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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On more than one occasion in the last
year or so I have told a potential customer that with the possible
exception of Sunpower, and perhaps (vertically-integrated and
long-established) Kyocera, I'm not confident that any manufacturer
will be still around in 25 years to honor the 25-year warranty
that all manufacturers routinely offer. This is also one of my
points when I do public presentations (my focus is always on off
grid/battery-based applications). It's partly a cautionary note
about going for the cheapest price, and the effects of the
unsustainable drop in module prices on the global PV industry. <br>
<br>
It's not just Chinese modules, either. We had BP replace entire
arrays of 160s under warranty when 25% showed the familiar
hot-spot failure. <br>
<br>
There is essentially no way to know what's inside of a PV module.
The NYTimes article is right on: the emperor has no clothes.
Better to tell the world about the naked emperor sooner than
later, so that just possibly the shift can begin, from cheapest
overall cost-per-watt to something akin to a system that will
last. But I'm not holding my breath: as long as commercial systems
are based on short-term third-party financial gain - accelerated
depreciation and the 30% federal tax credit - there's no incentive
for systems to be built to last, or to cost more than whatever is
cheapest up front. <br>
<br>
Have you reviewed the list of deceased solar companies?
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest-in-Peace-The-List-of-Deceased-Solar-Companies">https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest-in-Peace-The-List-of-Deceased-Solar-Companies</a><br>
<br>
This could turn into quite a rant, so <Rant: OFF>. We all
just need to be careful what we ask for, because we might get it.<br>
<br>
<br>
Allan<br>
<br>
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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><b>Allan Sindelar</b></font><br>
<small><a href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><font
color="#000099" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><u>Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</u></font></a></small><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic
Installer<br>
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
Founder and Chief Technology Officer<br>
<b>Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
3209 Richards Lane (note new address)<br>
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
<b>505 424-1112</b><br>
<a href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/"
target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></font>
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On 5/29/2013 9:01 AM, frenergy wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:CE5D08CCBB48497E8825631F6455FF78@D8XG8YH1"
type="cite">
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<div>Hilton,</div>
<div> </div>
<div> I have not been experiencing anything unusual in
failure rates.....of course I have not caved to the up-front
lower cost tease of Chinese PVs and have only sold USA made PVs
built by manus in biz for decades. This choice has lost me only
a few customers, maybe now they will come back. It seems
interesting to me that you would mention 3 Chinese companies as
'first tier'. When I think of first tier I think of companies
that have been around for much longer than that.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> You are absolutely right though, as an industry, "we"
need to identify this problem and deal with it now, like now,
lest we go the path of solar thermal in the 80's. Possibly the
solar bandwagon has become overloaded?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Bill</div>
<div><img alt=""
src="cid:part3.05060803.07090405@positiveenergysolar.com"
width="256" align="bottom" border="0" height="112" hspace="0"></div>
<blockquote style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px;
MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT:
0px">
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </div>
<div style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color:
black"><b>From:</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="hiltondier@gmail.com"
href="mailto:hiltondier@gmail.com">Hilton Dier III</a> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>To:</b> <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
title="re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>
</div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, May 29,
2013 6:08 AM</div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> [RE-wrenches]
Defective modules</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Greetings wrenches,<br>
<br>
I'm sure many of you have seen this article in the New York
Times: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/energy-environment/solar-powers-dark-side.html?hp&_r=1&">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/energy-environment/solar-powers-dark-side.html?hp&_r=1&</a><br>
<br>
I have already gotten an email from a panicked client asking
about canceling his project.<br>
<br>
First question: Has anybody dealt with defective modules
lately, and if so, what brands?<br>
Second question: How much does this affect first-tier
manufacturers (Trina, Suntech, Yingli...) and how much of this
is "no-name" brands?<br>
Third question: Is this restricted to a particular technology
such as thin film?<br>
<br>
And the big question: How do we deal with this? I can imagine
the fossil fuel and nuclear industries promoting this story
with enthusiasm.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Hilton<br>
</font>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Hilton Dier III
Renewable Energy Design
Partner, Solar Gain LLC
453 East Hill Rd.
Middlesex, VT 05602
</pre>
<p> </p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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