Understanding Solar Warranties
Solar Home Review takes the guesswork out of navigating solar warranties. We review each product and provide in-depth warranty analyses. When you feel comfortable and confident about the quality of your solar system, you’ll be able to enjoy greater peace of mind for years to come.
Solar Home Review will help, you easily discover what type of product warranty a particular solar component has before you make your purchase.
- Solar panels typically come with a 25-year linear performance warranty. This guarantees the panel production capability will not drop below a specified degradation percentage.
- Solar panels also come with a product warranty to protect you from a panel with a material or workmanship defect. Product warranties typically last for 12 to 25 years.
- Each solar system has multiple components (Panels, Inverter, Battery, Racking), and each component will have separate warranties from the manufacturers.
- Most inverters come with a 10-to-25-year product warranty.
- Batteries come with a 5-to-10-year warranty.
- Racking comes with a 10-to-20-year warranty on workmanship and material defects.
Navigating Solar Warranties
You have finally made the decision to switch your home over to solar. The question now is, “How will my solar investment be protected and is it guaranteed to operate efficiently throughout the decades?” Fortunately, because there are no moving parts, solar panels rarely break and require minimal maintenance. Reputable manufacturers undergo rigorous testing to ensure that all solar components can handle severe weather and extreme conditions before ever being installed on your rooftop. Because they are so durable, solar panel systems come with surprisingly long warranties ranging from 12-25 years, and some installers even include an extended 30 year service warranty (think GAP coverage for your car), in the event a manufacturer goes out of business, your system will still be serviced.
In this section we will share four ways to ensure you won’t have to pay out of pocket for maintenance or repairs for the life of your solar PV system.
Product Warranty
To protect from defects in material or workmanship issues.
Performance Guarantee
A linear performance guarantee in which the manufacturer specifies the performance of the solar panel year on year for 25 years.
Extended Service Warranty
Assumes up to 100% of the risk of your solar arrays for all mechanical and electrical failures due to normal use, even beyond the manufacturers’ warranty. Extends 100% original manufacturer warranty coverage for up to 30 years.
Homeowner’s Insurance
Once installed, we recommend calling your homeowner’s insurance company to add your new solar PV system to your existing policy. Since the system is attached to your house, it is now part of your home, and should be added. In the event that an “Act of God” occurs, this will cover :
- Water & Fire Damage
- Wind, Lightening, Hail
- Snow / Ice Damage
- Explosions & Falling Objects
- Theft & Vandalism
Solar Home Review helps you understand the differences between your solar product, performance, and service warranties.
The solar panel itself has two warranties: a product (or materials) warranty, and a performance guarantee. When evaluating a solar panel warranty and its manufacturer, these are the two most crucial factors you should focus on.
Product Warranty
What it Covers
Product warranties are in place to protect against defects in material workmanship issues during the manufacturing process, environmental issues, and premature wear and tear. The manufacturer may choose to repair or replace the product at their discretion thus ensuring the integrity of their product materials and workmanship.
What is Not Covered
The manufacturer's product warranty does not cover the cost of labor to diagnose and or replace the equipment or the shipping costs to get replacements on site. *However, some solar installation companies will cover this under their workmanship warranty. We recommend asking your contractor whether they include this with your installation.
Linear Performance Warranty
What it Covers
Most solar panel manufacturers back their product with a linear performance warranty for 25 years. The linear performance warranty guarantees the performance of a panel will stay above a specified degradation rate (the decline in output that all solar panels experience over time). This ensures that the panel will continue to have the capability to produce a specified percentage of power during the warranty period. The panel brands that we recommend, guarantee to operate at 84%-92% of the original performance at the end of the 25-year warranty period. If your solar panels degrade faster than what the warranty specifies, the manufacturer will either repair the solar panel or provide you with a replacement panel of equivalent value.
What it Does Not Cover
The manufacturer performance warranty does not guarantee a specific amount of solar production for your system, it guarantees that each panel has the ability to produce a certain amount of instantaneous power on its own.
Example:Say your system was installed correctly and gets adequate sunlight, but the system’s production is below the desired output. The under performance is likely a result of a faulty solar panel. In this scenario the manufacturer’s warranty would kick in to swap out the panel. The manufacturer will ship a replacement panel and may even pay for shipping and labor cost to replace it.
If however the production declines due to shade from tree overgrowth, for instance, then the responsibility would fall on the homeowner to have the trees trimmed or cutback.
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Extended Service Warranties
What it Covers
Next ended service warranty may be offered through your solar company. It assumes up to 100% of the risk of your solar arrays for all mechanical and electrical failures due to normal use, even beyond the manufacturer's warranty for up to 30 years. Advantages may include: 1) Replacement, removal and installation of new panels & inverters with $0 cost or deductible. 2) Gap insurance in the event that the manufacturer goes out of business. 3) Enhanced roofing warranty guarantees that any roof penetrations will be watertight. 4) 100% Parts and Labor. 5) Transferable Ownership.
What it Does Not Cover
Does not cover damages due to “Acts of God” such as fires, hurricanes, or theft. Although it is true that solar panels are tested under rigorous conditions to withstand extreme temperatures, wind, and golf-ball sized hail at 100 miles/hour... in the unlikely event of a catastrophe, the only way to safe-guard against loss due to fire damage is to add your Solar PV system to your Homeowner’s Insurance Policy. Read Below...
Homeowner’s Insurance
What it Covers
Once solar is installed, we always recommend calling your homeowner’s insurance company to add your new solar PV system to your existing policy. Since the system is attached to your home, it is now part of your house and should be added to the policy. Depending on your existing coverage, it may not cost you anything extra to include your new PV system. In Texas, we usually find that the cost increase is anywhere from $0-$12/month when you add the solar PV system. Thereafter, in the event that an “Act of God” occurs, this will cover :
- Water & Fire Damage
- Wind, Lightening, Hail
- Theft & Vandalism
- Show / Ice Damage
- Explosions & Falling Objects
Protecting Your Solar Investment
Beware without professional installation, a solar panel warranty can become null & void. Without a licensed electrician, or through work performed by a contractor who lacks industry certification, your performance warranty can also become void.
Failing to properly maintain your solar panels can affect your warranty. For example, if you fail to keep trees trimmed back in your yard, and they grow to block the sun from reaching the panels, this can also affect your performance warranty.
Do Solar Equipment Warranties Transfer to New Home-Owners if I Sell My Home?
What happens if you move and have solar panels?
There is a chance that if you move locally, the installation company may handle the removal and re-installation. If you're moving out of state, though, the process is labor intensive & won't be worth it. Removing the panels can void the warranty.
