In a crowded Solar Market such as India, choosing a Solar PV Installer is a difficult proposition. In this blog, we will give you some guidelines for choosing a good Solar Installer.
Technical Credentials
A Solar Power Plant design and installation require good technical expertise specific to Solar Power Plant Design and Installation. Improper design, selection of low-quality components, and bad installation practices are known causes of Solar Power Plant failure in India. In India, Solar Installers don't need to complete a complete a professional solar certification course. However, it is recommended to check the solar technical credentials of installers before assigning work to them.
Workmanship Warranty
Workmanship warranty offered by installers is a measure of the confidence the Installer has in the work completed by them. Good Solar Installers offer workmanship warranty for a period of 1 to 5 years. It is recommended to check the credentials of the Solar Installer including previous work details, before accepting a long workmanship warranty from Installer.
Get Customer References
It is always a good idea to get a few customer references before you award the project to an Installer. Customer references and case studies are a good way to evaluate the credentials of an Installer. If you feel like giving a new installer an opportunity, be sure to check their technical credentials before you offer the project to the Installer.
Check for Outsourcing
The chain of sub-contracting is tricky and difficult to unwrap especially when it comes to complex solar projects. Many national installers outsource the work to local installers, and the local installers further sub-contract the work. There is no harm in outsourcing the work as long as the quality and ownership of work are not compromised. Certain related work such as solar structure fabrication in a complex roof may require expertise from third parties which the installer may not have. But the customer needs to evaluate the extent of sub-contracting and sub-contractors involved in the work so that the overall quality of Solar Installation is not affected.
Avoid Cheap Solar
Solar Power Plant is a long-term investment with a design life of 25 years. You require a good quality installer to design a reliable solar power plant. Following standard installation practices and choosing good quality balance of system components is not cheap. Always consider lifetime costs while investing in a Solar Power Plant, as the quote goes: "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten." (Benjamin Franklin)
Go Local for Service
A Grid Tied Solar Power Plant doesn't require a lot of maintenance, compared to many other electrical installations. However, many components such as solar inverters tend to malfunction, and a few components such as DC junction boxes (if the customer uses a string inverter) require periodic inspection. Considering the maintenance requirement, it is always better to choose a local installer or a national installer with a local presence. It might be a good idea to get into annual maintenance contracts with the installer if you don't have an in-house team or capability to maintain the solar plant.
You may read our blog on how to choose a Solar Power Plant to understand how you can go about choosing a quality Solar Inverter and Solar Module for the Solar Installation.
At Cares Renewables, we are focused on delivering quality solar power plants to our customers and partners. Please leave a comment, if you have any queries on this blog. Visit https://www.caresrenewables.com/savegen to view a few of our case studies. #Solar #Safety #AdvancedSolarPlant #SaveGen