SolarEdge Lawsuit Investigation: Were You Told to Replace Your Modem as Part of the 3G Sunset?

If you received notice from SolarEdge that the five-year 3G cell plan that came with your solar system is being discontinued, attorneys working with ClassAction.org want to hear from you.

They’re investigating whether a class action lawsuit can be filed against SolarEdge, who is reportedly instructing users to pay for costly modem upgrades to maintain access to the cellular-based features and solar incentive benefits they were promised. Keep reading for more information.

How the 3G Sunset Affects SolarEdge Systems

By the end of 2022, many cellular network providers will have shut down their 3G (or third generation) networks, meaning devices that operate on these networks will lose connectivity. The 3G sunset will affect everything from cars to medical devices – and will also cause the modems supplied with certain SolarEdge systems to stop working.

Despite the impact of the 3G network shutdown, it is suspected SolarEdge waited longer than it should have to tell customers about the issue. Indeed, it has been suggested that SolarEdge was installing and replacing inverters with 5G-capable onesas recently as summer 2021 without having informed customers with 3G-compatible modems that their services would be lost.

SolarEdge has reportedly instructed users to upgrade to 4G modems to keep the communication with the monitoring platform open, with cost estimates ranging from $400 to $1,200. Customers have complained that SolarEdge failed to inform them at the time of installation that future upgrades may be needed to keep their data connections active even if the solar inverters are still under warranty.

Loss of Features, Financial Incentives with 3G Shutdown

While SolarEdge’s solar inverters will continue to work even with the 3G shutdown, customers will lose the ability to remotely monitor their solar systems if they do not replace their modems or otherwise reconnect their systems to the internet.

In addition, customers who do not upgrade will lose out on money received via solar renewable energy certificates, which provide compensation for every megawatt hour of solar energy a system generates.

Consumer Complaints About the SolarEdge Modem Upgrade

The following are examples of complaints that have been posted online about SolarEdge’s treatment of its customers in light of the 3G sunset [sic throughout, emphasis added]:

My installer says SolarEdge sold me inverters with 3G cards and said they would give me a cell connection for 12 years. Now 4 years later the 3G network is going down so I have to buy 5G cards for $700 and get another 12 years of cell connection. What happened to the 8 years left on their original promise? It sounds like they promised cell service for 12 years but never bothered to get a contract with the cell companies to make sure 3G would be working. Why don't they have to reimburse me for 8/12th of the $700 I paid 4 years ago?”
— PhinMak, Reddit.com

It all seems like a ripoff. I was never told by my solar installer that I'd have to pay extra in order to keep my data connection active in 5 years, 12 years, it never came up in any conversation with any installer I got quotes from. It never showed up in the calculation of how much I should expect to pay for the system or the time it would take to break even on the system cost. I was under the impression the inverter would work for at least 12 years per the warranty. This seems like a class action lawsuit in the making against Solaredge.”
— Fitzhumeglg20, Reddit.com

Received an email from SolarEdge saying that they are discontinuing the modem service as it's not longer supported by carrier…My current system was installed by Power Home solar and they say that it will cost $1200 to replace modem. This may be a recurring charge to Solar home owners as the link mentions that the cellular contract may be valid only for 5 yrs. My current system was installed about 3yrs back... and paying another $1200 now seems to be quite a substantial amount”
— thomasvt, SolarPanelTalk.com

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