Product warranty
If the panel fails as a piece of equipment, the manufacturer repairs or replaces it. Usual market range: between 12 and 15 years. It is the warranty most like the one on any household appliance, and the one most used in practice.
Solar panel brands and warranties, without the small print
What tier 1 really means, what each warranty covers, and who answers to you if the manufacturer disappears. This is what we check before putting any equipment in a quote, explained so you can check it too.
What does tier 1 mean, and what does it not?
Tier 1 is a bankability list compiled by BloombergNEF. A manufacturer joins it when its projects have obtained non-recourse bank financing. It measures whether banks will lend against that brand. It does not measure panel quality, and the list itself says so: it is not a quality seal.
It is a useful signal, because a bank does not lend against just anything. But when a salesman uses it as shorthand for a top-quality panel, he is stretching the term. A panel's quality is checked in the tests of the IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 standards, in the written warranties and in the manufacturer's track record.
Our position: tier 1 counts in a brand's favour, but it does not decide. What decides is the whole picture you will see below.
The panel's two warranties: product and performance
Every panel comes with two separate warranties, and it pays not to mix them up. The product warranty covers the panel as a piece of equipment: manufacturing defects, materials, the frame. The market norm is between 12 and 15 years. The performance warranty promises the panel will still produce a minimum percentage after 25 or 30 years.
Performance warranty
It promises a minimum percentage of output at 25 or 30 years. A panel loses around 0.4% of its output a year, so a healthy panel clears that curve comfortably. Its real value is different: it tells you how long the manufacturer itself expects its panel to last.
The inverter and the battery have their own terms
The inverter carries its own warranty, and it is shorter: usually around 10 years. It is the component most likely to need replacing over the life of the installation, so its warranty, and the cost of replacing it later, goes into the study's long-term sums.
A battery is guaranteed on two measures at once: years and use. The norm is warranties of around 10 years, conditional on a number of charge cycles or a total energy discharged, whichever comes first. A house that cycles its battery daily wears it out sooner than one that barely uses it. That is why a battery's warranty terms are read in full before choosing it, and why its size is decided from your consumption curve, as we explain in physical battery, virtual battery or surplus: what pays off in your case.
What if the manufacturer disappears?
It has been the right question since 2023: the sharp fall in panel prices has pushed manufacturers out of the market, in Europe too. A 25-year warranty is worth whatever the signer is worth. If the company disappears, that warranty can end up as just paper.
The manufacturer's warranty and your seller's liability are two different things. The first is signed by the brand and dies or struggles along with it. The second is set by law: whoever sells you the installation is liable to you for lack of conformity for 3 years from delivery, whether or not the manufacturer exists. That is the statutory consumer guarantee, and you claim it from your seller, who then deals with the brand.
That is why the installer is part of the kit you are buying. If something fails, we handle the claim with the manufacturer for you, and in the meantime we monitor your installation every day, which is how a fault is caught before it eats months of production.
How do we choose the equipment in your quote?
We do not work from a closed list of brands: the equipment is chosen for your roof, your shading and your consumption, not before seeing them. What never changes are the criteria. Your quote will show the brand and model of every component, with its warranties in writing, so you can run them through this same filter.
Spare parts available in Spain
If an inverter fails, the question is how many days the replacement takes to reach your roof. We choose manufacturers with technical service and a spare-parts warehouse in Spain, not brands that make you wait for a shipping container.
The manufacturer's track record
Years in business, real volume and a stable presence in Europe. A 25-year warranty signed by a company three years old is worth less than a 12-year one signed by a firm that has been honouring claims for decades.
Who backs the warranty
Some manufacturers insure their warranties with third parties: if the company goes under, the insurance still stands. We look at what sits behind the signature, not just the number of years in the brochure.
And after the installation, a warranty is exercised with papers in hand: the CIE certificate and the documentation from your installation's legalisation are what prove what was installed and when.
Frequently asked questions about brands and warranties
Is a tier 1 panel better than one that is not?
Not necessarily. Tier 1 means banks finance projects using that brand, not that the panel is better. There are serious manufacturers outside the list, and the list itself warns that it does not measure quality. Quality is judged by the IEC tests, the written warranties and the brand's track record.
If the manufacturer goes bust, do I lose my warranty?
The manufacturer's warranty can indeed end up worthless. But the legal guarantee is a different thing: whoever sold you the installation is liable to you by law for 3 years from delivery, whether or not the manufacturer still exists. That is why who installs matters as much as what they install.
Will anyone honour the performance warranty in 25 years?
It is a manufacturer's promise, worth whatever the signer is worth in 25 years' time. That is why track record and warranty backing weigh more than the figure in the brochure. The good news: a panel loses around 0.4% of its output a year, so you are unlikely to ever need it.
Is the inverter covered for as many years as the panels?
No. Its usual warranty is around 10 years, well short of the panel's, and it is the component most likely to need replacing. Some manufacturers sell warranty extensions: whether one pays off is worked out with numbers in the study.
Ask for a quote with the warranties in writing
Tell us where your house is and we will prepare the study. Your quote will show the brand, model and warranties of every component, so you can compare names and years, not slogans.
A Captia Technology company. Chartered, qualified engineers.