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10 year standard warranty with optional extensions to 15 and 20 years
SMA is one of only a handful of manufacturers allowed to perform the inverter approval tests ourselves for the strict American-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
SMA America Sunny Boy SB7.7-1SP-US-41 [240V] | POWERUP Warranty
SMA America Sunny Boy SB7.0-1SP-US-41 [240V] | Extended Warranty
SMA America Sunny Boy SB7.7-1SP-US-41 [240V]
SMA America Sunny Boy SB7.7-1SP-US-41 [240V] | Extended Warranty
SMA America Sunny Boy SB7.0-1SP-US-41 [240V]
SMA America Sunny Boy SB3.8-1SP-US-41 [240V] | POWERUP Warranty
We exclusively use SMA string inverters for customers and have found them to be highly reliable and configurable. They work well with both Tigo and SMA branded rapid shutdown modules. Plus, the built-in SMA shade fix MPPT string level optimization eliminates the need for optimizer modules on each panel. The reviewers that had issues with their inverters all noted they had panel based optimizer modules. SMA inverters do not need separate optimizers, so I'm not surprised the inverters fought with the optimizer modules. That's just their lack of understanding and experience with the SMA system. I really like that SMA offers free lifetime monitoring via the web and app for both installers and owners with remote diagnostics and management being very straightforward. The few times I've had to contact customer service were fast and efficient with an engineer on the other end that could answer very specific questions with depth. Inverters are highly sophisticated and have developed to the point they are beyond DIY regardless of brand.
Very high quality inverter. Very happy with the system generation and customer service.
I had the exact same experience as pinkard_manaus except worse. My Tigo optimizers stopped showing up on the SMA Sunnyportal or the Tigo Energy websites. Both SMA and Tigo said they could see my data but it did not show on the websites. After many times where my system would go into rapid shutdown and having to put 4-5 panels against my garage wall to get the 125Volts needed to start the system I was extremely frustrated. Neither SMA nor Tigo Energy wanted to take responsibility for the issue. After more than 8 months SMA finally sent me an external CCA to replace their internal GIB board. After installation I haven't had an issue for going on 10 months. I only wish customer service would have listened to me and tried to fix the problem. I also had the problem where every time I called I had to basically start the entire process over again. I managed a technical support desk for 20 years and I would rate SMA as the worst I have ever deal with and I have worked with 100's.
I am a DIY installer, but I have a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering and my focus was solar cell fabrication and testing. One of my SMA inverters failed within the first sixth months and was replaced under warranty, but it would not feed in when it arrived. The root cause was a design flaw in the DC-operated rooftop communication kit that runs the power optimizers. If, at any point and for any reason, the inverter goes into rapid shutdown mode, it waits after a reset to sense voltage from the panels before it feeds in. However, the V2 TS4 Optimizer from SMA reduces the voltage from each panel to exactly 0, so no voltage can ever be sensed. Since the rooftop communication kit is DC-operated, when the inverter goes into rapid shutdown, the panels wait to receive a signal from the inverter, but the inverter waits to sense voltage from the panels. The only way to power the inverter on after a rapid shutdown is to supply 125V DC power, which means dismantling a whole string of your array, removing the optimizers, reconnecting everything, powering on, then reversing that process to get back to operational status. It took a full year to troubleshoot my system, mainly because their technical support is exceptionally poor. Worse than Comcast, and worse than any industrial partner I've ever worked with. Hold times are routinely more than an hour, and it can be an hour each time you are escalated from a Tier 1 to 2, or 2 to 3 technician. And if you don't solve your problem that day, you have to start over the next day with a Tier 1 technician. Do not, under any circumstances, purchase an SMA inverter. This is the abbreviated version of this story. I'm not sure how to respond to the comment from Alexandra from SMA, so I've edited my original posting with a response. The Rooftop Comms Kit comes with a GIB board that plugs directly into the communication board of the inverter, which is DC powered. You're thinking of the Cloud Connect Advanced, which is wired to the AC side. Both kits provide rapid shutdown, but only one of them prevents the described scenario. My system is code compliant. I would really like to reach out to your Service Manager to help resolve this issue, it's my nature as an engineer to want to help, but I'm too afraid to do so. Your company appears to be more interested in proving that my system is not code compliant than it is to do troubleshooting or engineering work together. I simply cannot afford a legal battle over my solar system, no matter how much of an outside chance that may be. You are welcome to reach out to your reliability folks and have them try to replicate the above scenario, though. I have SB3.8-1SP-US-40 inverters, SMA TS4-R-O V2 optimizers, and I used to have SMA Rooftop Communications Kit P2s. Have them hook up a system with this hardware and some panels, then trigger a rapid shutdown and you'll see that you can't get it to come back online. That's how I discovered the problem. The inverters I got had an older version of the firmware that would detect many spurious arc faults, which of course result in rapid shutdown. So, to be clear, if I turned the system off and then back on again, it would usually come back, but if I triggered a rapid shutdown, it could get stuck. I never could pinpoint an exact series of actions that would result in it getting stuck - there were several ways that it would happen - otherwise I would write it here. The new inverter that I got on warranty was stuck from day one. It wouldn't feed in until I switched from the Rooftop Comms Kit to the CCA. Let me know how it goes!
SMA offers the best inverter on the market. I decided to go with their inverter due to their german facility and long-term exprience since 1980s.
SMA is the Mercedes of solar inverters, however its prices are very competitive. I have been installing solar for more than 15 years, and SMA has been around ever longer than I have. For systems that are supposed to work for 20 years, their many years of product engineering gives me confidence in their long term operations. While the technical support for SMA could be better, anytime we have had an inverter fail, they sent us the replacement inverter immediately. These inverters are well design, easy to work with and very robust. Of the Tier 1 manufacturers, they are also the most economic.
6020 West Oaks Blvd, Ste 300
Rocklin,
CA 95765
United States
6020 West Oaks Blvd, Ste 300
Rocklin,
CA 95765
United States
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Updated 10/2016
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