Solar Panel Company gone into administration ... Help!

zax47

DMStue wrote: »

It's a 'Growatt 3600MTL'.

I have no idea how good that is but I do think I have a 5 year Warranty on it.

"Budget" Chinese made inverter brand - big in China & Australia. Offer a 5 year warranty.

Contact Growatt UK service agent on Tel: 07580 075155 or Email: uk.service@ginverter.com

Or try Gigabiz in Keighley (in God's own county - Yorkshire, of course);

"Gigabiz Ltd is a leading U.K. supplier of solar pv products and complete solar pv systems for domestic and commercial applications. Strong emphasis is placed on representing only the highest efficiency solar pv products, particularly panels and inverters. Gigabiz Ltd is a wholesaler of PV products which focuses on strong relationships with installer partners, offering technical expertise and support to all solar products. Gigabiz Ltd offer sales and technical support for all Growatt inverters in the U.K. Becks Mill, Becks Road,Keighley,BD21 1SD Tel: 08444 930099 Email: info@gigabiz.co.uk"

DMStue

Thanks for all your help .... I have a better understanding of what to do if I need help in the future.

The system ran fine all yesterday, so hopefully it was just a technical glitch.

I wasn't aware that an inverter would need replacing. That was never mentioned during the sales pitch!

If I replace the inverter in the future, what make should I look at and how much will it cost? As you can probably tell, I'm finding my feet on this. Sorry if I'm asking REALLY basic question.

zax47

For me then it would be SMA - German efficiency & reliability. Massive in establish solar PV countries like Australia.

http://www.sma-uk.com/

http://www.sma-uk.com/installers/where-to-buy.html

bod1467

SMA ... aren't they the powdered baby milk people?

Martyn1981

zax47 wrote: »

For me then it would be SMA - German efficiency & reliability. Massive in establish solar PV countries like Australia.

http://www.sma-uk.com/

http://www.sma-uk.com/installers/where-to-buy.html

My first system (ESE) has 2 SMA inverters, but since then I've been keeping an eye on the Chinese Samil range. They seem to do well in testing, and are popular. Cheaper to buy, more efficient, and longer warranties. Eg:

SMA 3.6 dual tracker £700 (plus VAT), 96.3% efficient, 5 year warranty.

Samil 3.68 dual tracker £600 (plus VAT), 97.1% efficient, 10 year warranty.

Interestingly, since the Chinese started shipping inverters, the SMA prices have fallen dramatically, down from around £1k (plus VAT). Also the SMA inverters have better shade management software, which adds value, depending on location.

My extension has a Solaredge system with a SE2200 inverter, which is slightly different inverter wise, but stacks up well in the stats versus SMA. Eg:

Solaredge SE4000 £530 (plus VAT) 97.6% efficient, 12 year warranty, extendable to 20 years for £200.

SMA have suggested, that in northern Europe their inverters could/should be good for 20 years ..... here's hoping.

Mart.

DMStue

Thank you for this .... That would make a replacement inverter a reasonable consideration should my Growatt ever fail.

Phew!

Martyn1981

DMStue wrote: »

Thank you for this .... That would make a replacement inverter a reasonable consideration should my Growatt ever fail.

Phew!

Hiya. Out of interest (nosiness!) what error messages are you getting, and what faults do those translate as?

I've had the RCB on my smallest system pop a few times, as it's only 6A and the system is 1,175W, so a little too close. One time I didn't notice for 2 days. I rang the installer to get it changed to a 10A, and found they'd ........ gone bust! Oh well. Must get round to buying a new one, though it hasn't popped for 2 years now.

Another potential factor might be grid voltage. If it rises too high (around 253V) the inverter may shutdown to prevent it pushing the voltage up even higher. But it should restart automatically. The inverter display will hopefully tell you what voltage (AC) it's running at. If it's regularly too high, then the DNO should be told, as they should maintain the voltage at 230V (-6% to +10%).

Purely for peace of mind, here's a page of inverter makes, with subsequent models and prices. The prices are retail before VAT. the range is now enormous, as is the price range too. I have no links to the shop, it's purely for information purposes.

Mart.

DMStue

Martyn .... I'm afraid I don't have the error code .... But if it trips again I'll write it down before resetting the system.

The first time it happened, it went back to the 'Set Language' prompt and I had to work through a series of questions to get to the point where it reconnected.

Thanks for the link and advice.