warranty on installs

[Ethan Brush]

I am looking for input/ideas on what you wind installers offer for a warranty on a new wind system. Clearly the manufacturer guarantees their products for x years, but who foots the bill for taking down a defective turbine within that period? What about the BOS components, do you offer a warranty and/or free maintenance for a period?

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Ethan,

Hopefully others will join in as well, since I'm interested in this too.
My business is a distributor for Eoltec wind turbines, we don't (usually) install them, and warranty terms are a matter of the companies buying those turbines from us. From what I've been hearing the norm seems to be 1 year of warranty, where the installer foots the bill for crane fees, or taking down a tilt-up tower. Regular maintenance should not be covered under warranty, it's strictly for matters that are out-of-the-usual. From my perspective as a wholesaler I have no margin to reimburse installers for those things. Profits on wind turbines are razor thin. With the dollar worth as little as it is right now, it would make my turbines uncompetitive if I added enough to the price to pay for warranty issues on the installer's end (not that there are that many, but they do happen).

Talking about warranty; with the FIT rules here in Ontario my business is about to start installing PV. I'm wondering what the warranty terms are that others give for that. The big issue with (roof mounted) PV is water ingress through the roof in case penetrations are improperly sealed. I've been educating myself on how to minimize this, but that has me worried.

-RoB-

[Ethan Brush]

Rob,

I certainly know what you mean about the low margins making it difficult to cover unforeseens.

I am very paranoid of leaking roof penetrations, perhaps because I grew up with a chronically leaky roof. I like the mounting feet flashings for shingle roofs, they seems to offer a high degree of protection. We have recently started doing PV systems and have a few under our belt, but I am not sure what the warranty terms were.