Which warranties do you have on our solar products?
A solar installation is covered by multiple different warranties. There are warranties for the separate components (panels, inverters, mounting systems etc.), and for the entire installation: This latter warranty is called the installation warranty (installatiegarantie)
Installation warranty
For the duration of the installation warranty period, the seller must ensure that any defect to the system is repaired without costs to the customer. The installation warranty is invalidated if any parts of the installation are altered (except by Zonnefabriek) during this period. Most companies offer a 2-year installation warranty; since 2013 Zonnefabriek offers a 5-year installation warranty. The installation warranty covers the solar installation from the main electrical circuit board up to and including the solar panels; the internet communication is explicitly excluded from the installation warranty due to the dependence on third parties such as the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Defects caused by 'acts of god' or damage by third parties are also not covered.
You can find details on Zonnefabriek's installation warranty (in Dutch) in our General Terms and Conditions.
Product and performance warranties
The various parts of the installation each have their own product warranty, which usually continues for a longer period than the installation warranty. The product warranty is covered by the manufacturer. If the product becomes defective during the warranty period, the manufacturer must ensure the repair or replacement of the defective product, unless the defect is caused by an external act of god or by damage inflicted by a third partry. A consumer does not have to deal directly with the manufacturer, instead they can address the company that sold the product to them; in our case that would be Zonnefabriek.
Warranties for the various components of your system
Click on the various components below to learn more about the warranties for their respective products.
Solar panel warranties
In general solar panels have two separate warranties: a product warranty and a performance warranty. The product warranty entails that in the case of a defect in the product during the warranty period, the product will be either repaired or replaced, or else the customer is entitled to a financial compensation. The duration of the warranty period varies between different manufacturers, as well as what exactly is covered by the warranty. The best case scenario for the customer is that the entire repair or replacement is covered and you can rest assured that it will all be taken care of. However in some cases the manufacturer will only supply a financial compensation for a defective panel, with the amount based on the current market value of the (increasingly old and worn) panel, and that you yourself will have to pay for someone to come and take down the defective panel and put in a new panel which you will have to pay for as well, as well as transport costs. That's why it pays to read the warranty conditions carefully.
Solar panel performance warranty
The performance warranty is meant to ensure that the power that a solar panel can produce, doesn't decrease too quickly over time. All solar panels do experience some degradation over the years, usually in the range of about 0,6% per annum. The performance warranty is there to ensure that you can get compensation in case the panel degrades faster than expected.
Now this can be a tricky warranty to claim: How can you prove that a panel degraded more quickly than expected? In order to establish that you will often need specialised equipment: Where will you get that, and: who will pay for it?
Furthermore many manufactureres state that degradation as a result of a defect is not covered by the performance warranty, but by the product warranty. That makes quite a difference: imagine you have a 10 year product warranty and a 25 year performance warranty. Your panel's performance starts to worsen significantly in year 12. After an extensive investigation (paid by yourself) it turns out that the degradation is caused by a defective solar cell within the panel. What will the warranty cover? Nothing: the manufacturer will be able to say that the defect falls under the product warranty and not the performance warranty, and since the former has already expired, there is no obligation for them to honor the claim..
Overview of solar panel product and performance warranties
In the table below you will find the warranty conditions for the most common brands of solar panel installed by Zonnefabriek. For the exact terms and conditions you can click on the links in the table. If your brand isn't included in the tabel you can contact our service department for more information.
N.B.: Warranty conditions are regularly updated by the manufacturers. For the most up-to-date versions of the warranty conditions please check the manufacturers' own websites.
Solar panel brand |
Performance warranty |
Product warranty |
What do you get? |
SUNPOWER Maxeon solar panels installed by a certified SUNPOWER installer like ZONNEFABRIEK
|
40 years for panels installed from January 1st 2022 onwards
For solar panels from before January 1st 2022: 25 years
For panels installed from July 1st 2017 onwwards: for the first year 98% of the stated power, then -0,25% per year.
For panels from before July 1st 2017: In the first 5 years 95% of the stated power, from then on -0,4% per year
|
40 years for panels installed from January 1st 2022 onwards
For solar panels from before January 1st 2022: 25 years
|
the defective panel will be either repaired, or replaced by a compatible panel with the same or more power than the defective panel. Furthermore the costs for transport of both the defcetive and the replacement or repaired panel are covered. Costs relating to removal of the faulty panel and installation of the replacement or repaired panel are also covered |
SUNPOWER Maxeon solar panels NOT installed by a certified SUNPOWER installer like ZONNEFABRIEK
NB: if the panels have not been registered with SunPower then the warranty period is not 40 years but only 25 years |
40 or 25 years (see above)
For panels installed from July 1st 2017 onwwards: for the first year 98% of the stated power, then -0,25% per year.
For panels from before July 1st 2017: In the first 5 years 95% of the stated power, from then on -0,4% per year |
40 or 25 years (see above) |
the defective panel will be either repaired, or replaced by a compatible panel with the same or more power than the defective panel. Costs for transport and installation are NOT covered |
SUNPOWER Performance panels (P3) |
25 years First year 98% of the stated power, from then on -0,45% per year |
25 years |
the defective panel will be either repaired, or replaced by a compatible panel with the same or more power than the defective panel. |
ET Solar
For terms and conditions click here
|
25 years: First year 97%, then -0.65% per year |
10 years: the customer must prove that the defect came from within the panel and not from outside |
repair, replacement, or payment of the current market price of the module. In case of power loss, additional panels may also be sent to restore power. Shipment of the panels is included. |
Hanwha Q.cells G9 |
25 years First year 98%, from then on -0,5% per year |
12 years |
repair, replacement. Compensation for the inspection and shipment of the panel but not for installation or removal |
Hanwha Q.cells G5
|
25 years First year 98%, thereafter -0,54% per year |
12 years |
repair, replacement. Compensation for the inspection and shipment of the panel but not for installation or removal |
Hanwha Q.cells G4
|
25 years First year 98%, thereafter -0,6% per year |
12 years |
repair, replacement. Compensation for the inspection and shipment of the panel but not for installation or removal |
Trina Solar polykristalline panels
For terms and conditions click here
|
25 years: First year 97.5% , then -0.7% per year. |
10 years |
repair, replacement or payment of the current value of the panel (i.e. not the purchase price) |
Trina Solar monokristalline panels |
25 years: First year 97%, then -0.68% per year |
10 years |
repair, replacement or payment of the current value of the panel (i.e. not the purchase price) |
Warranty on Inverters and Optimizers
In the table below you can find an overview of the warranty terms and conditions for the main brands installed by Zonnefabriek. If your brand of inverter or optimizer is not mentioned please contact our Service department for more information.
Brand |
product warranty |
What is covered? |
SMA
|
5-10 years.
Since 2014 Zonnefabriek offers 5 years extra product warranty (i.e. 10 years total): Check your sales agreement |
repair or replacement by a compatible type of inverter. Shipment and installation of the replacement device, and removal and collection of the defective device |
SolarEdge
|
Inverter: 12 years, Optimizer: 25 years |
repair or replacement or a credit note worth the current value of the defcetive part. For repair or replacement, installation and collection are included. |
ZeverSolar
For terms and conditions click here
|
5 years. |
repair or replacement. Transportation costs are included but installation costs are not (however, these are covered by the installation warranty) |
The warranty on home batteries has two parts: a product warranty and a performance warranty. Below are details of both.
Product warranty
The product warranty of home batteries means that the battery must be free of technical defects within the warranty period. If not, the manufacturer must at least provide a replacement product or damage compensation.
Brand | Product warranty |
SMA Home Storage | 10 jaar |
BYD HVS en HVM | 10 jaar |
SunPower Reserve | 10 jaar |
Performance warranty
The performance or performance guarantee specifies the minimum amount of time the battery should continue to work after a certain period of time. The storage capacity of all batteries decreases with time. If they are used intensively then that capacity decreases faster than if they are hardly used at all.
For most batteries, the term of the performance guarantee is 10 years, only SMA's Home Storage batteries offer 12 years. It is often guaranteed that after this period the battery will still have at least 60% of its original storage capacity, unless the battery has been charged and discharged more than a predetermined number of times within the performance guarantee period.
The number of charges is indicated by the throughput energy, expressed in MWh per kWh. One MWh per kWh means 1000 full cycles, if the battery would not lose capacity. But taking into account the slow and inevitable decrease in battery capacity, we can count about 10% extra. So 1 MWh/kWh amounts to about 1100 cycles.
In this table you can find the performance guarantee for the different brands of home battery.
Brand/model |
Performance warranty | Maximum guaranteed throughput energy | Amount of cycles | Minimum guaranteed capacity |
SMA Home Storage | 12 years | 7,2 MWh/ kWh | 8000 | 60% |
BYD HVS | 10 years | 3 MWh/ kWh | 3300 | 60% |
BYD HVM | 10 years | 3,1 MWh/ kWh | 3400 | 60% |
SunPower Reserve | 10 years | 3,1 MWh/ kWh | 3400 | 70% |
Guaranteed and expected life
When a battery reaches its guaranteed energy throughput, it does not mean that it will fail immediately afterwards. Today's lithium batteries (all brands here are Lithium Iron Phosphate or LiFePO4 technology) last a very long time, even if the storage capacity decreases over time. Most systems are expected to last at least 15 years.
You can find the downloadable warranty terms for the various batteries below.
- For SMA click here
- For BYD click here
- For SunPower click here
Solar Factory installs SMA brand electric car charging stations.
Both the SMA EV-charger and the SMA eCharger come with a comprehensive 5-year manufacturer's warranty. The conditions can be found in SMA's general warranty document, which you can download here here.
Zonnefabriek installs heat pump boilers of different brands.
On heat pump boilers from Vaillant you get 2 years product warranty on the appliance and 5 years on the boiler tank. The Vaillant warranty terms and conditions can be found here. You will also find the product user manual here. Please note that on heat pump boilers, Zonnefabriek provides an installation warranty of 2 years instead of 5 years.
Daikin's air-to-air heat pumps come with a 5-year product warranty. In combination with a maintenance contract with the Zonnefabriek, this is extended to 10 years.
Mounting materials
Although we at the Solar Factory have never had to call on the warranty of mounting materials, the table below provides an overview of the terms of our house brands Schletter, SunBeam and Esdec.
Brand |
Product warranty |
What will be reimbursed? |
Schletter
|
10 years |
Replacement or repair of the defective part |
Esdec
For terms and conditions click here (article 8 general conditions) |
20 years |
Replacement or repair or credit in an amount (not to exceed the purchase amount) |
SunBeam
|
10 years |
Replacement or repair or credit in an amount (not to exceed the purchase amount) |
Products used for communication between the inverter and the Internet generally have a 2-year warranty. These include items such as Powerline Adapters, SMA WebBox or Cluster Controller, ZeverSolar PMU or ZeverManager. The Sunny Home Manager also has a two-year manufacturer's warranty. For terms and conditions for SMA products, click here.
All other products used in the installation such as cables and electrical material usually carry a factory warranty of a shorter duration than Zonnefabriek's installation warranty. Zonnefabriek will replace or repair such material without cost for the consumer within the warranty period of the installation warranty, since these parts are considered to be a part of the installation.
Bankruptcies
What happens in case your installer or the manufacturer of your products files for bankruptcy?
Should Zonnefabriek go bankrupt, then you will lose our installation warranty. However you will still have the product warranty for the various parts of your solar installation. In case of a defect, the manufacturer will ask you to contact a different installer, because they generally don't deal with the final customer themselves. For instance SMA have a network of 'Advance Partners' in the Netherlands that can help out when the original installation company has ceased to exist. Zonnefabriek is regularly contacted by former customers of other installation companies that no longer exist, in order for us to help them with their warranties on SMA products.
Should the manufacturer of the products go bankrupt, then Zonnefabriek will no longer be able to source the products required for a repair or replacement of a defective part. If possible we will try to look for alternative products to keep your solar system running. Since there is no longer a manufacturer who can compensate for the costs incurred, these costs will be therefore billed to you.
Quality is your best warranty
Private consumers are well protected in the Netherlands. The Dutch government website 'Consuwijzer' (in Dutch) explains all the rules for consumer protection. The rules are different for commercial customers (business-to-business).
A final word: The best warranty is the one you never need to use. The best guarantee for a good system is a good product, much more so than good warranties. With our long experience in the world of solar energy we think we have a good view on what does and what doesn't work in the long term. This experience has led us to the selection of products in our range.
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