Silfab Solar opinions?

chsdiyer

I was set on going with LG panels for a number of reasons.  Today I was at a friends house who has Silfab solar panels on his roof and that was the first time I'd really heard of them.  I just looked them up and they list 18.5% efficiency, almost identical temperature coefficient to the LG and their panels are $0.72/W compared to LG's $1.00/W.  I think their warranties are pretty close too...LG guarantees 87% at 25 years and Silfab is 82% at 25 years.  It almost seems like a no brainer to go with Silfab, but am I missing something?  I'll save about $2500 going with Silfab.

mcgivor

Guess the consideration of, will the company still be in business for warranty claims, if needed, LG is a diversified company so chances are they would be around, what other than PV products dose Silfab produce and will they survive in a competitive market. The price difference is attractive, so I guess it's a question of paying the money and taking your chances.

chsdiyer

Good  point.  Back in the day i thought surely evergreen solar would make it, especially with all the money the government was giving them. Lost a lot of money in that stock

Although, LG as a company might not go anywhere, but they certainly could close their solar business.   If that happened, I'd imagine that they wouldn't honor warranties anymore either

mcgivor

As a company, if they were still around, despite retracting from the solar business, they should honor their warranty, unless of course  the solar division is separated from other business, as in a separate company, but my thinking is they will be in for the long haul, just opinions.

Dave Angelini

BP Solar closed and honors their warranty to dealers. Why would you think that a large diversified company would risk their reputation?

chsdiyer

I certainly don't see them going anywhere, but I also clearly am not usually right.  I would assume that if that segment of the company shut down who would be there to handle warranty claims?  LG appliances division? i don't know how large companies are structured.  What do they do, refund your money?  If they're closed and not making panels any more, they can't replace them, right? 

mcgivor

What alternatives are there, Yingling solar, Ho le Fook solar?  Just some random fictitious names, LG an established company, with a reputation to maintain, I'm sure they won't waste their name disputing a claim.

chsdiyer

Yeah, you're right, they probably wouldn't.  I'm just don't understand how that process works if they do.  

mcgivor

Ask them directly, you'll be surprised at the answers you get when direct questions are asked, I do it all the time, nothing better than asking the horse what's in his mouth.

Estragon

There are lots of legal ways to wiggle out of a warranty.  In the end it comes down to whether the cost of brand damage from using those ways exceeds the cost of the warranty.  A big company with a large consumer business like LG with a relatively small solar panel component business would likely set up a contingent liability when they exit/sell the panel business, and charge claims off as they occur.