third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]

[Kirk Herander]

-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Davidson <joeldavidson at earthlink.net>
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Date: Friday, November 02, 2001 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]


>Here we go with this subject again.


Yep, here we go.

>Put yourself in the customer's place. You want your off-grid PV system
installed
>properly so you get a quotation from a local experienced installer. You
want to
>pay for his expertise, but his inverter and PV module prices are higher
than the
>same parts sold elsewhere. The installer says he will not install equipment
that
>you buy. You tell him "parts are parts" and are willing to waive all
warranties
>in writing, but the installer refuses to install parts that you buy
elsewhere.


Does such a customer exist, one that will waive all warranties if I install
their not-bought-from-me equipment? You mean I can just walk, with no
ownership, regardless of problems they may have in the future? Please, sign
me up. Then I won't need liability insurance either.
>
>Again, put yourself in the customer's place. You want an on-grid system,
did your
>homework and shopped around for parts. You want to get a homeowner's
permit, buy
>the parts and subcontract the labor to install 24 solar modules, roof
racks, an
>ST2500 inverter, wire and conduit, a disconnect switch, a 15A breaker and
>miscellaneous parts. The local experienced contractor refuses to give you a
labor
>only quotation saying that he is liable for every aspect of his work. You
tell
>him that you are willing to pay for his  "package" of experience, labor and
>liability, but the contractor refuses unless he can sell you the parts too.

The experienced installer says, "OK I'll do it, take ownership after the
install, honor all warranties with prompt repair or replacement from my own
inventory, be available for questions, for $15 more an hour than if you
purchased from me." the customer says "go to hell, you're ripping me off",
I'll install it with my neighbor. And then the customer badmouths solar
because the system sub-performs. It's happened - to me.

>What do you do?

>2. You install the PV system yourself, tell people how easy it was to
install and
>maybe start selling and installing systems yourself.

Yes, its quite "easy to install" by the homeowner, of course, in this age of
the weekend warrior, just like building a shed or hanging wallpaper. Except
a 2 x 4 won't shock you to death if you pound a nail in the wrong place.




Kirk

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