{"id":6206,"date":"2017-04-13T13:25:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T13:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portal.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T10:13:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T10:13:10","slug":"production-performance-guarantee-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Production vs. Performance Guarantees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Uncertainties are given when making a big ticket purchase that lasts 30 plus years. \u00a0Whether that is a home, a vehicle, or financial investments. How do you gain confidence that this purchase is financially sound?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When deciding on a solar photovoltaic system, there are a variety of guarantees and warranties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two that are most commonly referenced are the Production Guarantee and Performance Guarantee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are easy to confuse, especially since they are often misused interchangeably. It\u2019s important to clarify the differences so you know exactly what to expect from your system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Production Guarantee<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your solar system is custom designed for your home\u2019s specifications. \u00a0The orientation of the roof, sun exposure, tilt, and many other variables go into the design process. \u00a0The exact same solar system on another home would not produce the same amount of energy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many rudimentary solar calculators on the internet that guess what your solar needs might be. This is a very unscientific and broad way to calculate such a complicated system. Our Engineering Team uses sophisticated solar engineering software and proprietary tools to compose your system design. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the design is complete, we are able to predict how many kilowatt hours (kWh) your system will produce. A production guarantee is the installer\u2019s promise that this design is accurate. \u00a0It guarantees that all relevant factors were taken into account during the design process &#8211; that all\u00a0variables were accounted for. This promise is backed up by monetary compensation if the target kWh is not met for one year of the system\u2019s production. Many installers offer production guarantees of $0.10\/kWh-$0.12\/kWh for production that is not met.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would mean that if your system was designed to produce 10,000 kWh\/year, but only produced 9,000 kWh\/year, they would owe you a check for 1,000 kWh at whatever rate they set for their production guarantee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is important to work with a trusted Engineering Team when moving forward with solar. \u00a0The integrity of the design is crucial when making <img style=\"margin: 10px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 400px;\" title=\"shutterstock_225815572.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shutterstock_225815572.jpg\" alt=\"shutterstock_225815572.jpg\" width=\"400\" data-constrained=\"true\" \/>your investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Performance Guarantee<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Installers offer production guarantees, but solar manufacturer\u2019s offer performance guarantees. What\u2019s the difference!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Performance guarantees are meant to ensure that if a panel degrades at a faster rate than its manufacturer designed it to, they will replace the panel that is degrading faster. Solar Photovoltaic panels are made to last decades. It is passive system design, meaning that they do not require any fuel to work &#8211; they simply crank out energy when the sun is out. \u00a0They are made of sturdy materials that allow it to take a beating from the elements (wind, sun, rain, snow, just not lava). There are even solar panels from the early days of solar, the 1960s, that is still functioning today!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That being said, there is a small amount of performance loss over time. \u00a0This number is a fraction of one percent, no matter who the manufacturer is. However, multiplied out over a large solar system, over 30 plus years, this number matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typically solar panels degradation rates are set to be between 0.4\/year &#8211; 0.7%\/year. \u00a0These numbers apply to premium, top of the line panels, which is all we at Solar.com recommend choosing. \u00a0Performance Guarantees are 10-25 years, depending on the manufacturer. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Your Friends At Solar.com Are Always In Your Corner<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When exploring if solar is right for you, it is always good to review your warranties and guarantees with an industry professional. \u00a0We at Solar.com take a detailed look at your offers and advise you on your solar project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep in mind we are more than happy to look at bids you may already have. We can clarify the various warranties and guarantees to make sure you are covered for any future issues you may have.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investing in solar is a big decision. We at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/\">Solar.com<\/a> can help you make a sound financial decision that is dependable for years to come. \u00a0To speak to one of our solar educators please call <strong>(888) 454-9979.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Uncertainties are given when making a big ticket purchase that lasts 30 plus years. \u00a0Whether that is a home, a vehicle, or financial investments. How do you gain confidence that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":8128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.5 (Yoast SEO v19.10) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Production vs. Performance Guarantees | Solar.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the most common questions we get from customers is the difference between production and performance guarantees.This article will give you your answer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Production vs. Performance Guarantees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most common questions we get from customers is the difference between production and performance guarantees.This article will give you your answer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Solar.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Solar.comOfficial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-13T13:25:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-26T10:13:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/solarassets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Untitled-6-Recovered.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3542\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Johanna Poole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Johanna Poole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Johanna Poole\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#\/schema\/person\/10064be23939f02a98fe97b78d75af98\"},\"headline\":\"Production vs. Performance Guarantees\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-13T13:25:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-26T10:13:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/production-performance-guarantee-difference\/\"},\"wordCount\":668,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Panel Efficiency - 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