SOLAR PV SYSTEM WARRANTY

arthurx1234

Not sure if i am posting on the correct board, i apologise if i have.

Moved into a new build house last year with a solar energy system (no battery storage)

The system was installed by ECO2SOLAR.

ECO2SOLAR website states the following—

“ What guarantees will my solar panels come with? Your solar system has a 12-month parts and labour warranty. There is also a back-to-back parts and labour warranty in line with the housing developer’s warranty. Your solar panels will come with a manufacturer’s guarantee of the panel performance.”

My query is-

Does the above mean that when the 12 months warranty ends Taylor Wimpey will be responsible for the repairs to the panels and inverter for a further 12 months, then after that repairs will form part of the NHBC warranty?

Not really sure what the definition of "back to back" is

any help from you wise people would be good

thanks

ARTHUR

QrizB

If this was a retrofit system it would come with an MCS certificate and an insurance-backed warranty.

However, as it was a new build via Taylor Wimpey you have no contract with ECO2SOLAR so you can probably ignore whatever it says on their website. I imagine it will depend on what your Taylor Wimpey documentation says.

Does the system need repairs now, or are you asking in anticipation of future problems?

arthurx1234

it has a fault at the moment and ECO2SOLAR are coming out to fix it next week.

ECO2STAR documentation says i can extend the warranty for another year or another 4 years for about 600 quid which seems too much.

Nothing in TW documentation TW say its ECO2STAR not them!!

i have a MCS certificate for it

MWT

You should be covered by the Taylor Wimpey 2-year guarantee, you will not get anything from NHBC as the solar PV system is not structural.

Obviously you also have some legal rights which you may be able to enforce after the 2 year point as the solar system they have sold to you would normally be expected to last a lot longer than 2 years…

QrizB

In addition to the above, as it's a MCS Certified installation you should have an insurance-backed guarantee that will kick in should Eco2Solar go bust.

Have you been given details of this by either TW or Eco2Solar? If not, you might want to ask Eco2Solar for info.

FoundTheRightHome

Just to add a plain-English explanation of "back to back" since it wasn't fully addressed, it means ECO2SOLAR's warranty to you mirrors whatever warranty Wimpey gave ECO2SOLAR as the installing contractor. In theory it sounds reassuring but in practice, as others have noted, your actual contract is with TW not ECO2SOLAR, so TW's 2-year builder warranty is the thing you can actually enforce. The ECO2SOLAR extended warranty at £600 is essentially them trying to monetise the gap after year 2 - given you have an MCS certificate and the insurance-backed guarantee that comes with it, I'd want to understand what that IBG actually covers before spending £600 on top

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981634#Comment_81981634

The MCS certification only ensures that whatever guarantee the installer offers is backed by insurance so if the installer goes out of business the guarantee still has effect.

So that just means that the 2 year TW guarantee is all the customer has, nothing beyond those 2 years without resorting to use normal consumer rights legislation.

Reed_Richards

My solar PV system came with a 10 year warranty on the equipment. 2 yearrs seems very meagre.

FoundTheRightHome

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81982333#Comment_81982333

Good clarification, thank you and I'd slightly overstated the MCS IBG coverage. So in plain terms for Arthur… you have Wimpey's 2-year warranty as your main protection and the MCS IBG simply ensures that warranty holds even if ECO2SOLAR cease trading and beyond year 2 you're relying on consumer rights legislation and manufacturer panel guarantees. The £600 ECO2SOLAR extended offer is therefore worth scrutinising carefully against what consumer rights would give you anyway before committing