Why is the solar power performance warranty often misleading and hard to prove?

In the solar industry, companies are offering 25-year performance warranties but only 10-year warranties on the product itself, which can be a costly exercise for customers. Cheaper systems may save you a couple of thousand dollars, but it could end up costing you more in the long run if the company goes bust or the product doesn't perform. Proving a warranty claim can be expensive and difficult if the product isn't performing as expected, leaving customers out of pocket.

It's important for customers to be aware of the risks and to understand how bad installations can affect the product's performance. Some products are made up of parts from different factories, and smaller companies may not have the financial stability to honour their warranties. Educating customers about the importance of product quality and installation can save them money and prevent future headaches.

Well, the problem I think, is the customers are being misled by a lot of warranties, with the performance warranty of 25 years, by a lot of product. And a lot of companies offer a 25 year warranty on performance but they only offer 10 year warranty on the product itself. And if your product isn't performing it's very difficult to prove that it isn't performing. And the other company will get you to prove that which is a very costly exercise. And if you might save a couple thousand dollars on a cheaper system, you'll certainly chew that couple of thousand dollars up trying to prove your warranty claim, if that company even still exists in 10 to 15 years.

Well, there's a lot of, obviously, a lot of people are unaware and that's what we try to do. I try to educate people and give them an idea of what is and what isn't and how a bad install can actually affect the product and how a product needs to be taken care of during the installation. A lot of the products that come from different factories, they're not even made in one place, other companies buy all the other products in from different companies, put it together and label it as their own. And they're only small companies, there might be a company that's only worth $10 million but they've got $40 million worth of product out there. Now if they go bust, they just dissolve as a business and disappear off the face of the earth, so where are you going to go to get your warranty?