Sharp SunVista and new panels [RE-wrenches]

Tue Nov 11 19:42:03 PST 2003

I have not installed a Sharp SunVista, but I don't see GFI testing as a big
deal. Maybe on a 25 inverter system, although it was fine on a 16...

It seems like a good idea to do a test, rather than blowing a fuse. What
happens if you have a Sharp with a ground fault when you turn it on? (No,
we've had no ground faults in our SMA installs yet, but I'm sure we will
eventually. Even carefulness does not prevent a bad run of wire with a
manufacturer's fault from being installed.) Does it blow a fuse or what?

Jeff Wolfe

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Pratt [mailto:dmpratt at sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:47 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: RE: Sharp SunVista and new panels [RE-wrenches]

I have not personally been hands-on with a SunVista install yet.
However, our LA branch installed a couple last month, so I got to rub up
against some first-hand experience. There were some glitches with
packaging and shipping. Both had power boards broken by ...ahem...
shipping and handling techniques that were inconceivable to the Japanese
engineers. This hasn't happened in the homeland ever in two years of
production. (Even the truck drivers in Japan are polite, gentle, and
careful? THAT'S inconceivable to me!) Sharp responded quickly, and
Arthur Rudin himself went out to the sites to install new boards. (It's
*very* quick and easy to replace power boards in this inverter.) This
will not be an ongoing problem, and I doubt if anyone else in the US
will ever experience it. Construction and packaging are both being
upgraded.

  Installation is real easy. There's a lightweight frame that attaches
to the wall first, then the inverter body pops in. Hookup is easy.
Startup is as simple as pushing the "on" button. No fiddling around with
clearing ground faults.

  From my ex-mechanic's viewpoint, it's kinda like comparing a late 90's
Camry with an 80's Mercedes diesel. The Camry you just intuitively
understand. All the controls are where you expect them, everything
works, it hardly ever breaks...it just does it's job and you never even
think about it. The Mercedes takes a bit more study, and demands more of
your attention, but goes just as far in the long run. Funny how national
stereotypes play out in heavily engineered products.

Cheers,
Doug Pratt
Real Goods Technical Editor

-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Cochrane [mailto:andy at powertripenergy.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 2:54 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: RE: Sharp SunVista and new panels [RE-wrenches]

Hi again,

Thanks folks for the warnings and caveats.  I didn't see a reply from
anybody who said they had installed one yet though, so I'll echo a
recent question:

So then - has anyone on the wrench list actually installed a Sharp
SunVista inverter yet?

Andy Cochrane
Power Trip Energy Company
Port Townsend, WA 98368
andy at powertripenergy.com
www.powertripenergy.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Cochrane [mailto:andy at powertripenergy.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 12:43 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Sharp SunVista and new panels [RE-wrenches]

Hi All,

I have been hired for a new residential PV project that seems to cry out

for the new trangular Sharp panels and their new 3500 SunVista inverter
(Hip roofs meeting at 45 degree angles and half the panels will face SE
and half will face SW.)

So does anybody out there have some experiences to report with this
equipment yet?

Andy Cochrane
andy at powertripenergy.com

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