Squirrel-Damaged Solar System Back Online in East Greenwich Rhode Island

This one started with a homeowner who noticed their solar system had gone completely silent - no production, no monitoring data, nothing. When we got on site in East Greenwich and started digging into it, we found the culprit pretty fast. Squirrels had chewed through the DC wiring beneath the array. Not a partial issue - they had done enough damage to create multiple electrical faults that cascaded all the way through the system and took out the inverter entirely.

Critter damage is one of the most common and most overlooked causes of solar system failures across Rhode Island and the broader Northeast. The panels look fine from the ground. The roof looks fine. But underneath the array, the wiring is exposed and accessible - and squirrels treat it like a chew toy. By the time most homeowners realize something is wrong, the damage has already spread well beyond just the wiring.

We repaired all of the damaged DC wiring, protected the cable runs to prevent the same thing from happening again, and then turned our attention to the inverter. Rather than swap it out for the same outdated unit, the customer decided to upgrade to a modern inverter with updated system monitoring and a full manufacturer warranty. That was the right call. You get a cleaner system, better visibility into your production data, and actual coverage if something goes wrong down the road.

The system is back at full production. And because we also handle detach and reset services for roof replacements, customers who are due for a new roof don't have to worry about coordinating between two separate contractors - we work directly with roofing crews to get panels off and back on cleanly. It's the kind of thing that saves a lot of headaches when a roof job is on the horizon.

If your solar system hasn't been inspected recently - especially if it's been a few years and you're near any wooded areas - it's worth getting eyes on the wiring beneath your panels. We serve Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and across the greater Northeast. Squirrel damage doesn't fix itself, and the longer a system sits idle, the more you're losing on your investment.