Thanks for watching! If you need assistance with breaking down a solar quote, sizing your system properly, understanding your utility options, technical guidance, or just want another quote to review: Please email me at infozachsolar@gmail.com. Are you a solar professional looking for a new installation partner in Arizona, Texas, or Nevada? Shoot me an email at infozachsolar@gmail.com.
Can you explain these panel warranties ? You said the Qcells are guaranteed to produce at least 86% of rated power at year 25. But they will never produce that much, even in year one. The actual power produced is well below that theoretical limit. So what does the warranty guarantee ? How would you know if the panels were producing less than they should ? There seems to be no measure that a homeowner can see that tells them clearly if the panel is producing as warranted or not. Seems like the warranty is pretty much worthless. Kind of like a 50K mile car warranty, but the odometer has been removed. I just don't see how these warranties can give a homeowner any confidence that the panels will produce the expected power over their life. These warranties are not actionable. Seems like a big scam to me. Or what am I missing ? If my panels don't seem to be producing what I expect, and the solar installer says they are fine, how do we settle that ? What objective measure do we look at ? And please don't tell me you take the panel to the manufacturers lab and they test it, as I'm sure the panels would have to be performing extremely poorly before that step is taken. If the panels would measure just 80% in the lab, how would I know that and be able to force the test ? My take is that the solar companies know they cannot provide a more measurable warranty, as the numbers they could warrant this way would have to be much lower than the power production numbers they are claiming. So, instead, they use these bogus theoretical limits that they know cannot be measured or challenged.
Hopefully this helps clear up any misunderstanding. Warranty and degradation are based on nominal rated power, not its STC. You can easily diagnose an underperforming panel by measuring the voltage, either through your system monitoring (microinverter or optimizer) or with a multimeter on-site. Your installer would assist you with any warranty claims, including the removal and shipping of the panel. In my opinion, panel warranties primarily represent the manufacturer's confidence. They are certainly actionable, and major manufacturers make the process fairly simple. Based on my experience, panel failure and unexpected degradation are also extremely uncommon.
Thanks for watching!
If you need assistance with breaking down a solar quote, sizing your system properly, understanding your utility options, technical guidance, or just want another quote to review:
Please email me at infozachsolar@gmail.com.
Are you a solar professional looking for a new installation partner in Arizona, Texas, or Nevada? Shoot me an email at infozachsolar@gmail.com.
I told my installer I wanted American made efficient PV panels and in ALL BLACK. They installed 405 watt Q-Cell’s. 😊
Can you explain these panel warranties ?
You said the Qcells are guaranteed to produce at least 86% of rated power at year 25. But they will never produce that much, even in year one. The actual power produced is well below that theoretical limit. So what does the warranty guarantee ? How would you know if the panels were producing less than they should ? There seems to be no measure that a homeowner can see that tells them clearly if the panel is producing as warranted or not. Seems like the warranty is pretty much worthless. Kind of like a 50K mile car warranty, but the odometer has been removed. I just don't see how these warranties can give a homeowner any confidence that the panels will produce the expected power over their life. These warranties are not actionable. Seems like a big scam to me. Or what am I missing ?
If my panels don't seem to be producing what I expect, and the solar installer says they are fine, how do we settle that ? What objective measure do we look at ? And please don't tell me you take the panel to the manufacturers lab and they test it, as I'm sure the panels would have to be performing extremely poorly before that step is taken. If the panels would measure just 80% in the lab, how would I know that and be able to force the test ?
My take is that the solar companies know they cannot provide a more measurable warranty, as the numbers they could warrant this way would have to be much lower than the power production numbers they are claiming. So, instead, they use these bogus theoretical limits that they know cannot be measured or challenged.
Hopefully this helps clear up any misunderstanding.
Warranty and degradation are based on nominal rated power, not its STC. You can easily diagnose an underperforming panel by measuring the voltage, either through your system monitoring (microinverter or optimizer) or with a multimeter on-site. Your installer would assist you with any warranty claims, including the removal and shipping of the panel. In my opinion, panel warranties primarily represent the manufacturer's confidence. They are certainly actionable, and major manufacturers make the process fairly simple. Based on my experience, panel failure and unexpected degradation are also extremely uncommon.