check the pallets

[nerdralph]

I recently learned the importance of using a good pallet when panels are shipped. I had an order of 16 panels from BayWa that were stacked one on top of each other with plastic spacers. There was no visible signs of damage to the sides (frame) of the panels or the top panel. Only at the install site did I see that the very bottom panel had cracked back glass (these were bifacial panels). When I looked at the pallet I figured out how they cracked. BayWa used an old pallet that was damaged at one end, so that the panels were not supported at that end. This allowed them to flex during shipping, leading to the cracked glass in the bottom one. So far BayWa says I don't have claim for damage.

[J.P.M.]

Can you go back to the shipper and file a claim there ?

[nerdralph]

Can you go back to the shipper and file a claim there ?

No, because the shipper didn't damage the panels. BayWa transferred them to the warehouse nearest me, where I picked them up in order to save on shipping costs. I don't even know if the panel cracked before I picked them up, or on the way to the site.
IMO, BayWa has been doing this long enough to know they should use a good pallet when customers buy less than a full crate of panels.

[J.P.M.]

No, because the shipper didn't damage the panels. BayWa transferred them to the warehouse nearest me, where I picked them up in order to save on shipping costs. I don't even know if the panel cracked before I picked them up, or on the way to the site.
IMO, BayWa has been doing this long enough to know they should use a good pallet when customers buy less than a full crate of panels.

Thank you.

[reader2580]

When I got my first batch of panels somebody decided to load the first panel glass side down against the pallet. Of course it broke. The seller refunded the cost of one panel instead of shipping another panel. The seller said that single panel shipments almost always got broken so they would not send me another panel. It turned out having one less panel was not a big issue after my system design was changed.

[solarix]

Based on my experience with buying solar by the pallet for many years (and heating my house with what is left of them), I am convinced that solar companies have weekly meetings to talk about how to take cost out of their PV panel packaging. Can we get cheaper, crappier wood anywhere? Can we eliminate the spacers? Can we take off the bottom boards that keep the long pallet from tipping off standard pallet forks? Can we use cardboard instead of wood? Can we use plastic wrap instead of cardboard? Can we save by shipping through common carrier where the pallets get transferred and re-handled all over the place? etc, etc. Yes, always carefully check for breakage when receiving your panels.
I once got a deal on a semi load of panels that were packed standing on edge and double stacked with just cardboard wrappers. The load had shifted during transport, and the lower pallets had leaned over and could not be extracted. We had to unload the whole trailer one by one by hand. Not a single broken panel though.

[nerdralph]

I once got a deal on a semi load of panels that were packed standing on edge and double stacked with just cardboard wrappers.

I initially thought standing panels on edge was done to better protect panels in the lower stack from the weight of the upper stack. Both CSI and LONGi use crates made from cardboard with a bit of cheap plywood on the corners, a diagonal brace at each end, with the panels stacked on edge. Given your comments above, perhaps the real reason for that choice was to minimize the use of the plywood.