[RE-wrenches] Out of Warranty Inverter Replacements

[Keith Cronin]

Mark

My sense is we will all see more and more of this, given in CA and other pioneering states, there will be orphaned systems looking for TLC.

The micro inverter scene helps, as it gives Analytics and the other benefit is the client doesn't loose their whole system or learn about it after a month or more of high utility bills.

Yes, rewiring can be cumbersome, but the value of granular information will help our industry and support the long term cause. I can only imagine how many solar panels are out there, basking in the sun, doing nothing, like sitting in a showroom.

Creating a slush account for clients or a maintenance program is another solution. Things break/fail and that should be baked into the minds of the consumer.

Just wrapped up a Satcon 75kW (made in China) on about 66kW system- encouraged the client to use smart combiners and string level monitoring- they declined. They said cost was a factor. When I mentioned that they are essentially going to pay about a 1/3, after fed, state and depreciation expenses, it still wasn't something they were interested in. Here, the system makes over $2k a month in electricity and simple payback of less that 5 years, but they still didn't want to invest in the "absent employee" to "watch" the system. Seemed like a good investment to me, over the life of the system for a host of reasons. I analogized it to driving your car without a speedometer and gas gauge. Most would not, but some want to guess how fast they're going and how much fuel is in the tank.
 
Aloha,


Keith


________________________________
From: Mark Frye <markf at berkeleysolar.com>
To: 'RE-wrenches' <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2011 7:03 AM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Out of Warranty Inverter Replacements


Out of Warranty Inverter Replacements 
Folks, 
Yesterday I took a trip through my service area and initated 3 inverter replacement actions: 
- A 6 year old Sunnyboy 1100W, 5 year warranty expired, $360 for a refurbished unit w/ 1 year warranty, new replacement not available
- A 2 year old Fronius IG4000 refurbished, sent as warranty replacement for unit failed at 4 years under 5 year warranty, now out of warranty, est. $ 600 to refurbish with 1 year warranty
- A 4 year old Fronius IG3000, under 10 year warranty, warranty replacement and service fee provided by Fronius 
I have to decide, what is best for my out of warranty customers: 
- Buy the refurbished units w/ 1 year warranty 
- Buy new replacement units with 10 or 20 year warrranties 
- Buy entirely new equipment such as Enphase or SolarEdge 
What are other folks experiencing as we move well past the 5 year warranty horizon for many of our earlier customers? 
Mark Frye 
Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 
303 Redbud Way 
Nevada City,  CA 95959 
(530) 401-8024 
www.berkeleysolar.com  
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