A Change for the Better: From Old to New Sunny Boy

Wendy Truongby Wendy Truong (guest post), , 4 Comments

Every time when a new generation of the product is launched, people tend to be curious looking for the similarities and differences between the generations. In this blog we’ll look into the differences and improvements of the new Sunny Boy AV-40 compared to the older model, and how it meets the needs of an ever changing market.

 

The Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL is the world’s most successful residential string inverter, with more than 1 million devices installed worldwide. So when the time came for this trusted platform to be upgraded, the original development team worked hard to deliver a worthy successor.sunnyboy solarinverter old vs new

 

SMA Quality Worldwide

The Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL was assembled at our facility in Kassel, Germany, while the Sunny Boy AV-40 is assembled at our facility in Yangzhong, China. However, this makes no impact on the final quality the product. The reason lies in SMA Quality systems. Both locations implement the same SMA procedures and systems, which have ensured the quality for SMA devices for over 35 years. Learn more about SMA’s Quality & Product Development systems in this short video here.

sma solarinverter production facility

Part of the Kassel facility for production and testing and a similar part of the Yangzhong facility

 

Lighter & Smaller

The Sunny BoyAV-40 was redesigned to provide the same power with fewer components thus increasing product reliability and usability. The circuit boards were also redesigned and stacked to be more space economical, using newer more efficient individual components. All this has contributed to the Sunny Boy AV-40 being 40% lighter and 30% smaller than its predecessor without compromising on quality while at the same time enhancing the features.

The Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL on the left, and the new Sunny Boy AV-40 on the right showing a much smaller and simpler device (shown to scale)

The Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL on the left, and the new Sunny Boy AV-40 on the right showing a much smaller and simpler device (shown to scale)

 

Smaller device, smarter screen

The Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL communication was based on a 4-inch LCD screen and Bluetooth connectivity, but times have changed and the Sunny Boy AV-40 has changed along with them. The new inverter is able to communicate with any WiFi-enabled smart device and replaces the old 4-inch LCD screen with a new virtual smart screen improving reliability and access. The Sunny Boy AV-40 gets even smarter when used with an SMA Energy Meter, which can be used to provide consumption data along with its own production information. For information on accessing the inverter Smart Screen, check out our YouTube Tech Tip video.

lcd screen vs smart screen solarinverter

An older LCD screen on the Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL compared with the new Smart Screen

 

Quick commissioning with Smart Screen

A major difference between the Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL and Sunny Boy AV-40 is how the inverter is commissioned to meet the local country standards. The Sunny Boy AV-40 is designed to be quickly set up during commissioning via WiFi and its built-in Web User Interface. If an Installer needs to commission multiple devices with the same set of parameters, they can freely use the Configuration File feature which can complete complex programming of an inverter in less than 10 seconds. All this allows for less installation time and lowers costs for all parties.

commissioning of a solarinverter

 

Smart Connected: the new Standard in Service

The Sunny BoyAV-40 is also the first device in the Sunny Boy family to provide the free Smart Connected Service Package. This helps the Sunny Boys to stay ahead in a modern market where Cloud systems can be used to help work more efficiently and deal with Service issues before you even know there is a problem. And in the unlikely even the inverter needs to be replaced, the Sunny Boy AV-40 will be replaced with a new inverter pre-shipped to the site ready for your installer to replace. This means your system is back up and running at full power sooner, saving you time and money. To learn about Smart Connected, check out this short video or read our blog post here.
smartconnected service smasolar

 

This article was published in 2017. As we are constantly developing our solutions, there may be newer or additional options for the tips and techniques in this article.

4 Comments
    • Christiane Keim
      Christiane Keim says:

      Hello Ravin,

      Please get back to our SMA Service for further support as we need additional information to support you.
      Thanks!

      Sunny regards
      Christiane

      Reply
  1. Frank van Schagen
    Frank van Schagen says:

    The new inverter looks like it will be an excellent device like its predecessor the Sunny Boy 3000-5000TL. I personally have the Sunny Boy 5000T and a Sunny Home Manager. The new WiFi connectivity will be an excellent addition to the system as my experience with the Bluetooth connectivity is that it is best described as very poor.
    An excellent upgrade for the more than 1 million Sunny Boy 3000-5000TLs would be a plug in WiFi module at an affordable price (<200AUD). Poor communications is a constant bugbear with the inverter not connecting to the Home Manager.
    I also have a battery back up system for my home using the Sunny Island 8H and a Sunny WebBox – this is all hard wired so communication is excellent, although the IPhone App is useless, requiring me to use the website application.
    Good equipment let down with some irritating communication/data issues
    Frank van Schagen

    Reply
    • Evgeny
      Evgeny says:

      I have the same problem. Very often, the connection between Sunny Portal and devices disappears. Although all are connected via ethernet

      Reply

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