Poor PV Manufacturers' Customer Support [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

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Jay,

Good point. Contractors get on the rebate program eligible list, watch list, 
or sh*t list but manufacturers get on the eligible list with no oversight. I 
think the old CEC solar group would have supported manufacturer oversight, 
but I don't think CalSEIA, SEIA, or other organizations that depend on PV 
manufacturers for revenue could support it. Is this something for NABCEP or 
the IPP to take to the CPUC? Does anyone see any downsides to manufacturer 
oversight similar to contractor accountability?

Joel Davidson


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jay Peltz, Peltz Power" <jay at asis.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 6:21 PM
Subject: Re: Poor PV Manufacturers' Customer Support (Was BP 3160 module 
line failures) [


>
> Hi Joel,
>
> Although not a big fan of government supervision, but this might be a 
> case for it.
>
> AS you know here in California, a 10 yr parts and labor warranty is 
> demanded of the installer.
> Is there some way to have this  linked to the manufacturer?
> For example if the installer has more than a few problems with 
> installations they find themselves on a "watch list" for rebates.
> Well how about the manufacturers, so if they got X number of  complaints, 
> they would find themselves out to the CSI program?
>
> For one it would relieve the installer of some liability but could it 
> force some accountability of the manufacturers?
>
>
> thanks
>
> jay
> peltz power
>
> On Jun 22, 2008, at 5:42 PM, Joel Davidson wrote:
>
>>
>> Bad modules happen and BP, Kyocera, Sanyo and other manufacturers 
>> replace their bad modules and life goes on, but PV manufacturers' 
>> customer service is still very immature. Customers expect quality 
>> service and contractors who are not responsive to end-user  customers' 
>> needs get a bad reputation and lose business. Not so  with PV module 
>> manufacturers because module demand is growing so  rapidly that 
>> manufacturers can abuse and abandon customers and  still expand their 
>> sales revenue. Resellers (distributors,  integrators, contractors, 
>> retailers) have little influence as  manufacturers jump from market to 
>> market and to new resellers. Even  reports of bad modules made by Sanyo, 
>> Kyocera, BP, and other  manufacturers do not affect those companies' 
>> sales growth which  only reinforces their bad behavior of abandoning and 
>> poorly serving  long-time customers (who helped them get started in the 
>> market in  the first place). If you stop buying from a bad supplier, two 
>> or  more new customers jump in line. Is there a remedy to this poor 
>> customer service problem or is this just a condition that resellers  must 
>> accept until the supply/demand situation switches in favor of  the 
>> customer?
>>
>> Joel Davidson


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