Swapping a failed inverter of the FITs scheme

[Marcus]

Hi all, i expect this question has been asked before, but a friends inverter has failed (samil power 3.68kw - eeprom error). And they were asking if i could replace it?

I'm not MCS certified so i was wondering if anyone could advise? I have actually done one before, but that was a warranty replacement and the manufacturer (fronius iirc) simply registered me as one of their installers for the duration so i could do the like for like swap.

In this case though, samil power / solar river are long gone and there's no warranty and the company that did the installation is gone too. I was thinking if i could find a 2nd hand samil and swap like for like there shouldn't be an issue, but if replacing with something different i have a feeling MCS paperwork might be required?

[nowty]

Absolutely fine, even officially but my advice is don't involve DNO or FIT provider, especially if using a second hand inverter. Grief for no benefit, there is no record on the MCS certificate of inverter and 90% sure DNO won't have a record of it either, especially if it was put in long ago.

DNO might not like a second hand inverter as it might not be to latest G98 regulations.

FIT provider might have a problem with second hand gear as there was a restriction on not using second hand gear for FIT installations but I don't believe that extends to replacement and repairs.

Don't even think Part P applies as its a repair of existing circuit.

Its a simple JFDI.

[Marcus]

Thanks Nowty,

I can self certify for regular electrical anyway, but it's the MCS stuff.

My principal issue with replacing with something new is if it works better than the old inverter, will that raise questions from the Fit payer. If it were my own I'd replace and say nothing - but as it's someone else's i don't want to do anything to b*gger up their FIT payments

[Marcus]

I suppose the next question is what replacement would folks recommend- finding a good matching s/h samil power is proving challenging anyway - with no guarantee it'll last well.

[marshman]

__

[Marcus]

Good.
Thx