Solar Repairs & Fault Finding Cape Town – Solar Maintenance

Solar Fault Finding in Cape Town

When something’s wrong with a solar system, guessing is expensive. Our fault-finding process is methodical: we start with your inverter’s error logs and event history, then work through the DC side (panels, strings, isolators, connectors) and the AC side (wiring, breakers, earthing) until we’ve found the actual root cause — not just the symptom. We test string voltages and currents, check every connection point for corrosion or looseness, and inspect earthing and bonding, which is very often where problems start.

Solar Inverter Repairs

The inverter is the brain of your system, and it’s usually the first place a fault shows up. We repair and service all makes and models of solar and hybrid inverters installed across Cape Town. Sometimes the fix is a firmware update or a setting that’s been left on default; other times a component has genuinely failed and needs replacing. Either way, we’ll tell you plainly what’s wrong and what your options are before any work starts.

Solar Battery Faults

A battery that won’t hold charge, charges unevenly, or drops out under load isn’t always a dead battery. We check the battery management system (BMS) communication with the inverter, charge and discharge settings, cell balancing, and whether the battery is being asked to work outside its rated temperature range. Getting this diagnosis right matters — replacing a battery that didn’t need replacing is an expensive mistake we help clients avoid.

Solar System Repairs

Beyond the inverter and battery, we repair the rest of the system too — DC isolators, combiner boxes, cable runs, mounting and racking, connectors, and the distribution board work that ties your solar into the rest of your property’s electrics. A solar system is only as reliable as its weakest connection, and we check all of them.

Solar Maintenance

Most faults are preventable with regular maintenance. We offer scheduled solar maintenance visits that include tightening electrical connections, checking earthing, reviewing inverter logs for early warning signs, cleaning panels where needed, and confirming your system is still performing the way it did on day one. A maintained system lasts longer and produces more power over its lifetime.

Solar Inspections

Whether you’re buying a property with an existing solar installation, need a professional second opinion, or simply want peace of mind, we carry out full solar inspections. We check the installation against the relevant safety standards, confirm compliance, and give you a clear written report of anything that needs attention — and because we also issue Certificates of Compliance, we can often handle both in the same visit.

Solar Performance Testing

“It’s producing something” isn’t the same as “it’s producing what it should.” We test individual strings and panels, compare your actual generation against what your system size and Cape Town’s sun hours should deliver, and pinpoint underperforming panels, strings or shading issues that are quietly costing you money every month.

Solar Panel Problems

Panels rarely fail outright, but they do develop problems that reduce output over time: micro-cracks, hot spots, faulty bypass diodes, loose or corroded connectors, and shading from trees or new buildings that weren’t there when the system was installed. We inspect panels individually rather than assuming the whole array is fine because most of it looks fine.

Solar System Not Working or Not Performing Correctly

This is one of the most common calls we get: “My solar system isn’t working” or “it’s just not performing like it used to.” We come out, run a full diagnostic, and tell you exactly what’s happening — whether that’s an inverter fault, a wiring issue, a battery problem, or simply a setting that’s been changed. You’ll get a clear explanation in plain language, not just a repair bill.

Solar System Tripping

A system that keeps tripping the breaker or the inverter itself is usually telling you something specific: an earth fault, a DC arc fault, a loose connection generating heat, an overheating inverter, or a system that was sized or wired incorrectly from the start. Tripping isn’t something to reset and ignore — we find out why it’s happening before it causes bigger damage.

Inverter Error Codes

Every inverter brand has its own set of error and fault codes, and they don’t always mean what they seem to at first glance. We work with all major inverter and battery brands and systems installed in Cape Town, and we know how to read the logs behind the code, not just the code itself, to get to the real cause quickly.

Battery Not Charging

If your battery isn’t charging properly, it could be a BMS communication fault, an incorrect charge profile, a failing cell, poor ventilation causing thermal protection to kick in, or simply a setting that got changed during a firmware update. We test the battery in context with your inverter and charge controller rather than in isolation, which is where a lot of misdiagnoses happen.

Solar Upgrades

Once your system is running properly, we can also help you get more from it — adding battery capacity, extra panels, upgrading to a hybrid inverter with backup power, or improving your system’s ability to ride through load shedding. An upgrade is also a good time to fix any underlying issues we find along the way.

Think Your System Wasn’t Installed Correctly?

We get asked for a second opinion more often than you’d think. Common issues we find on systems installed by other companies include undersized cabling, poor or missing earthing, isolators mounted in the wrong place, DB board work that doesn’t meet current regulations, and configurations that were never properly commissioned. If something feels off about your installation, we’ll inspect it properly and tell you honestly what we find — and because we’re also qualified to issue Certificates of Compliance, we can put right what’s wrong and certify it in the same visit.

Why Cape Town Trusts Thermo Group With Solar Repairs

We’ve helped many clients across Cape Town get underperforming, faulty or badly-installed solar systems running optimally again. As a full electrical, solar and compliance company, we’re not limited to just one part of your system — we understand how the solar, the wiring, the earthing and the distribution board all work together, because we install and certify all of it. That’s the difference between a quick fix and a lasting one.

Book a Solar Repair or Fault-Finding Inspection in Cape Town

If your inverter isn’t working, your system isn’t performing the way it should, or you suspect something wasn’t installed correctly, don’t guess — get it properly diagnosed. Fill out the form below to book a solar fault-finding and repair inspection, and our team will get your system back to full strength.