Michigan Solar Diagnostics
Solar System Diagnostics
Find out what is actually wrong before you pay to fix it.
When a solar system stops behaving the way it should, the symptom is rarely the problem. Our Detroit based technicians test your system, identify the real cause, and give you the answer in writing. We diagnose every system, not just the ones we installed.
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Start With a Diagnosis, Not a Guess
A monitoring app showing offline equipment might be a failed inverter. It might also be a router that got a new password last month. Production down 20 percent might be a dead optimizer, or it might be a maple tree that grew six feet since your system was designed.
Every one of those has a different fix and a very different price. Replacing an inverter that was never broken is an expensive way to find out the problem was somewhere else.
A diagnostic settles it first. We pull your production history, inspect the system on site, test the electrical conditions, and hand you a written explanation of what is happening and what it takes to correct. Then you decide.
What a Diagnostic Answers
Whether your system is actually underperforming, or behaving the way a Michigan winter makes it behave.
Which specific component failed, and why it failed.
Whether the problem sits with your equipment or with your utility.
Whether an active warranty covers the repair, and who has to file it.
What the repair costs, in writing, before you commit to anything.
Michigan Solar Diagnostics
Symptoms We Diagnose
Most people do not arrive knowing which component failed. They arrive knowing something looks wrong. Find your symptom below.
Your Monitoring App Shows the System Offline
An offline system in the app does not always mean an offline system on the roof. Communication faults are among the most common issues we see, and many have nothing to do with the solar equipment. We confirm the panels are producing before touching anything else.
What we usually find
- A router swap or new Wi-Fi password the system was never reconnected to
- A failed communications gateway or monitoring device
- Inverter firmware that stopped reporting after an update
- A tripped breaker on the monitoring circuit
Production Dropped Compared to Last Year
Seasonal variation is normal here. Grey stretches from November through February, snow cover, and a low winter sun angle all cut output, and a system producing less in January than July is working correctly. The concern is a drop that never recovers, or one that repeats in the same month year over year.
What we usually find
- Tree growth that added shade the original design never accounted for
- Soiling, pollen, or nesting debris under the array
- A failed optimizer or microinverter pulling down a full string
- Panel degradation running ahead of the manufacturer’s expected curve
Your Inverter Is Showing a Fault Code
Fault codes are useful and frequently misread. One code can point to a ground fault, an arc fault, a grid condition outside the acceptable range, or a sensor that failed. We read the code, then verify it against actual electrical conditions rather than replacing hardware on a guess.
What we usually find
- Ground faults from moisture intrusion or damaged conductor insulation
- Arc faults triggered by a loose connection at a junction
- Grid voltage or frequency conditions originating on the utility side
- A genuine inverter hardware failure
Part of Your Array Stopped Producing
When one section goes dark and the rest keeps running, the problem is usually isolated to a string, an optimizer, or a single connection point. This is one of the more straightforward diagnostics and also one of the most commonly missed, because total output can drop quietly without any alert ever firing.
What we usually find
- A failed optimizer, microinverter, or string fuse
- Wildlife damage to wiring under the array, which squirrels and chipmunks cause more often in Michigan than most homeowners expect
- Water intrusion at a junction box or connector
- Physical damage from an ice storm or a fallen limb
Your Electric Bill Went Up and You Have Solar
This one is often not a hardware problem at all. Michigan’s distributed generation billing structure credits the energy you send to the grid at a different rate than the energy you pull back, and how your utility applies that can change your bill even when the system is producing exactly as designed. We read your production data and your bill together before assuming the array is at fault. This is the single most misdiagnosed complaint we hear, and it is the one most likely to end without a repair at all.
What we usually find
- A rate or billing change on the DTE Energy or Consumers Energy side
- A meter or interconnection issue that is not registering exports correctly
- New household load, like an EV or heat pump, that outgrew the original system size
- A genuine production shortfall
What Is Included
What a Solar Diagnostic Includes
Every diagnostic covers the same ground and ends with the same deliverable. A loose connector and a failed inverter both get the full process.
Data
A Full Production History Review
We pull everything your system has recorded and find the pattern before anyone drives out. Timing tells us a great deal. A drop that started on one specific date points somewhere very different than a slow decline across two seasons.
SITE
A Complete On-Site Inspection
A technician gets on the roof and inspects:
- Panels, for damage, soiling, delamination, and hot spots
- Racking, mounting hardware, and roof penetrations
- Conductors, junction boxes, and connectors
- Flashing and seals, since Michigan freeze and thaw cycles work on those at the same rate
Testing
Full Electrical Testing
String voltage, current, insulation resistance, and ground continuity, measured with calibrated equipment against what your system was designed to produce rather than a generic benchmark. This is the part that separates a diagnosis from an opinion.
Deliverable
A Written Findings Report
What we found, what caused it, what it takes to correct, and what that costs. The report is yours to keep. Use it to have us do the repair, file a warranty claim, or hand it to someone else entirely.
The Short Version
You are buying an answer, not a repair.
A diagnostic ends with you knowing exactly what is wrong and what it costs to fix. What you do next is your call, and you are not obligated to have us do the work.
What It Costs
Solar Diagnostic Pricing
A diagnostic is a paid visit. You are buying a technician’s time, calibrated test equipment, and a definitive answer rather than a guess.
Our Installations, In Warranty
Inside Your Workmanship Coverage
Systems we installed carry 10 year workmanship coverage.
Our Installations, Out of Warranty
Past the 10 Year Window
Systems we installed carry 10 year workmanship coverage.
Installed by Someone Else
Any Michigan Solar System
We diagnose systems we did not install, including systems whose original installer has closed.
Stop Guessing at the Problem
A diagnostic gives you a real answer, in writing, from technicians who work on Michigan solar systems every day.
Request a Solar DiagnosticHow It Works
The Diagnostic Process
Four steps from the moment you tell us something is wrong to the moment you know what it costs to fix.
1
Tell Us What You Are Seeing
Send us the symptom, your system’s approximate age, and who installed it. If you have monitoring access, share it. The more we can review beforehand, the more we can accomplish on the first visit.
2
We Review Your Production Data
Before scheduling, we look at what your system has actually been doing. Some issues get identified here, and occasionally resolved here, without a visit at all.
3
On-Site Diagnostic Visit
A Strawberry Solar technician inspects and tests the system. We cover the roof, the array, the inverter, and the electrical connections in one trip.
4
Findings and Repair Quote
You get a written explanation and a quote for the fix. If the repair falls under an active manufacturer warranty, we file and process that claim for you at no additional cost.
Why Strawberry Solar
Why Michigan Solar Owners Call Us for Diagnostics
We Diagnose Systems We Did Not Install
If another company installed your system, or the company that installed it has since closed, we can still help. Being manufacturer agnostic is what lets us work across a wide range of equipment.
We Know What Michigan Does to Solar
Ice loading on racking, freeze and thaw at roof penetrations, snow shedding patterns, and the production curve of a Great Lakes winter. Our technicians know which winter behavior is normal and which is a fault.
We Understand DTE and Consumers Interconnection
Some production complaints trace to metering or interconnection rather than the array. Knowing where the utility’s responsibility begins saves you from paying to fix equipment that was never broken.
Local Technicians Since 2010
Over 15 years of Michigan installations and service calls, run out of our Detroit shop. No call centers and no outsourced dispatch.
We Handle the Warranty Paperwork
If an active manufacturer warranty covers what we find, we file and process the claim for you. Our own installations carry 10 year workmanship coverage.
An Answer You Can Take Anywhere
The written findings are yours. Use them to have us do the repair, or hand them to someone else. The diagnostic stands on its own.
We only work with brands we trust and would install on our own homes. We do this to ensure that every customer is satisfied with their solar setup.
Service Area
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We routinely support Michigan homeowners and businesses whose systems were designed or installed by another company, including companies that are no longer in business.
Often yes. A warranty covers repairing or replacing a failed part, but someone still has to identify which part failed and confirm the cause falls within what the warranty covers. If we installed your system, your workmanship coverage runs for 10 years. If an active manufacturer warranty applies, we file and process the claim at no additional cost.
Probably not. Michigan solar systems produce substantially less from November through February because of shorter days, a lower sun angle, heavier cloud cover, and periodic snow on the array. That is expected and it was accounted for when your system was sized. A winter dip that recovers in spring is normal. A dip that does not recover, or one deeper than the same month last year, is worth looking at.
Request a Solar System Diagnostic
Tell us what your system is doing and we will take it from there. Serving homeowners and businesses across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.