How to Turn Off and Turn On A Sunny Boy System

There are 2 disconnects on a Sunny Boy system, and maybe a third disconnecting means at the
rooftop if the design called for it, but to just shut the system down, you can ignore any possible rooftop disconnect.

The order of shutting things down is critical, because the Sunnyboy Inverter monitors the incoming utility power for Voltage and Frequency.   

As a safety, if the Voltage and Frequency are out of Standards, the Sunny Boy will go into an "Error Mode" which can be very problematic to get out of.   I don't like it, but that is the way it is.

So, it's very do-able, just follow this, print it out is even better. 

So 2 aspects:   Shutdown and Re-Start.

On shutdown, you need to turn off the DC Disconnect first.   The Sunnyboy and it's brain run on DC power.   So if you shut down the DC power, the "brain" won't be concerned when the utility AC goes down later.  

SHUTDOWN:
Turn off the DC disconnect first, then
Turn off the AC disconnect

On startup, you need to do the opposite.   

STARTUP
Turn on the AC disconnect, then
Turn on the DC disconnect.

On startup, once you turn on the DC disconnect, the Sunnyboy will first check to make sure the AC from HECO is OK and within specs.   If the HECO power is not there....it will go into an error mode, that can be a big problem.   Then the upper light will start flashing green if all is OK so far.   

After a while, maybe 30 seconds, that light should turn solid green.   That's GOOD!   Anything else is bad, and you could retry the process, or may have to do a trouble call to PES.  

Draining A Water Heater

Draining a Water Heater can take a long time.   So sometimes customers don't mind doing this simple step to allow their work to get done earlier in the day so they have a tank of piping hot water later that evening.

The most important thing is to make sure power to the heating element is turned off.   If the heating element is not covered in water, and turned on, it will fry in less than a second, guaranteed.

1) Turn off power at the circuit breaker or the disconnect.   Circuit breaker is easier and better. 
2) Turn off solar pump (usually mounted on tank) by unplugging it.    if it is a 240V pump, you can't unplug it, but turning the heater breaker off will remove it's power.   
3) close the 3/4" Ball Valve on the cold water supply to the pump.
4) Attach a hose to bottom drain and open the bottom valve with a screwdriver.
5) Lift the P&T relief Valve handle to a straight up position, this lets air into the tank, which is necessary for the water to exit.

It could take 30 to 60 minutes to drain, longer if the bottom is heavily sedimented.

Solar Tax Credit form for 2017

Here is the Fed & HI State solar energy credit form for 2017.

Fed tax credit is 30%



Here is the link to download the form.

 Form 5695 Residential Energy Credit 


Hawaii tax credit is 35% or Up to $2,250.





Here is the link to download the form.

Form N-342  Renewable Energy Technologies Income tax credit