Solar Panel Performance and Product Warranties – Are You Being Over Promised?

Business Owner - Energy Consultant - Energy Management Consultancy

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This article is a carry on from the previous article ‘What To Look For On The Solar Panel Specification Sheet‘ and outlines the warranties that are offered with solar panels.

Solar panels have two widely used manufacturer warranties one, the performance warranty, which is mainly to look pretty. The other is simply the one that is enforceable and has merit – the product warranty. Now there is a third contender subtly emerging from the retailer/installer, which is a subsequent performance warranty but still not widely offered or enforceable.

I’ll start with the manufacturer’s performance warranty, this, for the most part, is just an enticing figure that can easily sell you the product on the basis that it is a very long warranty. Incidentally, if it’s not understood or explained properly or maybe even twisted on purpose to lure you into accepting an offer based on the extent of the coverage. These performance figures are based on the expected degradation of the cells of the panels and how they will perform over 25 years. This warranty is a guarantee, and the parameters will be displayed on the specification sheet, it guarantees the panels or cells will only lose a specific amount of the output capacity over 25 years. I believe this warranty to be a little bit sticky because it is hard to enforce for the simple reason it would be really hard to prove any problems. Think back to my last two articles that touched on factors that affect the output of the system, because of these factors it would be really difficult to determine that your system is degrading slightly quicker than promised. Let’s consider this warranty as an expected performance guideline only and the higher the percentage that is expected at the 25 year mark i.e. slower degradation rate, is the better choice, and not the warranty that you could expect to rely on should your panels slightly underperform. However, if you were up for a fight and you believe that your panels are not performing as promised, then you could assert your right under the Australian Consumer Law ‘express warranties’ which this performance warranty may be seen as an additional promise, especially if it was sold to you on this basis. But to be fair, do your research and don’t allow yourself to be gullible and sold a product on this promise alone. I am merely pointing this out, as some companies will intentionally sell products based on this information.

There now is a subsequent performance warranty gathering momentum that needs to be mentioned here because although it is not common with the small small-scale installations (<100kW)…yet, it is becoming common with large-scale (>100kW) installations, and one can only assume this will inevitably filter into both residential and business small scale installs. This emerging guarantee has some solar companies making their own performance promises, say over the next ten years output of x amount will be generated, guaranteed, and if not then the company may be liable for the cost of the discrepancy. Would I guarantee this? Absolutely not! And especially without limitations. Here’s why, there is simply the potential to overpromise and underperform, some companies will do this just to make the sale, and therefore forcing other businesses to have to make the same promise just to stay competitive. But it puts businesses at risk if they did have to pay out large amounts of money for compensation, and again I touch on underperforming can be hard to prove with all the factors that contribute to how the system actually performs. An article by Chunn, J. (2019, June). Solar’s Broken Promises Ecogeneration outlines companies offering these performance warranties, independent of the manufacturer, on products that they do not produce themselves nor have any power over the quality control process of these products. So how could I be expected to guarantee this? If you are offered this warranty ask yourself, ‘is this just to get me to sign on the dotted line?’ Historical weather data helps determine what is expected to be generated along with the standard testing conditions of the panels, if the weather is different or there is a year of cloudy days, do you really expect a company to pay for this, or be blamed for the underperformance? This may, in fact, be a promise that just cannot be kept, and if good quality panels are being offered, I don’t believe this subsequent warranty is necessary.

To read about the third warranty that is reliable read the full article. Images of what two different performance warranties look like are also shown so you’ll know the difference between performance and product warranties, and what to look for on a specification sheet.

 

Melinda Glew

Business Owner - Energy Consultant - Energy Management Consultancy

Melinda Glew, the founder of Energy Management Consultancy, has a BSc in Sustainable Energy Management, providing her with technical knowledge, and an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of energy.

She is accredited with the Clean Energy Council to design off-grid/stand-alone power systems, and previously was a director on the board of the Energy Innovation Co-operative.

Please contact me directly with any enquiries
Email: mel@energymanagementconsultancy.com.au
Ph; 0407 506 794

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