Proposal Autopsy: The Warranty Assembly

The proposal

A 10.0 kW-DC system for a Lancaster homeowner. The proposal's cover page has a large graphic that reads “25-YEAR WARRANTY” with a small asterisk. Under the word warranty, in 9-point type, is “coverage details attached.” Nothing is attached to the version the homeowner received; the salesperson said the full warranty packet would come with the signed contract. Here is what the proposal actually said about warranty, redacted.

Proposal F (redacted)

Lancaster, NY · 10.0 kW-DC · 25-year warranty banner

Cover page

• Banner headline: '25-YEAR WARRANTY'1
• Footnote on banner: 'coverage details attached'2
• Stock photo of a smiling family next to a panel-covered roof

System components

• Panels: 25 modules, 400W each (major tier-1 brand)3
• Inverter: string inverter, 10kW single-phase4
• Mounting: flush roof on composite shingle
• Monitoring: cloud-based, manufacturer-provided5

Warranty summary (page 6)

• 'Comprehensive 25-year coverage across equipment and installation'6
• Panel product warranty: 25 years (manufacturer)7
• Panel performance warranty: 25 years to 84.8% (manufacturer)8
• Inverter warranty: 12 years (manufacturer)9
• Workmanship warranty: 10 years (installer)10
• Monitoring service: 10 years (third-party cloud provider)11
• Roof penetration coverage: 2 years against leaks at mount points12

1. 1

   The banner on page one is the line every homeowner remembers. It is not the line any claim is paid against. The real warranty is the five separate documents on page six.

2. 2

   'Coverage details attached' with no actual attachment is a sales pattern, not a clerical oversight. Do not sign the contract until every referenced PDF is physically in your hands.

3. 3

   Panel brand is fine. Standard tier-1.

4. 4

   String inverter is a valid choice for a simple single-plane roof. Fine.

5. 5

   'Cloud-based' monitoring that depends on a third party is not a permanent service. Monitoring provider availability is itself a warranty question.

6. 6

   Marketing language. Not a coverage description. Read the rows underneath it instead.

7. 7

   Real, routes through manufacturer. Survives installer closure. Good.

8. 8

   Standard performance warranty. 84.8% at year 25 is typical. Good.

9. 9

   12 years on the inverter is fine but the system is sold as 25-year. At year 13, a failed inverter is out-of-pocket. A replacement in 2036 inflation-adjusted dollars is likely $2,500 to $4,000 installed. Ask whether the installer offers an extended inverter warranty and what it costs.

10. 10

    This is the real system warranty length. If the roof leaks around a mount in year 11, this clause has expired. For a 25-year asset sold with a 25-year savings story, 10 years of workmanship is a real gap. Ask whether this can be extended.

11. 11

    Monitoring is not free to the installer. If the monitoring provider changes pricing in 2030 and the installer decides not to pay, your system still works but loses visibility. Ask what happens if the monitoring vendor disappears.

12. 12

    Two years. The cover-page banner says 25. The actual commitment on the physical hole in your roof is two years. This is the single largest spread between headline warranty and real coverage in a typical WNY proposal.

What the banner actually means

The banner says 25. The rows under it say 25, 25, 12, 10, 10, 2. The homeowner's practical coverage is not 25 years; it is a staircase. The panel coverage is 25. The inverter coverage is 12. Everything else the installer is physically responsible for, including the roof penetrations, drops to single digits within a decade.

This is not fraud. Every line on the page is a real warranty, backed by a real entity. The issue is framing. Selling the install under a “25-year warranty” banner compresses a staircase into a flat number and gives the homeowner a false sense of what the installer's obligation actually is. Ten years in, if a flashing fails and water enters the attic, the homeowner's claim is against the panel manufacturer (no, they do not cover this), against the monitoring cloud (no), or against the installer's two-year roof coverage (expired). The recourse is the installer's goodwill, not the banner.

Warranty-banner red flags

• Cover page or page-one banner with a single duration ('25-year warranty') and no line items.
• Warranty PDFs promised but not physically attached to the version you sign from.
• Workmanship warranty shorter than 10 years on a 25-year asset.
• Roof-penetration coverage under 5 years, or not listed at all.
• Inverter warranty under 12 years without an extended-warranty option offered.

The three asks

Three asks that expose the warranty staircase

• [ ] Ask for every warranty PDF by name, before you sign.

  Panel product. Panel performance. Inverter. Workmanship. Roof penetration. Monitoring. Battery if included. Each PDF has a company name at the top; read them. If the installer cannot produce any one of them, you do not have it.

• [ ] Ask who pays in four specific scenarios.

  'Inverter fails in year 13, who pays?' 'Roof leaks at a mount in year 11, who pays?' 'Panel drops below 85% output in year 14, who pays?' 'Installer closes in year 8, what survives?' A clean installer has specific answers to each.

• [ ] Ask whether workmanship can be extended.

  Many installers offer an optional extended workmanship warranty to 20 or 25 years, often for a flat fee at signing. Whether it is worth the cost depends on the installer's stability, but the question itself reveals what the base warranty actually covers.

If this is your proposal

The answers to the three questions above are the proposal you should actually be comparing, not the banner. If two installers offer the same system at the same price and the first has a staircase of 25/25/12/10/2 and the second has 25/25/25/15/5, the second is materially better, even if the banner on both proposals says 25.

An installer with confidence in the install will walk through the staircase with you and explain the trade-offs. An installer who needs the banner to close the deal will tell you “it is all covered” and change the subject. That is the signal.

Recommended tool

The Quote Review tool flags warranty claim length gaps, including the workmanship and roof-penetration lines, and compares them to the price per watt you are paying.

Open run the full quote audit

Methodology note

Warranty structure described here is drawn from a real 2026 Lancaster proposal. The durations (25/25/12/10/10/2) are preserved exactly. The installer name, panel brand, and inverter brand are removed. The staircase pattern is common across WNY installers at the mid-tier price band; higher-end installers often extend the workmanship and roof-penetration durations, which is one of the things the premium buys.

Keep reading

• Autopsy: the dealer fee ate the deal

  A clean $/W and a loan structure that moved thousands to the dealer.

• Autopsy: the phantom panel upgrade

  The electrical change order that appeared 11 days before install.

• Autopsy: the production estimate that only works in July

  The kWh-per-kW-DC sanity check on a 15% inflated year-one estimate.

• If your installer went under, here's what to do

  What survives a closure and how to activate each surviving warranty channel.

FAQ

What are the actual warranties a solar install should have?

At minimum: panel product warranty (25 years is standard), panel performance warranty (25 years at 80-85% output), inverter warranty (12-25 years depending on brand and type), and installer workmanship warranty (5 to 25 years, highly variable). Batteries, monitoring, and roof penetration coverage are separate on top.

What is a workmanship warranty and why does duration matter?

It covers the installer's labor: mounting, wiring, flashing, and roof penetrations. If a panel leaks into your attic five years in, this is the warranty that pays. Installers often quote 10, 12, or 25 years, but the number is meaningless if the installer goes out of business. Short workmanship warranties from a stable installer can be worth more than long ones from a shaky one.

Does the warranty still apply if the installer goes out of business?

Panel and inverter warranties route through the manufacturer directly, so they survive an installer closing. Workmanship warranties usually do not, unless the installer sold the obligation to a successor. See our installer closure log and orphaned-install playbook for the step-by-step.

Is a 25-year workmanship warranty a good sign?

Sometimes. It is a good sign if the installer is well-capitalized and expected to be around in 25 years. It is a poor sign if used as a sales tool by a small or young installer whose balance sheet cannot support a 25-year obligation. The warranty is only as strong as the party standing behind it.