SunRun Offering New Plans for Homeowners

Why is it that 90% of integrators always say their solar PV systems are incredibly maintenance free: no moving parts, all you need to do is wash the panels occasionally.

But then SunRun always markets one of the main benefits of going with them is not having to worry about all those maintenance problems.

In their marketing materials when REC or Borrego sell a 'cash sale' they say your your system will be maintenance free, you'll never have a problem, you don't have to worry about it. Then when they try to sell the SunRun option that same line always comes up: "it's best to go this route because you avoid all the hassles of maintenance".

Which one is it?

I believe they are marketing "inverter replacements" and not "all those maintenance problems." Inverters will need to be replaced at some point (12-18 yrs) so it is a real benefit to homeowners to have that additional value.

I agree -- about the only thing that would ever need maintenance on a residential, roof-top, grid-connected PV system would be the inverter. I suppose other issues could pop up (e.g. critters getting on the roof and chewing on the cabling) but those sorts of issues usually affect only ground-mounted systems. The ideal would be to provide some kind of remote monitoring so that when the inverter needs to replace, the need is recognized immediately and rather than with the next monthly statement. Such monitoring is highly common with large ground-mounted systems in Europe, but offering it inexpensively for small roof-top systems would be a challenge.

Adam G it is clear that you are an integrator who is envious of Sun Run;s offering.

Lion's and tigers and solar panels, oh my ! " worry about my solar panels" " the hassle of system ownership and maintenance" We've been selling solar electric systems for over eleven years and have sold more than fifteen thousand systems to date all over the U.S. and abroad. Everything from small RV systems to several hundred kilowatts and operate one of the nations largest service centers and never and I mean never has a customer ever complained that owning a solar system was a "hassle."

If a system has ben properly installed then REC and Borrego are correct, there is virtually no maintenence other than washing the panels occasionally. It is true that eventually the inverter that includes a 10 year factory warranty will fail but it is expected that the cost of replacing the inverter after the warranty runs out will be so low in 10 years that it will almost be a non issue. In fact there is more maintenence involved in owning a central air conditioning system than in owning a modern grid intertie system.

The concept of "maintenence" and "hassles" are terms that the marketing people at these "newbie" solar companies have come up with in order to create a false sense of fear in the consumer, probably because they are having difficulties convincing consumers that they should obtain a system from them even though in almost all cases the consumer will be giving away their cash rebate, Federal tax credit, potential Renewable Energy Credits and who knows what else now that the Obama administration is in place. Not to mention that after all those years of making all those "fixed rate payments" these customer will own nothing in the end. Not the solar modules, not the racking and not the inverter.

And to B P Solar who dosen't want to use his real name for some reason, (maybe he's a Sun Run marketing person) what is there to envy about taking away all or most of the financial incentives of buying a solar system that should have gone to to consumer. I'd feel guilty.

Great Site! Scotty, St Louis Renewable Energy, email: scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com when solar financing becomes available in this area.