Failed grid-tie inverter, need help selecting a replacement.

[retiredoldguy]

Need help selecting a replacement grid-tie or hybrid inverter model for my home. My system was installed in 2011 and stopped working September 2020 (see pics), after a long lawsuit, I now own all the hardware attached to my house. I have 50 Suntech STP185S-24/Ad+ panels on the roof, 5 strings of 10 panels in series. The current non-working inverter is a SMA sunny boy SB8000US. Thank you for your time.

 

[Supervstech]

Dang!

That is a mess!

Did insurance investigate the cause?

Any idea what happened?

 

[DIYrich]

If you replace it with another sunnyboy, the optimizers on the panels may still work. Check compatibility. Otherwise, any UL Listed Grid Tied inverter should work. Get the EG4 18k PV, or Sol-Ark 15k (12k or 8k may even work), and you will be battery ready.

 

[retiredoldguy]

Dang!

That is a mess!

Did insurance investigate the cause?

Any idea what happened?

Well... Up until a month ago, I didn't own the hardware. The company that was paid to maintain the system (out of Texas) sent some local techs back in 2020 and I was told by the techs that the company in Texas would be contacting me. All I ever heard was it would take 6-8 months to get hardware and that never happened. After 8 months I contacted an attorney.

 

[BentleyJ]

Disregarding the mess inside that SMA box, it is still recognized as a reliable brand and would be one choice. Fronius Primo would be another brand with a good reputation.

 

[hwy17]

Yeah Sunny Boy again or Fronius. Maybe see if you can build some more shade for it.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

As alluded to above, a key criteria is whether you want your system to be battery ready (presuming you come off NEM 1.0 in 2031? so well within a new invertor lifespan) or simply get system back up and running as it was

In addition, a key question will be whether there was any damage to panels, wiring and/or optimizers when the Sunny Boy fried (or was reason Sunny Boy was caused to fail). Personally, I'd be leery of just 'trying something out' and risking a repeat (or worse). With meltdown of residential solar sales/installs in CA, despite many layoffs, I'd assume some solar installers would be hungry for business and be able to provide an experienced technician, capable of troubleshooting your system to make sure it is ONLY the Sunny Boy that needs replacing