Fotonaponski modul treba provjeriti neovisno o tome je li nov.

Because Croatian often uses an impersonal construction with treba + infinitive.

• treba provjeriti literally means it is necessary to check
• in natural English, when the thing being checked is the focus, we often translate that as should be checked or needs to be checked

So the sentence is not saying that the module itself does the checking. It means that someone should check it.

Compare:

• Treba provjeriti modul. = The module should be checked.
• Morate provjeriti modul. = You must check the module.

The Croatian sentence leaves the person who does the checking unspecified.

It is functioning as the direct object, so it is in the accusative.

The reason it looks like nominative is that with masculine inanimate singular nouns, the nominative and accusative are often identical.

So:

• nominative: fotonaponski modul
• accusative: fotonaponski modul

Same form, different function.

That is completely normal in Croatian. The verb provjeriti takes a direct object, so here modul is understood as accusative even though the form does not change.

This is about aspect.

• provjeriti = perfective
• provjeravati = imperfective

Here the sentence is talking about performing a complete check of the module, so provjeriti is the natural choice.

• treba provjeriti = it should be checked / one should check it
• treba provjeravati would suggest repeated, ongoing, or habitual checking

So provjeriti fits a single completed inspection better.

Neovisno o tome literally means something like independently of that or regardless of that.

In natural English here, it means regardless of whether...

The word tome is a form of to and appears because of the preposition o, which takes the locative case.

So:

• to = that / it
• o tome = about that / with regard to that

In this sentence, neovisno o tome je li nov is an idiomatic way of saying:

• regardless of whether it is new

Je li is a standard Croatian way to form a yes/no question or an indirect yes/no question.

Here it means whether it is.

So:

• Je li nov? = Is it new?
• ... o tome je li nov = ... regarding whether it is new

A few useful notes:

• je li is written as two words
• it is more standard in careful Croatian than da li
• jeli as one word is wrong here

So in your sentence, je li nov means whether it is new.

Because nov is the normal predicate adjective form here.

In Croatian, masculine singular adjectives can have a short and long form in some contexts:

• novi modul = a new/newer module or simply new module when the adjective stands before the noun
• modul je nov = the module is new

After the verb biti or in a clause like je li nov, the short form nov is the usual one.

So:

• novi modul = adjective directly modifying the noun
• modul je nov = adjective as part of the predicate

That is why the sentence has je li nov, not je li novi.

It is simply omitted, because Croatian often drops subject pronouns when the meaning is clear.

So:

• je li nov literally looks like is new?
• but it means is it new?

The implied subject is understood from context: it refers back to fotonaponski modul.

This is very normal in Croatian. English usually needs the pronoun it, but Croatian often does not.

Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible.

Your sentence starts with Fotonaponski modul, which puts the module in focus as the topic.

A very common alternative would be:

• Treba provjeriti fotonaponski modul neovisno o tome je li nov.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mostly about information structure and emphasis, not basic meaning.

The original version sounds quite natural in technical or formal instructions, where the thing being discussed is introduced first.

Because Croatian has no articles.

So fotonaponski modul can mean:

• a photovoltaic module
• the photovoltaic module

Which one is intended depends on the context.

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Croatian uses word order, context, and situation instead of articles.

Yes, it is a perfectly good and fairly formal way to say it.

A very common alternative is:

• bez obzira na to je li nov

That also means regardless of whether it is new.

So these are close in meaning:

• neovisno o tome je li nov
• bez obzira na to je li nov

The version with neovisno o tome sounds a bit more formal or technical, which suits a sentence about equipment or inspection.

Yes, fotonaponski is an adjective meaning photovoltaic.

It agrees with modul in:

• gender: masculine
• number: singular
• case: accusative here, though it looks the same as nominative because the noun is masculine inanimate

So the whole phrase fotonaponski modul is just photovoltaic module.

Because several features make it sound technical or instructional:

• treba + infinitive is common in manuals and procedures
• provjeriti is precise and task-oriented
• neovisno o tome is formal phrasing
• the object is placed first: Fotonaponski modul...

So this sounds like a sentence you would find in:

• a manual
• a safety guideline
• a technical document
• an inspection procedure

That tone is completely natural for this kind of content.