Seriously folks this is no laughing mater. Over the next few months during
the Summer of 2009, tens of thousands of consumers throughout the U.S. will make
one of the biggest investments in their lifetime. Unfortunately many of those
consumers will allow sales people to talk them into saving a few cents per watt by purchasing one of the
hundreds of non-name brand solar panels that have started to flood the U.S.
market.
Hundreds of shipping containers from all over the world that are loaded with
cheap, non name brand solar panels enter our ports every day. With the U.S.
economy in the worst shape that its been in since the Great Depression many of
the hundreds of new and inexperienced solar dealers that have cropped up in the
last couple of years will begin to offer these inferior products in an attempt
to bolster their profits.
During the peak of the financial incentives that were being offered in 2007 and
2008 for solar installations in Germany, Spain and Italy, it was difficult to
find solar panels anywhere at any price. This enormous demand fed the creation
of solar panel manufacturing startups all over the world. Small overseas
companies that were makings toys and lawn furniture one day transitioned into
solar manufacturing the next.
With the advent of all the do it yourself videos that are floating around that demonstrate how to make your own home made solar panels, it became more than just enticing for these small inexperienced companies to jump on the solar manufacturing bandwagon. Unfortunately for these manufacturers and their customers, designing and building a solar panel that can produce reliable power while being exposed to the Sun, Wind, Rain and Snow for the next 30 to 40 years let alone survive during the 25 year warranty period is entirely another story.
We operate an in-house factory authorized center center and we are already averaging about 6 to 8 calls a month from people who bought an off brand solar panel and are seeking repairs because their solar panels no longer work they can no longer reach the solar panel's manufacturer.
What most people don't realize is the vast majority of solar panel failures cannot be repaired. Solar cells are permanently laminated to the panels glass surface and it is virtually impossible to remove a solar panel's Tedlar backing without damaging the solar cells. So without a warranty, these people are simply left with nothing but a bunch of worthless glass and aluminum.
After more than eleven years of watching solar manufacturers come and go leaving
customers without warranties, it is our conclusion that even saving 10% to 20% when comparing a name brand solar system to a non-name brand
solar system is simply not worth the risk. Here's a fictitious example that is
based on a compilation of actual events that we have witnessed over the past 11
years. Obviously the names and the events depicted here differ
from the original occurrences, but are representative of actual past situations.
Mr. Frugal buys his solar system from a local solar dealer that just opened up
in town. Due to inexperience and maybe a little bit of greed, this dealer convinces
Mr. Frugal that he can save $2,500.00 by purchasing non-name brand solar panels
instead of name brand product that has been manufactured by a large publicly
traded company. The dealer installs the system and the system
begins spinning the customer's meter backwards.
Three years later Mr. Frugal notices that his electric bills have risen. There
have been no dramatic electric fee increases so he calls his solar dealer and
finds that the dealer is no longer working in the solar industry and has gone back to his previous
profession of installing windows.
Mr. Frugal needs answers so he picks up the yellow pages and finds another local
solar dealer. The solar dealer arrives at Mr. Frugal's home and inspects Mr.
Frugal's solar panels. What he discovers is that nearly half of the solar panels
have suffered from high voltage arcing which caused an open circuit between
several cells due to cold solder joints during the
manufacturing process. Mr. Frugal calls the initial solar dealer who is now in
the window business and asks him for the solar panel manufacturer's phone
number. The ex-solar dealer now window dealer provides Mr. Frugal with the only
phone number that he has for the manufacturer but unfortunately the number has
been disconnected. After weeks of research Mr. Frugal determines that the
manufacturer has gone out of business and that his solar panels no longer
possess a warranty.
Mr. Frugal decides to pay the dealer that he found in the yellow pages to remove
the defective solar panels and replace them with new solar panels only this time
he decides to buy name brand solar panels that are from a large, publicly traded
company but there's a problem, no other solar
panels on the market will fit on the solar panel mounts that are bolted to Mr. Frugal's roof so the solar installer informs Mr. Frugal that his solar panel
mounts will have to be re-arranged or replaced.
The cost to remove the defective solar panel and purchase new solar panels and
have them installed: $16,000.00. The cost to re-arrange the solar panel mounts
and purchase extra rails and mounting clips: $1,400.00. Grand total $17,400.00.
After completing the lengthy removal and re-installation process the installer
turns on the system and to Mr. Frugal's dismay, nothing happens. As it turns out
the excessive arcing caused by the solar panels damaged Mr. Frugal's inverter to the
point that it was more cost effective to purchase a new inverter rather that
have it repaired so Mr. Frugal was out an additional $2,400.00 plus an
additional $250.00 removal and installation fee from the installer. New grand
total $20,050.00 !
Mr. Frugal saved $2,500.00 up front by purchasing non-name brand solar panels
but it cost him $20,050.00 to correct the resulting problems which resulted from
his decision to save money by buying non-name brand solar panels.
It's been two years and Mr. Frugal has all but forgotten his solar nightmare
when one day he notices that his electric bill has once again shot skyward. It
appears that the remainder of the non-name brand solar panels that he did not
replace have also failed. What of the name brand solar panels that Mr. Frugal
added to his system ? They're doing just fine......
SOLAR PANEL MYTHS AND REALITIES
Q. If the non-name brand solar panels that I bought fail and the manufacturer
has gone out of business but the dealer that I bought them from is still in
business, isn't the dealer then responsible for the warranty ?
A. No, all product warranties are provided by their respective manufacturers. It
is no different than buying a refrigerator from a home improvement center. If
the refrigerator fails it would have to be repaired or replaced by the
manufacturer under the terms of their warranty not the home improvement center.
Q. My dealers tells me that his "Ying Yang brand" solar panels are U.L.
approved. Doesn't this mean that they are high quality products ?
A. No. A U.L. listing only signifies that the solar panel meets U.S. electrical
safety standards and is not an indication of performance, reliability or
quality.
Q. My dealer tells me that his brand "Bimbo Solar" is really popular in Europe.
Doesn't that mean that they're a name brand.
A. Not necessarily, remember that you're talking to a salesman. If the dealer
claims that his solar panels are popular overseas, ask him to prove it. Ask him
to show you evidence that proves how many of his solar panels were manufactured
last year and what country they were shipped to. There is a big difference
between solar panels that are popular in Germany and solar panels that are
popular for humanitarian purposes in Africa.
A. The dealer that I spoke to told me that his "Dimwatts" solar panels use solar
cells that are manufactured in the U.S. Doesn't that prove that they are higher
quality product ?
A. Absolutely not. A solar panel's reliability does have a little to do with the
quality of the cells that are used in its construction but the majority of a
solar panel's reliability has more to do with how that panel was constructed and
what other materials were used to build the solar panel.
Among these considerations are the quality of the glass and how well the glass
is prepped before lamination. Are the cell interconnections manually soldered or
mechanically soldered ? The type of inspection processes that are used during
each phase of the solar panel's assembly. Is the laminated backing of high
quality or is it one of the inexpensive brands that will not stand up to decades
of exposure ? Is the solder a generic type that is full of impurities that will
lead to cold solder joints or is it a high quality name brand product. How about
the module gaskets will they weather and crack after just a few years worth of
use or will they last 30 to 40 years.
Paying a few cents more per watt for high quality U.S. made cells and then
skimping on the remainder of the solar panel's construction is a common way for
manufacturers to create a false sense of quality in the consumer.
A simple rule to remember is this: When it comes to buying a high quality, high
performance high reliability solar panel, there is no middle road. No matter
what a salesman tells you, the solar panels that you're about to invest tens of
thousands of dollars into is either name brand product or their not.