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    <p>I have to agree its still a pretty major undertaking to go
      through the entire warranty claim.  If you haven't actually had to
      go through the entire process from truck roll(s) to waving the
      failed PVs good-bye on the loading dock, shipped at your expense,
      it may not seem so daunting and expensive.  But it is, many times
      complicated by not being supplied with matching (electrically and
      physically) PVs.  I am baffled by the statement:"<i>you can often
        get a claim accepted without a site visit, or at a minimum a
        drive by to check the status of the modules</i>", maybe that's
      an assumption that there are no string inverters without MLPE's in
      the field anymore.</p>
    <p>            We'll be filing your contact info in the event we
      ever have to do a warranty claim with REC.  I too hope that day
      doesn't come, again.<br>
    </p>
    <p>Bill</p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Feather River Solar Electric            
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.(shipping) 
5575 Genesee Rd. (USPS, UPS)
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.1925 Office/ 530.258.1641 Cell
CA Lic 874049
Solar powered since 1982</pre>
    <p></p>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/22/2022 3:48 PM, George McClellan
      via RE-wrenches wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:PUZPR04MB4952ACFAB223868F98A13715E60D9@PUZPR04MB4952.apcprd04.prod.outlook.com">
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        <p class="MsoNormal">I’m not sure that a PhD dissertation is
          required for a successful performance warranty claim.  For
          most claims, the manufacturer needs to verify just a few
          things;  1. Is it one of their modules? (verified with a
          serial number) 2. Is the module broken?  (verified by an image
          of the module)  3. Is the module shaded? (verified by an image
          of the array, indicating where the claimed module is),  4.  Is
          the module not performing to spec?  (verified with a Voc and
          Isc check, or module level info from the MLPE).  <o:p></o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal">A lot can be learned from the MLPE on a
          solar module.  Many manufacturers will accept individual
          module voltage and current readings form the monitoring
          platform for warranty claims (free).  Couple that with and
          image of the module to determine if it is broken, and a view
          of the array to understand if the module is not shaded and
          that can potentially be an inexpensive warranty claim.  Where
          things go sideways is when a customer wants a module replaced
          because they see it is performing at less than the rest of the
          modules in the array, and does not want to investigate any
          further.  Do just a minor amount of logical remote
          troubleshooting (individual modules voltage and current,
          compared to the spec sheet and neighboring modules) and you
          can often get a claim accepted without a site visit, or at a
          minimum a drive by to check the status of the modules. 
          <o:p></o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal">Module manufacturers are very interested in
          warranty claims as they use the failure analyses to feed back
          into their product improvement program.  So I’m not sure it is
          wise to lump all manufacturers in with one bad actor. 
          <o:p></o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal">But – as always – the best warranty out
          there is one that you don’t have to use. 
          <o:p></o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal">IMHO.<o:p></o:p></p>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <div>
          <p class="MsoNormal">George McClellan | Senior Technical Sales
            Manager | REC Americas LLC
            <o:p></o:p></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:4.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:4.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:8.0pt;mso-line-height-rule:exactly">330
            James Way Ste 150<span lang="UK"> | </span>Pismo Beach, CA
            93449<span lang="UK"> |
            </span>USA<o:p></o:p></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal">Cell phone +1 805 704 3226 | Fax +1 805
            357 6104 <o:p></o:p></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:navy"><a
                href="http://www.recgroup.com/"
                title="http://www.recgroup.com/" moz-do-not-send="true">www.recgroup.com</a>
            </span><span style="color:black">| <a
                href="mailto:shannon.kent@recgroup.com"
                moz-do-not-send="true">george.mcclellan@recgroup.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><img
              style="width:4.1666in;height:2.3958in"
              id="Picture_x0020_2"
              src="cid:part1.boFqp4WS.FaMEBjXp@psln.com" class=""
              width="400" height="230" border="0"><o:p></o:p></p>
        </div>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <div>
          <div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1
            1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
            <p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> RE-wrenches
              <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org"><re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org></a>
              <b>On Behalf Of </b>Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches<br>
              <b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 22, 2022 2:17 PM<br>
              <b>To:</b> RE-wrenches
              <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"><re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org></a><br>
              <b>Cc:</b> Jason Szumlanski
              <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:jason@floridasolardesigngroup.com"><jason@floridasolardesigngroup.com></a><br>
              <b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] Sunpower Performance
              Warranty Claim<o:p></o:p></p>
          </div>
        </div>
        <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
        <div>
          <div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                  style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">This
                  is why I have an article on my website to explain to
                  prospective clients why module warranties are mostly
                  useless.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
            </div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                  style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
            </div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                  style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The
                  cost to evaluate most potential problems is
                  prohibitive.  Now if you have a major manufacturer
                  failure and every module is obviously bad, that could
                  be grounds for a warranty claim, but for a single
                  module or two, or a minor deficiency in production -
                  it just will never be worth it. And later in the life
                  of a system, even a major issue might not be worth
                  investigating. I can count the successful module
                  warranty claims I have done in my career on a single
                  hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
            </div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                  style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
            </div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                  style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Modules
                  warranties are mostly marketing nonsense,
                  unfortunately, IMO.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
            </div>
            <div>
              <div>
                <div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
                    Jason Szumlanski <o:p></o:p></p>
                  <div>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                        style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Roboto;color:#333333">Principal
                        Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group<br>
                        NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)<br>
                        Florida State Certified Solar Contractor
                        CVC56956</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </div>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
          </div>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
            <img style="width:.0104in;height:.0104in" id="_x0000_i1027"
src="https://mailtrack.io/trace/mail/5e62fb789662426d5070672de32d3f35c6d1a27a.png?u=1613865"
              moz-do-not-send="true" width="1" height="1" border="0"><o:p></o:p></p>
          <div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 1:50 PM Scot
                Arey via RE-wrenches <<a
                  href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                  moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>>
                wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
            </div>
            <blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC
              1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in
              6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
              <div>
                <div>
                  <div>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I
                      agree that the time to process warranty the module
                      to a manufacturer’s desires is cost-prohibitive.
                      Of all the component’s we use, this warranty
                      almost seems the least valuable for this very
                      reason. We stopped one case for this very reason
                      as I didn’t want to do a PhD dissertation for a
                      single module.<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Was
                      surprised by one manufacturer who advised us to
                      read that bypass diodes were not an warranty
                      defect even though the module was making half
                      power.<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Good
                      luck, look forward to hearing how your case goes.<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Scot
                      Arey<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Solar
                      CenTex<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <div>
                      <div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1
                        1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
                        <p class="MsoNormal"
                          style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b>From:</b>
                          RE-wrenches <<a
                            href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                            class="moz-txt-link-freetext">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>>
                          <b>On Behalf Of </b>Daniel Young via
                          RE-wrenches<br>
                          <b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 22, 2022 12:34
                          PM<br>
                          <b>To:</b> RE-wrenches <<a
                            href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                            class="moz-txt-link-freetext">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>><br>
                          <b>Cc:</b> Daniel Young <<a
                            href="mailto:danny@sesre.com"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
                            class="moz-txt-link-freetext">danny@sesre.com</a>><br>
                          <b>Subject:</b> [RE-wrenches] Sunpower
                          Performance Warranty Claim<o:p></o:p></p>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Hello
                      Wrenches,<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Any
                      experience successfully submitting a performance
                      warranty claim with SunPower on their solar
                      modules? Right now, in order to Provide what they
                      are asking for, we will likely spend more
                      time/money testing to their satisfaction than it
                      would cost for us to likely buy new modules and
                      just replace the array.<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Anybody
                      have a similar experience? Or suggestions on how
                      to deal with Sunpower?<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Don’t
                      want to bog this down with all the details but
                      suffice to say we I-V traced the array at the
                      string level as a sanity check (7-10 % lower than
                      anticipated performance), and a random selection
                      of individual modules as well and we are seeing
                      roughly 8% lower performance than expected given
                      the array age and listed performance warranty.
                      (STC corrected I-V trace is 8% lower than it
                      should be for an 8 year old solar module from
                      SunPower)<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">With
                      Regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">--</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">Danny Young</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">NABCEP PV Installation
                        Professional #031508-90</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">Engineering Team Lead<br>
                        Solar Energy Solutions</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Merriweather Regular"">Lexington
                        | Louisville | Bloomington | Cincinnati |
                        Evansville | Indianapolis</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">513-448-5176 (mobile)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather">877-312-7456 (Main
                        Office)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
                    <p class="MsoNormal"
                      style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Merriweather"><a
                          href="mailto:danny@sesre.com" target="_blank"
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