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[RFI] Generac Solar System RFI Update

To: "rfi@contesting.com" <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: [RFI] Generac Solar System RFI Update
From: K9MA <k9ma@sdellington.us>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:49:40 -0500
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
As I posted last August, I tracked down some severe RFI to a neighbor's Generac solar system, about 650 meters (0.4 mile) from my station. The homeowners and installer have, fortunately, been very cooperative. Generac, not so much. The system has been shut down since then, with Generac reimbursing the homeowners for lost production. Meanwhile, Generac has been promising that new RFI-free "optimizers" would soon be available. (These are boost converters installed near the panels to provide a constant voltage to the central inverter.) Originally, Feb. 2025, now they have "no timeframe". Sometime last year, Generac assured the homeowners that, if the new optimizers didn't eliminate the RFI, they would replace the whole system with their new PWRcell system, claimed to be "FCC Compliant".

I can't find much information on the PWRcell system, but it appears to use a central inverter, like the current system. Whether it uses the same optimizers is unknown.

In any case, while I currently have no RFI from this system, it doesn't look like Generac is making any progress towards a real solution. This is really unfair to the homeowners who, after a substantial investment over a year ago have yet to get any benefit from their solar system. (They report that Generac doesn't respond to emails unless they "make a fuss".)

Should you learn of any of your neighbors considering installing a solar power system, I suggest trying to discouraged them from using a Generac one. Enphase, AP Systems, and SMA appear to be free of RFI, at least to a level one could detect in an urban environment.

73,
Scott K9MA

--
Scott  K9MA

k9ma@sdellington.us
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