Reading a solar panel warranty

What are the three kinds of warranty?

The product warranty covers defects in materials and manufacturing. It usually runs for a number of years, often a decade or more for panels, and may be shorter for inverters or other equipment. The performance warranty promises that output will not fall below a stated percentage of the original rating by a given year. The workmanship warranty comes from the installer and covers the installation: roof penetrations, wiring, mounting and the connection.

All three can be sound on paper and still disappoint, because the useful question is who stands behind them when something goes wrong. A manufacturer abroad and a small local installer are very different counterparties.

How does a performance warranty work?

Panels lose a little output each year, as the lifespan and degradation guide explains. The warranty sets a floor. A hypothetical example with stated assumptions: a panel rated at 400 W with a guarantee of 90 percent output after the first ten years would be considered within warranty at 360 W or more under standard test conditions. Measuring that is not simple, since real-world output depends on weather, soiling and temperature, so a claim usually needs a test by a qualified technician rather than a glance at the monitoring app.

Read how the warranty measures output, who pays for testing, and whether the remedy is a replacement panel, a cash refund or a repair.

What do warranties usually exclude?

Common exclusions include damage from hail beyond a rated size, lightning, fire, flood, improper installation, unapproved modifications and neglect. Labour to remove and reinstall a faulty panel is often excluded or limited, which can be the larger cost. Shipping from overseas may be on the owner. These terms sit in the fine print, so ask to see the full document before the contract is signed, not a marketing summary.

The insurance guide covers losses that a warranty will not, such as storm damage.

Does the warranty transfer if you sell the house?

Many manufacturer warranties pass to the next owner, but some require registration or a notice within a set time, and a few apply only to the original buyer. A transferable warranty helps the sale, as described in the home value guide. Keep a copy of the warranty, the invoice and the registration confirmation with the house records.

What happens if the installer closes?

Workmanship coverage is only as good as the company giving it. Some installers buy insurance-backed warranties that continue if the business ends. Ask whether that exists, and what the process is for a claim. The installer checklist includes this among its questions. Large systems built for demonstration, like Drake Landing's, relied on long-term maintenance arrangements as well as equipment warranties, and the wind-down of that site shows how much depends on someone being responsible for the upkeep; see the performance results page for what was monitored.

How do you keep a warranty claim healthy?

Keep the proof. Save the invoice, serial numbers, the commissioning report and the first full year of monitoring data. Register the equipment with the manufacturer if the terms call for it. Avoid unapproved modifications, such as adding panels from a different model to the same string, without checking with the installer first.

If a fault appears, document it with dated photographs and the monitoring record, then notify the installer in writing. Time limits for notifying a claim exist in some documents. A short, calm, well-documented email will usually move faster than a string of phone calls. For help reading the production data that backs a claim, see the monitoring guide.

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