Can anyone help me with these issues?

[Al OG]

Greetings,
About 8 or 9 years ago, I agreed to buy a PV solar system for a small commercial building that I operate. We have an array of pv panels on the flat (membrane) roof of the building and an SMA Sunny Boy inverter. It is connected to the grid.

The installer, who was a tenant in the building at the time is now essentially unavailable. During the economic downturn, they left the building with a large unpaid rent bill, and don't respond to our queries.

We are not certain whether the solar system is functioning. The installer did a bad job and created extensive leaks in the membrane roof (which is less than half way through its rated life). We now need to replace the entire membrane roof at a considerable expense because of the leaks around and under the sleepers used for the solar panels. The new roof installer and our building manager suggest discarding the inverter and solar panels.

Since we don't have a manual for the "Sunny Boy" we can't tell if it turned on and/or functioning. Can anyone tell me how to check and see if the system is working? I'd like to see if we can figure out if it is working before I let them throw the system in the dumpster. Is there a market for used inverters and solar panels?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give,
Al

[inetdog]

Greetings,
About 8 or 9 years ago, I agreed to buy a PV solar system for a small commercial building that I operate. We have an array of pv panels on the flat (membrane) roof of the building and an SMA Sunny Boy inverter. It is connected to the grid.

The installer, who was a tenant in the building at the time is now essentially unavailable. During the economic downturn, they left the building with a large unpaid rent bill, and don't respond to our queries.

We are not certain whether the solar system is functioning. The installer did a bad job and created extensive leaks in the membrane roof (which is less than half way through its rated life). We now need to replace the entire membrane roof at a considerable expense because of the leaks around and under the sleepers used for the solar panels. The new roof installer and our building manager suggest discarding the inverter and solar panels.

Since we don't have a manual for the "Sunny Boy" we can't tell if it turned on and/or functioning. Can anyone tell me how to check and see if the system is working? I'd like to see if we can figure out if it is working before I let them throw the system in the dumpster. Is there a market for used inverters and solar panels?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give,
Al

Hi Al, and welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

You can access manuals for just about any SunnyBoy inverter on the SMA website.
If it is not humming or making any other noises at noon in full sun, it is not working. (Most likely just turned off).
There should be a digital display that shows you more about what it is doing when it is working.
If the panels are not producing, or not connected, the SB will be inert.

There definitely is a marked for used inverters, and SMA products tend to hold their value as well as or better than any other brand.

The panels are more of a open question, since they may not have been worth much to start with and will be difficult to ship.
Figure that the replacement cost of the panels will be ~$1.00 per watt of nameplate power, and depreciate from there.