Warranty-related service calls and related issues are compounded for off grid sites where travel time is usually longer than the time it takes to do the service. The burden is unequally shared since some problems are due to faulty equipment, user/site circumstances and installer responsibility.
We install solar powered vaccine fridges in Africa and the Americas and have recently wrestled with this globally and are discussing a way to assign the responsibility so the installer is not unfairly saddled with the lions share of the costs. It seems fair that the cost of service should be borne by the responsible party - if determined to be an equipment failure within warranty period shouldn't the manufacturer be liable for cost of service? But if the user (or the site conditions that are out the control of manufacturer and installer) are the cause then the owner should pay but if the installer caused it then they should be liable. These same concerns come up when system acceptance (and final payment) is tied to some sort of system performance metric that might again be impacted by equipment, user/site conditions or the installer. We are trying to point all this out to buyers ahead of time to get their agreement to be responsible in cases user/site circumstances lead to a service call/warranty call. However moving the manufacturers toward a more equitable stake in post install expenses is difficult, especially if you are not a high volume buyer. And then there is the question of who determines the cause of a problem since it will not always be clear. Steve McCarney Project Manager Solar Electric Light Fund. On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 6:06 AM, Jason Szumlanski <ja...@szumlanski.com> wrote: > Frankly, our issue is the UNsteady stream of service issues with both > string and microinverters. There isn't enough warranty or non-warranty > service work and it is too unpredictable to justify a dedicated PV service > department with dedicated personnel that can run economically. As a result, > we have to pull install crews from active installations to handle these > issues, which is neither economical nor good for our installation business. > As much as PV service is an annoyance for system owners, it's a huge > distraction for a small dealer. In fact, one competitor refuses to service > the systems they install. We have been picking up service business as a > result (we have a reputation for doing so and manufacturers call us), but > it's still not steady enough to handle well. > > Jason Szumlanski > On Oct 15, 2014 4:41 PM, "Rebecca Lundberg" < > rebecca.lundb...@powerfullygreen.com> wrote: > >> We are starting to see a fairly steady stream of various solar >> electronics needing replacement under warranty, including micro-inverters, >> AC modules (microinverter failing), and even modules with an integrated DC >> electronic component failing to work from the get go. I work with >> residential customers and care about doing right by them, and of course >> they expect that their warrantied part will be replaced at no cost to them, >> they have already invested a lot in their solar project. Sometimes the >> manufacturer has a stipend which at least offsets the cost of gas but does >> not cover time to travel to the site and do the replacement, but I have >> recently come across several manufacturers who do not give any stipend at >> all and I am surprised at that. Replacing a module in the middle of a >> pitched roof is no small feat, and getting to micro inverters on a steep >> pitch is always a challenge. As the code requires more safety features down >> to the module level, I suspect we will see more and more of this, and the >> electronics are no longer at ground level and easily accessible. What ideas >> do you have about how to deal with this? Must we have an O and M contract >> with every customer given current product choices? >> >> A similar question relates to a particular module having issues >> with delamination and failed diodes. We have been called out to several >> sites where this has caused the inverter to sense a fault, and testing >> showed the module leaking voltage to ground. Who is responsible for getting >> the inverter up and running when it clearly stems from the module? I >> suspect the module manufacturer's warranty legally exempts them from >> responsibility, but again it is reasonable for the customer to expect a >> warrantied system to be up and running. >> >> Thoughts from the field? >> >> Sincerely, >> Rebecca Lundberg >> >> >> >> -- >> Rebecca Lundberg >> NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer ® >> Owner/President >> *Powerfully Green*® >> 763.438.1976 | rebecca.lundb...@powerfullygreen.com >> >> Powered by the Sun! >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
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