System Disabled by Service Tech to “Fix” It

My Solar Edge inverter stopped communicating with the internet on June 13th. I verified at the meter that it continued to produce power, and my electric bill continued to build up a credit through the summer months.

After dozens of emails and at least 6 phone calls my solar installer finally sent a technician yesterday. The tech disabled my system, saying he had to send the board in my inverter to Solar Edge. He said it would be two to five weeks before my system would be up and running again.

My solar installer has installed solar on thousands of homes. When I was in the computer repair business we’d keep extra motherboards so customers wouldn’t have to wait if we sent theirs in for warranty service. I don’t understand how my solar installer wouldn’t offer something like that.

Is it normal for a repair tech to shut down production like this?