fee” policy. It is rare to find that kind of honesty combined with dedicated phone support nowadays. I highly recommend Ron, if you need help with your solar system don’t hesitate to give him a call.
I can’t praise this firm enough. After hearing my solar panels rattling in very windy conditions, I contacted Solar Tech (as my installers no longer trade). Ronald was fantastic at explaining what he thought the issue was likely to be. Communication was great throughout keeping me fully updated. The team worked really hard on the day to carry out the necessary work. I can now sleep soundly at night without worrying about the solar panels on my roof. I would thoroughly recommend this firm. Thank you for sorting the problem out.
Our SolarEdge PV system with LG batteries had its first hiccup after 8 years of hard work. The Inverter failed. Fortunately I found Solar-Tech-Support who diagnosed the problem very quickly, ordered a replacement unit and fitted it shortly after we received the unit from SolarEdge. Very thorough and professional approach. Thank you, a solid 5 star recommendation.
Patrick pinged me this week about his SunSynk 8kW. The system was less than twelve months old — installed by All Seasons Energy, who are now in administration — and the numbers weren't adding up. Three strings of panels (9, 8 and 5) on the roof, and the total generation just wasn't where it should be.
It was a question of where the daylight was actually going. Let's start with the inverter.
The first thing that wasn't right: four inputs isn't four MPPTs
SunSynk's 8kW hybrid has four physical PV input connectors. So at a glance, you might think you have four independent MPPT inputs and you can hang anything off them.
You don't. Inside the inverter those four connectors are wired as two pairs in parallel. There are only two real MPPT trackers — they just give you a second connector each so you don't have to use a Y-splitter at the roof. Anything you plug into a pair has to behave electrically as if it were one combined string.
That distinction matters. An MPPT is an algorithm hunting for the voltage that gives the panels their best power output at any given instant. Each tracker can only sit on one voltage at a time. If you parallel two strings of different lengths into the same MPPT, you've handed it two different optimum voltages and asked it to find one — which doesn't exist.
What Patrick actually had on the roof
Three strings — 9 panels, 8 panels, and 5 panels. Two MPPTs to land them on. So the installer had to make a choice. There were exactly three options:
- 9+8 parallel, 5 alone — closest voltage match, only a one-panel gap.
- 9+5 parallel, 8 alone — four-panel gap on the pair. The bad one.
- 8+5 parallel, 9 alone — three-panel gap. Better than option two, worse than option one.
All Seasons Energy chose option two. The four-panel-gap option. The 9-panel string and the 5-panel string were paralleled into the same MPPT, with the 8-panel string on its own.
That single wiring choice was the entire problem.
The signature, every sunny morning
This was the moment the diagnosis became free. Five sunny days in a row, the same cliff at the same time of morning, the same plateau for the rest of the day. If the weather had been unsettled, this would have taken hours of detective work; the perfect-sun week handed it over.
What you're looking at is the MPPT making a survival decision. Up to about 08:13 the voltages on the parallel-paired strings are still close enough that the tracker can hold a compromise that works for both. As the sun rises higher and irradiance ramps the panels into their normal operating range, the voltage gap between a 9-panel string and a 5-panel string widens — and at some point the algorithm gives up and clamps to the lower of the two power peaks. From that moment until sunset, the longer string is being run below its operating point and the system is leaving generation on the table.
The bodge — and what a clean fix would look like
The fastest possible fix is a re-pairing. Swap which connectors go where so the inverter sees 9+8 paralleled on one MPPT and the 5 on its own. The voltage gap shrinks from four panels to one, the MPPT can hold both peaks, and the cliff disappears. That's the bodge.
With the re-pair done, the system performs properly again. Not perfectly — the 9+8 pair still isn't an exact match, and the 5-panel string then has a whole MPPT input to itself — but it's the best you can do with the inverter you've already paid for and the panels already on the roof.
A cleaner fix exists, but cost-considerations kick in. Options on the table:
- Add a second small inverter so the 5-panel string lives on its own properly matched MPPT.
- Swap the SunSynk for one with three or more independent MPPTs.
For Patrick, the re-pair gets him 90% of the way back. The cleaner fixes are on the shelf for if and when he wants them.
What Patrick said
Prompt and useful support regarding my Sunsynk system lack of performance. Ronald simplified the technical issues to make them understandable. Many thanks, looking forward to follow up.
Bad engineering design strikes again
Patrick paid for a 22-panel solar system. The hardware was there. The installer's design choice — paralleling two strings four panels apart on a single MPPT pair when a one-panel-apart option was sitting right there — was costing him generation every sunny day for twelve months before anyone looked.
This is the part of the industry I keep writing up. A homeowner pays a five-figure sum for solar, gets a system that quietly underperforms by 10-15% because somebody skipped the first-year design rule on string matching, and then has no recourse when the installer disappears into administration. The hardware is fine. The panels are fine. The inverter is fine. The engineering decision behind the wiring is what was broken.
If your system has more strings than the inverter has independent MPPTs, and the strings aren't all the same length, get someone to look at the wiring. It's a ten-minute job to confirm or rule out from monitoring data.
If you suspect this might be your story too — drop me a line. The graph tells you within a single sunny day.
Frequently asked questions
Is your sunny-day generation lower than it should be?
Tell me what your system is (brand, panel count per string, inverter model) and roughly when you suspect generation falls off. A remote diagnostic confirms whether the wiring is doing what your installer thought it was. No fix, no fee.
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