Updated: Panasonic has warned US solar installers about Tesla selling a “large quantity” of its solar panels designated to the company to an unidentified third-party wholesaler that would not be covered by Panasonic product warranties.
PANASONIC LIFE SOLUTIONS COMPANY OF AMERICA, a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America issued a statement to its solar panel business customers warning them that its products could be offered with model numbers starting with the prefix “SC” (standing for Solar City) but would not be covered by Panasonic product warranties, which would also relate to home owners and any business using the panels in installations.
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Although Panasonic has a manufacturing and supply contract with Tesla via production at Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in the US, Tesla has historically used a variety of third-party panel suppliers.
Important Update
After posting this story, Panasonic Corporation of North America contacted PV Tech, stating that there would not be any impact to consumers in relation to product warranties.
The company clarified that Panasonic Life Solutions Company of America (PLSCA) would “no longer be the entity providing the services for certain solar modules.”
Panasonic said that product warranties would be managed “by a different Panasonic entity, so there is no impact to customers.”
The company reiterated that warranties existed.
“There is, has been, and continues to be a warranty for Panasonic’s industry-leading solar cells and modules, which are of the highest quality.”
Panasonic created confusion when emailing (see below) PV installers and dealers over surplus Tesla allocated panels coming into the US market.
