25 years. Two and a half decades. The Silver Anniversary. 13,140,000 minutes (sorry, I saw a community theater version of Rent this weekend, and I love this song).
The most common length for warranties in the solar industry.
Which begs four questions:
- What’s so magical about 25 years that solar manufacturers have fixated on it as the warranty length?
- Is there really reliable testing to provide hard data that the components of a system will last that long?
- Were these warranty lengths chosen only to reassure the financiers that solar was a safe investment?
- As President Josiah Bartlett famously used to ask — what’s next?
These questions came up in several discussion I had with manufacturers at the recent Intersolar North America 2013 show, as reliability created a huge buzz at the show (I discussed my theory about why this question is so prevalent now while I was actually at the show). And now I can’t stop thinking about it.
What will happen after 25 years? Assuming all the components last that long (I’m not saying they won’t), what happens when they inevitably start degrading? After all, everything breaks down eventually (even the human body, the most exquisite engineering feat in the history of the world).
Will all the people who install solar now find themselves in the position of having to rip out their old installation and install an entirely new system, or is there a way to make components that will be compatible with future innovations ? This presumes, of course, that the technology continues to evolve (and it will). If the breakdowns happen on a massive scale, it will be a black eye from which the industry will never recover.
But this is a long-term issue. The ever-loquacious, opinionated and passionate solar advocate (and the man with the best name in the solar industry) Sunny Rai of product-certification company Intertek told me in a candid podcast at Intersolar that people aren’t talking about the long-term problems because there are enough problems occurring right now. He says he’s getting photos and requests from developers to test systems that have only been out in the field 5 to 7 years. So the idea of worrying what will happen on the Silver Anniversary of these systems is beyond the thinking of most manufacturers right now — and that’s a mistake.
While I understand the need to focus on the more immediate problems first, we should at least start the conversation about the future. We don’t want to be reactive to these issues. If we are proactive, we can head this off before it happens. If we wait until it’s upon us, it will be catastrophic.
To start this critical dialogue, Solar Power World will be reaching out to manufacturers, contractors, EPCs, certification companies, financiers — indeed, anyone with a vested interest in the industry’s long-term success — to find out what they are doing about this problem. We welcome any input you may have. Please contact me at fandorka@solarpowerworldonline.com. Let’s get this conversation started now, so we don’t pay for it in the future.
milton nogueira says
seems that the stretching of the years of warranty are grandfathered from the days where pv was closer to $5/w for the module alone. A marketing way to sell the technology with some ROI that could be accomplished after 20 + years….and a way to express the lifetime of an energy system with no moving parts (macro view)
With current pv prices and grid parity etc…if it’s broken; replace it and dispose and recycle it properly.
At the end of the 20 yr. life of a lease or ppa, it will be the responsibility of the roof owner to take care of their new roof and new solar pv system and there will be something a little different by then.
Much has evolved and although is true that a 20 or 25 year warranty for a product is wonderful and unknown to me in other industries, I’d say, important is the recycling of these old components and move own
Marvin R Hamon, P.E. says
What would be interesting to see would be an tier 1 or 2 module manufacturer sell a line of modules with two different warranty options. One would be the industry standard of the 10/25 year defect/production warranty and the other a 10 year warranty on both production and defects at a lower cost. Would people buy the modules with the 10 year warranty?
SolarInstaller; there is a lot that can fail mechanically on a module that will still produce 80% or better output. After 10 years these defects could require a module replacement while the module is still producing enough power to not qualify for the 25 year limited warranty. Also if a mechanical failure after 10 years caused the module to fall out of the rack and break for instance someone would be hard pressed to make the manufacturer replace it under the 25 year warranty since the damage that caused the production loss was not due to degradation of the module. If the 25 year warranty was not limited then someone could take a baseball bat to any module they wanted replaced under warranty.
SolarInstaller says
I would like to know about the 10 year workmanship warranty. I also asked manufacturers at the recent Intersolar show to explain the difference and the response was: “I don’t really know”. Can someone please explain what will happen in year 11 of the warranty if a panel falls apart? It will obviously not be producing power if it falls apart so will it then be covered under the infamous 25 year power output warranty? Someone must know the answer to this question.
Mitch says
The 10 year workmanship warranty covers product defects associated with the assembly of the modules (diode failures, solder defects, cable degradation, etc.). The power output warranty only covers the aging of the solar cells, this warranty only covers the performance of the module. If the module fails this warranty is no longer valid.
solarinstallertoo says
Good question solar installer! We are asked this question in this very same way, almost daily….”How can the panel be subject to a 25 year performance warranty if the frame has fallen apart or the wiring isn’t functional and its year 11 -25?”
Maybe one of our top solar manufacturers will chime in. We are also Authorized Sunpower installers, and their workmanship warranty is 25 years bumper to bumper. Its a non-issue with these high efficiency panels, but not with any of the other panels we install.
Sean says
First correct me if I am wrong the warranty is on power output not if the panel falls apart. If the panel falls apart in year 11 how is this warranty any different then a 100000 mile warranty on a car? Who pays for repairs on mile 100001? The consumer.