Centro Solar panels and company?

[silversaver]

And guess what!

I knew this is coming....

[russ]

Wish you luck!!! I think you needed it. I hope you can save tons of money and no issue with your solar.

I hope we don't see you coming back starting a new thread about how to take action against a bad installer.....

And guess what!

[HX_Guy]

Heh, I didn't get into quite that much detail. I wonder how it would even be figured out which panel is bad? Would that string just not be functioning right and then they have to test each panel?

As for removing panels, there isn't really a case of where you would need to remove 1, maybe 2 panels, to get to a faulty one. This is the layout we are going with.

[fuzzelogic]

Thanks...I think?

On the warranty issue again, I talked to Centro Solar and they said the process goes like this. If there is a suspected warranty claim, I would call my original installer who would come out to diagnose and it is found that a new panel is needed, then CentroSolar would replace the panel through the installer. I asked what happens if the original installer is out of business and they said that they would then recommend a different installer who would come out to inspect. If the panel is faulty, they would cover both labor and materials.

So if the panel is in the middle of the array and 6 panels need to be removed to get to the bad panel, the company is going to pay for all of the costs to the system installer????!!!!

How many installers are in your area currently that sell the Centro Solar panel? There should be more in the future as solar continues to grow, BUT what if they are not AND now you need a different installer to do maintenance on your system??

Some warranty claims will barely cover the gas to cover the cost of the trip if your an installer depending on where the customer site is in relation to where the installer is located

The installer most likely would need 2 trips 1 for diagnose and 1 to replace the panel.... not sure if enphase will allow remote diagnose, but I've always heard you have to be on the customer site to go thru the onsite procedure and then issue a RMA.

Also, you might want to investigate the fronius RMA procedure if you plan on going with their inverter because unless they have changed the inverter quality in the last couple of years, you will be calling them as well at some point to replace the inverter.

They are helpful to replace the inverter, but your system will be down while you wait for the inverter to be shipped and then for your installer to come out to replace the inverter.

[HX_Guy]

Thanks...I think?

On the warranty issue again, I talked to Centro Solar and they said the process goes like this. If there is a suspected warranty claim, I would call my original installer who would come out to diagnose and it is found that a new panel is needed, then CentroSolar would replace the panel through the installer. I asked what happens if the original installer is out of business and they said that they would then recommend a different installer who would come out to inspect. If the panel is faulty, they would cover both labor and materials.
The panels have a 10 year workmanship and materials warranty and a 25 year power warranty (80% at 25 years).

Sounds pretty good. I also asked them if they are familiar with the installer I am using and they said yes and that they hadn't heard of any complaints against them. Finally last question was where are the panels made, and they said the B-series (which we are using) are completely made in the US, both the cells and assembly. I like that.

[silversaver]

Well...I pulled the trigger on the Centro Solar 12kW installl! Wish me luck lol.

I actually talked to 4 of their customers, two of them that had installs in 2011 and 2 of them this year. One was actually in the middle of having his installed, just started the process first week of May and already had the inverter and panels installed, was waiting on some inspections stuff now. Everyone was happy though, they said there were some small delays, like a week or so because inspections and stuff like that, but nothing crazy.

We'll see how it goes, he said designs will be done and submitted to the city and electric company by end of next week. Didn't pay anything up front, first payment installment will be due after plans are submitted for approval.

Wish you luck!!! I think you needed it. I hope you can save tons of money and no issue with your solar.

I hope we don't see you coming back starting a new thread about how to take action against a bad installer.....

[HX_Guy]

Most panels, at least for small to medium installers are sold via wholesaler. The companies that work directly with installers are the exception and not the norm. If your installer goes out of business, it will be up to you to handle the negotiation and the back and forth with the manufacturer. If you claim you have a problem with a particular module, you need to ship it to the manufacturer, if they test it and concur, they will refund the shipping price and ship a new module back to you.


How you get it off your roof and how you get the new one back up there is up to you, but that is assuming that they agree, if not, they'll send you the panel back and bill you for the shipping to boot.

Going back to this...this particular panel maker is actually HQ'ed right here in Scottsdale, AZ so I assume if something goes wrong, I could take the panel and drive it to their location. I have a call in to them to find out exactly how that would work.

Of course if they shut down their operations, then I'm SOL.

[HX_Guy]

Well...I pulled the trigger on the Centro Solar 12kW installl! Wish me luck lol.

I actually talked to 4 of their customers, two of them that had installs in 2011 and 2 of them this year. One was actually in the middle of having his installed, just started the process first week of May and already had the inverter and panels installed, was waiting on some inspections stuff now. Everyone was happy though, they said there were some small delays, like a week or so because inspections and stuff like that, but nothing crazy.

We'll see how it goes, he said designs will be done and submitted to the city and electric company by end of next week. Didn't pay anything up front, first payment installment will be due after plans are submitted for approval.

[J.P.M.]

Yes, i meant pvoutput. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as I am close to signing on the dotted line

It'll be a bit longer.

What's the hurry ?

P.S. : Sorry I came up short. Life got in the way some. Mea Culpa. Since I promised to stay out of HX's threads, I'll PM you.

[gheewala114]

Thank you. More in the morning. Do you mean PVOutput by the way, not PVWatts ?

Yes, i meant pvoutput. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as I am close to signing on the dotted line

[J.P.M.]

I did double check it since like I said, I was surprised myself. I even cross-referenced with SAM

check out this system on PVWatts:

http://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=6658&sid=20485&v=0&t=y

Its 5.2kw which is about half of my 10.5kw quoted system. His panels are south-west in orientation all in one roof plane. His technology is very similar to mine (LG panels and enphase microinverters). His panel position is better than my 50/50 east west split. He produced 8963kw in 2013 (Jan - Dec 2013). For my "less efficent" orientation if I subtract 10% and then multiple by 2 (since his system is half the size) the total 16133 kwh/year. So now take into consider that my quoted panel generation of 15000 is a 20 year average. If you take degredation into account the panels will produce more when new and less in 20 years. That is why on my lease the first year estimated kwh generation is 15675. This is about a 2.9% difference from a real would solar system located about 10 miles from me.

Thank you. More in the morning. Do you mean PVOutput by the way, not PVWatts ?

[HX_Guy]

The quoted "estimated" production is different than what the lease will show both in form and substance. read the fine print: re, the lease and think like the seller. All the production guarantees I've seen are a sales tool, not a promise.

I've mentioned it before either in this thread or the other but the SunPower lease I got the paperwork from matches the quote pretty closely and I'm not really seeing it as just a sales took but an actual guarantee. The quote said 23,154 kWh in the first year while the lease says 21,996 - 24,312 so the low end, which is the number that matters, is within 5%. According to PVWatts, the system (12.8kW) should only be producing 19,408kWh per year using a derate factor of 0.84.

[gheewala114]

I'd check my input. 15,000 kWhrs./yr. on a 10.5kW system, even 50/50 E/W doesn't seem like it would take a .90 derate to achieve unless Milpitas is a lot cloudier than I imagine it.

I did double check it since like I said, I was surprised myself. I even cross-referenced with SAM

check out this system on PVWatts:

http://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=6658&sid=20485&v=0&t=y

Its 5.2kw which is about half of my 10.5kw quoted system. His panels are south-west in orientation all in one roof plane. His technology is very similar to mine (LG panels and enphase microinverters). His panel position is better than my 50/50 east west split. He produced 8963kw in 2013 (Jan - Dec 2013). For my "less efficent" orientation if I subtract 10% and then multiple by 2 (since his system is half the size) the total 16133 kwh/year. So now take into consider that my quoted panel generation of 15000 is a 20 year average. If you take degredation into account the panels will produce more when new and less in 20 years. That is why on my lease the first year estimated kwh generation is 15675. This is about a 2.9% difference from a real would solar system located about 10 miles from me.

[J.P.M.]

Krenn - I recently received a quote for a 10.5kw system with enphase microinverters. This is a prepaid PPA quote so it has cumulative 20 year power production guarantee which is approx 300,000 kwh or approx 15,000kwh annually ( this is simplifying the equation and does not take into account panel degredation) According to what I'm seeing and my playing around with PV watts - I am in Milpitas, CA, I tried to input the data for my system as accurately as possible. (roof mounted 1/2 West, and 1/2 east facing system with 20 degree slope, with no shading issues)

Doing this, I saw I needed to change my Derate factor to 0.9 for achieve the production numbers "garaunteed" by the leasing company.
My question is - Am I missing something? It does NOT seem like they low-balled the production numbers, even though I expect them to. Unless my math is wrong?

I'd check my input. 15,000 kWhrs./yr. on a 10.5kW system, even 50/50 E/W doesn't seem like it would take a .90 derate to achieve unless Milpitas is a lot cloudier than I imagine it.

[J.P.M.]

After pulling up an actual SunPower quote from Nevada, the numbers seem to make a little more sense in context.






9.81 Kilowatt system, all panels oriented west, 15,987 kilowatt hours guaranteed in the first year.

The quoted "estimated" production is different than what the lease will show both in form and substance. read the fine print: re, the lease and think like the seller. All the production guarantees I've seen are a sales tool, not a promise.