Replacing a 15 year old Sunpower inverter

[Lynda Hernandez]

I'm new on this board and wanted to ask about replacing a 15 year old Sunpower SPR 3200 inverter. My 3.2 watt Sunpower system has worked great for 15 years but it appears that the inverter may have finally worn out. I'm receiving input from several solar contractors in Southern California and want to determine my best options. I definitely want to stay in compliance with SCE and my current NEM agreement. I was also in the process of adding a Tesla Powerwall 2 (backordered since October 2020 but that's another story) and had just upgraded my SCE breaker box. I called Sunpower to trouble shoot and after rebooting the inverter received a fault message 0000-0ca0 which the tech said indicated that there might be an issue with AC breaker box or fuse. If I replace the inverter with a Sunny Boy 3.0 that might be considered a like for like inverter (I think) but one contractor said there might be a compliance issue and to replace with a refurbished Sunpower inverter. I really don't know what my best solution would be and hope that more informed solar users can help. My current solar rates are not good unless I'm hooked up to my solar system. Not getting a quick response from the contractor that installed the new SCE panel and want to fix this quickly. Original installer Energy Efficiency Solar out of Pomona (Bob Siebert) is not in business. Please help!

[sdold]

Hi Lynda, I moved your message into its own thread here, to keep the other one on-topic. Hopefully you'll be able to get some good answers. Welcome to the forum!

[PVAndy]

I'm new on this board and wanted to ask about replacing a 15 year old Sunpower SPR 3200 inverter. My 3.2 watt Sunpower system has worked great for 15 years but it appears that the inverter may have finally worn out. I'm receiving input from several solar contractors in Southern California and want to determine my best options. I definitely want to stay in compliance with SCE and my current NEM agreement. I was also in the process of adding a Tesla Powerwall 2 (backordered since October 2020 but that's another story) and had just upgraded my SCE breaker box. I called Sunpower to trouble shoot and after rebooting the inverter received a fault message 0000-0ca0 which the tech said indicated that there might be an issue with AC breaker box or fuse. If I replace the inverter with a Sunny Boy 3.0 that might be considered a like for like inverter (I think) but one contractor said there might be a compliance issue and to replace with a refurbished Sunpower inverter. I really don't know what my best solution would be and hope that more informed solar users can help. My current solar rates are not good unless I'm hooked up to my solar system. Not getting a quick response from the contractor that installed the new SCE panel and want to fix this quickly. Original installer Energy Efficiency Solar out of Pomona (Bob Siebert) is not in business. Please help!

What are you panel models? Many of the older SunPower panels are positive ground which is not compatible with current TL inverters. If that's the case you would need to find a transformer inverter

Andy

[Lynda Hernandez]

[QUOTE=PVAndy;n426303]

What are you panel models? Many of the older SunPower panels are positive ground which is not compatible with current TL inverters. If that's the case you would need to find a transformer inverter

Sunpower 215 watt black module. I just got off the phone with Sustainable Solutions, Pomona, CA, the company that bought out the original installer, EE Solar and she told me the same thing. This is turning out to be a lot more complicated than I had hoped. She also said that they bought out a few of the older Sunpower inverters so hopefully we can come up with a good solution. Thanks for your input!

[Lynda Hernandez]

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• Join Date: Jun 2021
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#4
Today, 12:02 PM
[QUOTE=PVAndy;n426303]

What are you panel models? Many of the older SunPower panels are positive ground which is not compatible with current TL inverters. If that's the case you would need to find a transformer inverter

Sunpower 215 watt black module. I just got off the phone with Sustainable Solutions, Pomona, CA, the company that bought out the original installer, EE Solar and she told me the same thing. This is turning out to be a lot more complicated than I had hoped. She also said that they bought out a few of the older Sunpower inverters so hopefully we can come up with a good solution. Thanks for your input!

[Lynda Hernandez]

Turns out my 15-yo SunPower SPR 3200 inverter may only need fuses (326 P5E) which are not easy to come by supposedly. I was told that microwave fuses have been used instead. Anyone have information regarding this.

[khanh dam]

Solar Power Inverter Repair | Green Solar Electric, LLC. this place fixes inverters, mabye they have the fuse you need.
you can also join this facebook group full of installers and ask if anyone has some old gear they can sell/install for you.
Solar installers | Facebook