Studer Innotec Bewertungen 4

Studer is a very good and reliable product, BUT not for dummies

I have installed XTM4500-48 inverter and Variotrack a 4.450 kWp Hybrid Solar system which was commissioned on 6th June 2022. Within few months control circuit cards of both were damaged due to suspected lightning. Warranty was not applied and I had to bear the repairing cost. Within 15 days VT80 became faulty again and again that was sent to Bangalore and hence losing Solar power for a month. Now again yesterday (12th October 2023) Inverter went off suddenly without any indication. Information was given to Studer but they advised to call technician to check. Being Electrical Engineer myself I checked and found all external fuses and SPD were intact and problem seems to be within Inverter. Again gave the complaint to Studer but I was asked to contact through installer ( in this case it is Sunshine Solar Solutions Mangalore). Eventhough Installer was informed about the problem his response was not in positive and he has limited capabilities. As a end user I requested Studer to send thier service personnel to check but unfortunately they do not have any service personnel available in the area and they insisted to send the material to Bangalore to check. Our point is unless the extent of the problem is known (in this case it may be only control card) sending full unit is meaningless. Motto should be to upkeep their supplied equipment and the problem should have been attended on war footing to keep the down time to minimum. But Studer is more interested in procedure of going through Installer thus delaying the process.

Surprisingly no mobile service personnel is available with Studer and if this was known we would not have gone for Studer make as there are many reputed suppliers with strong service back up. Please note that this was at my insistence Studer component was selected eventhough Installer was insisting to go for other makes.

Now by not sending service personnel, Studer is not supporting their system which is highly deplorable.

Please note that the end user is an Electrical Engineer having worked as Project Manager for International Power projects through reputed MNC. Once again request Studer to provide the requested support immediately by arranging service personnel to visit site.

Regards,

Satish Kunder
Mob: +91 9901731919
Moodbidri, Dakshin Kannada
Karnataka, India

Studer Innotec SA is a Swiss solar manufacturer, founded in 1987, since its inception; it has developed products and solutions for solar energy conversion. Customers can choose from a variety of different products, including inverters of the AJ, SI and Xtender series.
Studer Innotec passed the compatibility test with BSLBATT Battery-2.4-153.6 kWh: B-LFP 24V and 48V series storage products are now compatible.

According to Trustpilot's guidelines, the review should not be a "product review" per se. It is more a review of the business practices of the company, the customer service etc. That is what this review is about, and to put matters in context I may include (in brief) something about the issues with the products I purchased from Studer Innotec. However the focus is on my completely futile attempts so far to get a response to these issues - even when the issues were posted on Studer's Facebook page itself!

In November 2015 I bought a Studer inverter, charger and remote control from the India branch of Studer Innotec. All products are manufactured in, and imported from, Switzerland, marketed as "Swiss-made" with the consequent implications of reliability, precision and quality. I have found several quality issues with the products that clearly do not match the expectations of a Swiss-Made product. These include measurement inaccuracies, software bugs, data log errors, as well as safety issues that have caused me to completely shut down the inverter. Last but not the least I also reported physical defects in the casing of of the charger - dents, dings and peeling paint - something I would not expect of a Swiss-made product.

What is remarkable is that Studer has not made any attempt to address my concerns over the last 2 months. Not a single email addressed to Studer's Switzerland office has been replied to - not even when it is addresses directly to senior management in Switzerland. This is a company that has poor commitment to customers and even poorer professional etiquette. If their view is that the India office is responsible for answering questions, all I hear from the India office is "We have referred your questions to the Swiss R&D team" since they clearly do not have the expertise to address most technical issues. On the few occasions I have pressured them to respond, I have received nothing more than a verbal reply that demonstrates a clear intention to twist or ignore facts being presented and stonewall any reported issues.

Buyer beware. This is a company that does not have any commitment to its Swiss-made label. It is a company you certainly cannot trust if you have a problem with your purchase - and you will have them in plenty.

Update April 15, 2016: Studer made attempts to avoid acknowledging the severe safety issue reported, "generously" offering a return of the system for a full refund. It was only I agreed and said I would report these quality issues to the electricity company which has approved these inverters for net-metering use, that Studer finally woke up. Under threat, within a few days days they released a software update on their website that offers a fix to the functional and safety problems I had reported.