Production Guarantee, any use?

[jgd108]

Hi,
Just got this Production Guarantee Table to sign off on from my solar company ahead of the installation.
I know many in this forum have said those are useless because they are really low targets and it makes sense, the companies want to protect themselves.

So my question is, any use fighting this and if so, any tips?

PVWatts using 10% loss shows 3189kwh for the 6 panels in reverse tilt and 4483kwh for the front 8 panels for a total of 7,672kwh for the year.

Even top of the range first year (6,872kwh) is 89.5% of my calculations, not sure what range means.
And then it seems to factor a 3% degradation for Year 2, and 2% afterwards.

The range is pretty large (10%), so if lower part of the range is used (seems to be the case based on the wordings) then that number (6185kwh) is only 80% of my projected production.

I guess I would have to get a big rainy season, or a bunch of failures to really underproduce to get some kind of payout at 20 cents (which is below the average of 28 cents based on my bills).

Anything I'm missing?

Thanks! Solar is getting installed shortly ..

[J.P.M.]

It's all a moot point. The production guarantee is a marketing tool. No more. Anyone who knows anything about PV and is in possession of one eye and one balloon knot can spot the B.S. in a NY minute. Fact: There is simply no way for you or any other PV owner or lessor to verify a warranty claim. READ THE PRODUCTION warranty, and while doing so, read it from the vendor/seller's perspective. Short of complete system collapse, you will never be able to fulfill all the requirements to verify a production warranty claim. It ain't gonna happen, except out of the goodness and christian charity of a mfg's. heart.

Also, and as you note, the bar is so low on production requirements you'll probably trip over it. The 3 % 1st yr. reduction is reasonable. the rest is simply not realistic Note too that one year's or several years' easily achievable excess production continuously rolls over to following years making a successful warranty claim even less likely as the years roll by. It's all B.S. Period. You're wasting your time and angst worrying about it. I've seen and have copies of most of the std. contracts and production warranties. they're all pretty similar and they're all cynical B.S.

The good side is, if you've done the PVWatts input correctly and don't have much shade, you'll probably get close to what that model says, +/- 5 or 10% /yr. Forget the production warranty. You'll never be able to verify a warranty claim, but the production triggers are so low you won't need to waste time worrying about it.

[jgd108]

It's all a moot point. The production guarantee is a marketing tool. No more. Anyone who knows anything about PV and is in possession of one eye and one balloon knot can spot the B.S. in a NY minute. Fact: There is simply no way for you or any other PV owner or lessor to verify a warranty claim. READ THE PRODUCTION warranty, and while doing so, read it from the vendor/seller's perspective. Short of complete system collapse, you will never be able to fulfill all the requirements to verify a production warranty claim. It ain't gonna happen, except out of the goodness and christian charity of a mfg's. heart.

Also, and as you note, the bar is so low on production requirements you'll probably trip over it. The 3 % 1st yr. reduction is reasonable. the rest is simply not realistic Note too that one year's or several years' easily achievable excess production continuously rolls over to following years making a successful warranty claim even less likely as the years roll by. It's all B.S. Period. You're wasting your time and angst worrying about it. I've seen and have copies of most of the std. contracts and production warranties. they're all pretty similar and they're all cynical B.S.

The good side is, if you've done the PVWatts input correctly and don't have much shade, you'll probably get close to what that model says, +/- 5 or 10% /yr. Forget the production warranty. You'll never be able to verify a warranty claim, but the production triggers are so low you won't need to waste time worrying about it.

Thank you sir. Just what I needed to confirm!

[J.P.M.]

Thank you sir. Just what I needed to confirm!

You're welcome. Pass the word.