We have your back: SolarWorld offers deductibleless secondary warranties

Let’s be blunt: It’s been a tumultuous year for SolarWorld Americas so far.

Between the “insolvency” (bankruptcy) of its German parent company, speculation that it could close its Oregon factory and its decision to join the widely derided Section 201 trade petition case filed by Suniva, it would surprise no one if the Oregon-based panel manufacturer’s employees hunkered down inside the headquarters, standing pat until everything calms down.

Instead, its employees have decided to do exactly what they said they would do when news broke about its parent company’s financial struggles: serve their customers to the best of their abilities and continue efforts to drive the industry forward. And one week after receiving a vote of confidence from its lenders in the form of an infusion of $6 million into its operations, it announced yesterday that it has launched a secondary warranty program that would go into effect in the event that the original factory coverage could no longer be supported.

The SolarWorld Assurance Warranty Protection Program offers two types of supplemental protection plans for its residential and small commercial customers, above and beyond the company’s standard coverage of a 20-year product warranty and a 25-year performance guarantee for most solar panels. SolarWorld Assurance program provides supplemental, third-party-backed warranties to the system owner with no deductibles.  Under the new program, residential and commercial customers would be covered under one of two programs:

• The Dual Warranty protection plan for solar panels installed this year (SolarWorld covers the premium); or
• The Extend Warranty plan, which covers solar panels installed from 2012 through 2016.