Interestingly, some manufacturers reserve the right to use second-hand or repaired panels as replacements. However, that becomes complicated if operators opt for financial compensation. The OEMs that offer financial compensation – which many do not – have different methods of calculating their liability.
Compensation for faults
The commonly accepted solution is to compensate for the value between the actually measured performance of an affected panel and the specified power limit. This value is based on the market price of the panel at the time of the claim or the original price of the panel. As market prices are constantly falling, it is easy to determine which option offers the greater benefit.
At the centre of such a calculation is the initial value of the performance warranty and the degradation that should not be exceeded, which in turn represents the manufacturer's guarantee of the performance values of a panel.
A solid warranty provides an initial value of 98 percent for the first year. In other words, the manufacturer guarantees that the panel will maintain at least 98 percent of its specified output for the first 12 months after commissioning. Panels that generate less than 98 percent are therefore considered defective in accordance with the warranty provisions.
Is the customer hotline available?
After the first year, the performance warranty corresponds to the guaranteed power output. A panel with a maximum of 0.5 percent of power loss per year – which corresponds to what the industry's leading original equipment manufacturers have – means that panel performance will not be decrease by more than 0.5 percent per year starting with the second year after commissioning.
And again, a decrease in performance that exceeds this value from the third year allows the operator to claim compensation.
What is a good warranty?
The manufacturer is obliged to compensate the owner for the difference between the actual performance and the guaranteed performance. This payment is based on the market price of the panel at the time of the claim or its original price.
At the end of the day, a warranty is only as good as the compensation it provides. Decision-makers can secure the best possible conditions by paying attention to the fine print and checking that there is someone to at least answer the phone of the hotline where a claim has to be registered.
The author is Timo Möller, Global Director for Customer Support, Product Field Performance and Commitments at First Solar. In May 2006 he joined the American panel manufacturer and EPC. Prior to that, he worked in technical support at BASF.
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