Solara AG Solar Panel Warranty Woes

Posted by Geoffrey Schultz (geoff.freedom@geoffschultz.org>)

The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG, a
manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their warranty
obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG has
decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the distributor.
While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also a
large provider of land based panels.

In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft.
Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment upgrades. One
of the projects was the installation of two solar panels. After a
lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels as
they provided the highest output available per their footprint and
their flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard dodger. The
following link provides a good view of the panels as well as
information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-flexible-
panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE Marine
in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat back to
the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next cruising
season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no longer
functioning. One provided no output and the other would only provide
output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool.

The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my problem
would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE Marine and they put me in
contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP of
Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US distributor of
Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It was clear
that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the
Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US
again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to the US
and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived. Peter
tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very far as
they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s company and
they couldn’t do anything to help me.

After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank Heise
(heise@…) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had
very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager, was
asking me questions about the installation and the problem that I was
having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided photographs of
the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-mail from
Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone
unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank, but I
haven’t had any calls returned.

I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all that he
provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site. This list
seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive distributor for
Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of my e-mails on to
Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If that’s
true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the business
relationship between the primary distributor and the manufacturer.

I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO, Thomas
Rudolfe (rudolfe@…) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything
back. I also tried info@…, which is listed as their
information contact e-mail address on their web site and received no
response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no
response.

This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely
nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming. The
bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I would stay
clear of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent specs,
but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done little
to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems to feel
that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims.

– Geoff Schultz
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Posted by Peter Schaefer (pcschaefer@…>)

Hi Geoff,
I was interested in Solara-Panels as well, but since I read your
comments about their customer commitment I better reconsider this.
As I live in Germany, I took your message and posted it to them asking
for a comment. If they do answer I will post it in the board.
Greetings
Peter

Posted by Dave_Benjamin (dave_benjamin@…>)

You bought them from SE Marine so they should be the ones taking care
of it. I can’t believe they made you deal with people in Germany.

Send them a copy of what you just wrote and tell them you intend to
send it to Latitude 38, 48 North, and a few other publications. If you
were local I’d say file a small claims case.

I live near Portland. If there’s anything I can do to help let me know.

Posted by Geoffrey Schultz (geoff.freedom@geoffschultz.org>)

About a week after posting the above note in multiple sailing and
solar energy related Internet forums (mid-December, 2006) I received
a message from Solara AG informing me that they would replace the
panels. They blamed Solara Energy (the US distributor) for not doing
anything to help me.

They also claimed that the warranty period for the panels is 2 years
and not the 20 years listed on web sites in the USA, Australia and
Great Britain. I wonder how all of these sites got the same wrong
information? I also wonder how they compete when their competitors
have warranties in excess of 20 years?

Anyhow, they offered to replace the panels if I paid half of the
shipping from Germany. This works out to 100 Euro or about $132 US.
Considering that these panels cost me $2000, this was a bargain and I
immediately agreed. Someone from customer service contacted me and
sent invoice. I noted that the invoice was for a single panel instead
of two and questioned this. The customer service person said that
they would check on this and get back to me when the manager who
approved this got back to the office.

A week went by. I sent more e-mail questioning what’s going on.
Nothing…More e-mail from my side…nothing. I keep sending e-mail
to everyone who was corresponding with me and nothing comes back. So
at this point I’m stuck again. Other than flying to Germany and
coming back with the panels (they actually suggested this :-), I
don’t see any solution.

In case you have any doubts about the veracity of my reporting of the
events, I’ve created a web page with all of the e-mail correspondence
with the various parties. It’s even color coded so you can easily see
who sent what to whom. You can find it at
http://www.geoffschultz.org/Solara/e-mail.shtml.

I’ll be headed off cruising to the Turks and Caicos at the end of
February and it looks like I won’t have working solar panels again.
To me this is incredibly bad customer service and anyone who is
thinking about purchasing solar panels manufactured by Solara AG
should take this into consideration.

– Geoff
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@…> wrote:

The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG, a
manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their
warranty
obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG has
decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the distributor.
While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also a
large provider of land based panels.

In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft.
Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment upgrades.
One
of the projects was the installation of two solar panels. After a
lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels as
they provided the highest output available per their footprint and
their flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard dodger.
The
following link provides a good view of the panels as well as
information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-flexible-
panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE
Marine
in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat back
to
the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next cruising
season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no longer
functioning. One provided no output and the other would only
provide
output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool.

The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my
problem
would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE Marine and they put me
in
contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP of
Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US distributor of
Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It was
clear
that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the
Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US
again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to the
US
and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived. Peter
tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very far
as
they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s company and
they couldn’t do anything to help me.

After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank Heise
(heise@…) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had
very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager, was
asking me questions about the installation and the problem that I
was
having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided photographs
of
the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-mail
from
Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone
unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank, but I
haven’t had any calls returned.

I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all that he
provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site. This
list
seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive distributor
for
Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of my e-mails on to
Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If that’s
true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the business
relationship between the primary distributor and the manufacturer.

I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO, Thomas
Rudolfe (rudolfe@…) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything
back. I also tried info@…, which is listed as their
information contact e-mail address on their web site and received
no
response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no
response.

This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely
nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming. The
bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I would
stay
clear of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent
specs,
but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done
little
to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems to
feel
that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims.

– Geoff Schultz
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Posted by lance_ryley (lance_ryley@…>)

Geoff,
I just read through your website, and it is amazing what you’ve been
through. I hope you get your panels soon!

Lance
Bright Star

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@…> wrote:

About a week after posting the above note in multiple sailing and
solar energy related Internet forums (mid-December, 2006) I
received
a message from Solara AG informing me that they would replace the
panels. They blamed Solara Energy (the US distributor) for not
doing
anything to help me.

They also claimed that the warranty period for the panels is 2
years
and not the 20 years listed on web sites in the USA, Australia and
Great Britain. I wonder how all of these sites got the same wrong
information? I also wonder how they compete when their competitors
have warranties in excess of 20 years?

Anyhow, they offered to replace the panels if I paid half of the
shipping from Germany. This works out to 100 Euro or about $132 US.
Considering that these panels cost me $2000, this was a bargain and
I
immediately agreed. Someone from customer service contacted me and
sent invoice. I noted that the invoice was for a single panel
instead
of two and questioned this. The customer service person said that
they would check on this and get back to me when the manager who
approved this got back to the office.

A week went by. I sent more e-mail questioning what’s going on.
Nothing…More e-mail from my side…nothing. I keep sending e-mail
to everyone who was corresponding with me and nothing comes back.
So
at this point I’m stuck again. Other than flying to Germany and
coming back with the panels (they actually suggested this :-), I
don’t see any solution.

In case you have any doubts about the veracity of my reporting of
the
events, I’ve created a web page with all of the e-mail
correspondence
with the various parties. It’s even color coded so you can easily
see
who sent what to whom. You can find it at
http://www.geoffschultz.org/Solara/e-mail.shtml.

I’ll be headed off cruising to the Turks and Caicos at the end of
February and it looks like I won’t have working solar panels again.
To me this is incredibly bad customer service and anyone who is
thinking about purchasing solar panels manufactured by Solara AG
should take this into consideration.

– Geoff
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@> wrote:

The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG, a
manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their
warranty
obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG has
decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the distributor.
While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also a
large provider of land based panels.

In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft.
Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment upgrades.
One
of the projects was the installation of two solar panels. After
a
lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels as
they provided the highest output available per their footprint
and
their flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard dodger.
The
following link provides a good view of the panels as well as
information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-flexible-
panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE
Marine
in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat back
to
the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next
cruising
season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no longer
functioning. One provided no output and the other would only
provide
output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool.

The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my
problem
would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE Marine and they put me
in
contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP of
Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US distributor
of
Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It was
clear
that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the
Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US
again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to
the
US
and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived.
Peter
tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very far
as
they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s company
and
they couldn’t do anything to help me.

After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank Heise
(heise@) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had
very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager, was
asking me questions about the installation and the problem that I
was
having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided photographs
of
the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-mail
from
Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone
unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank, but
I
haven’t had any calls returned.

I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all that
he
provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site. This
list
seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive distributor
for
Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of my e-mails on to
Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If
that’s
true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the business
relationship between the primary distributor and the manufacturer.

I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO, Thomas
Rudolfe (rudolfe@) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything
back. I also tried info@, which is listed as their
information contact e-mail address on their web site and received
no
response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no
response.

This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely
nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming. The
bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I would
stay
clear of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent
specs,
but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done
little
to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems to
feel
that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims.

– Geoff Schultz
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Posted by Frank Minelli (myslo@…>)
I went through a similar merry go round a few years ago with a builder of autopilots. Those people finally went out of b usiness, which ended the matter for me. (the 7 grand worth of useless gear in on the bottom of Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad) Wonder if Solara is about to go belly up too?lance_ryley <lance_ryley@…> wrote: Geoff, I just read through your website, and it is amazing what you’ve been through. I hope you get your panels soon! Lance
Bright Star — In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz” <geoff.freedom@…> wrote: > > About a week after posting the above note in multiple sailing and > solar energy related Internet forums (mid-December, 2006) I received > a message from Solara AG informing me that they would replace the > panels. They blamed Solara Energy (the US distributor) for not doing > anything to help me. > > They also claimed that the warranty period for the panels is 2 years > and not the 20 years listed on web sites in the USA, Australia and > Great Britain. I wonder how all of these sites got the same wrong > information? I also wonder how they compete when their competitors > have warranties in excess of 20 years? > > Anyhow, they offered to replace the panels
if I paid half of the > shipping from Germany. This works out to 100 Euro or about $132 US. > Considering that these panels cost me $2000, this was a bargain and I > immediately agreed. Someone from customer service contacted me and > sent invoice. I noted that the invoice was for a single panel instead > of two and questioned this. The customer service person said that > they would check on this and get back to me when the manager who > approved this got back to the office. > > A week went by. I sent more e-mail questioning what’s going on. > Nothing…More e-mail from my side…nothing. I keep sending e-mail > to everyone who was corresponding with me and nothing comes back. So > at this point I’m stuck again. Other than flying to Germany and > coming back with the panels (they actually suggested this :-), I > don’t see any solution. >

In case you have any doubts about the veracity of my reporting of the > events, I’ve created a web page with all of the e-mail correspondence > with the various parties. It’s even color coded so you can easily see > who sent what to whom. You can find it at > http://www.geoffschultz.org/Solara/e-mail.shtml. > > I’ll be headed off cruising to the Turks and Caicos at the end of > February and it looks like I won’t have working solar panels again. > To me this is incredibly bad customer service and anyone who is > thinking about purchasing solar panels manufactured by Solara AG > should take this into consideration. > > – Geoff > — In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz” >
<geoff.freedom@> wrote: > > > > The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG, a > > manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their > warranty > > obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG has > > decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the distributor. > > While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also a > > large provider of land based panels. > > > > In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft. > > Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment upgrades. > One > > of the projects was the installation of two solar panels. After a > > lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels as > > they provided the highest output available per their footprint and > > their
flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard dodger. > The > > following link provides a good view of the panels as well as > > information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-flexible- > > panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE > Marine > > in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat back > to > > the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next cruising > > season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no longer > > functioning. One provided no output and the other would only > provide > > output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool. > > > > The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my > problem > > would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE
Marine and they put me > in > > contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP of > > Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US distributor of > > Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It was > clear > > that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the > > Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US > > again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to the > US > > and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived. Peter > > tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very far > as > > they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s company and > > they couldn’t do anything to help me. > > > > After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank Heise > >
(heise@) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had > > very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager, was > > asking me questions about the installation and the problem that I > was > > having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided photographs > of > > the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-mail > from > > Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone > > unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank, but I > > haven’t had any calls returned. > > > > I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all that he > > provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site. This > list > > seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive distributor > for > > Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of
my e-mails on to > > Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If that’s > > true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the business > > relationship between the primary distributor and the manufacturer. > > > > I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO, Thomas > > Rudolfe (rudolfe@) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything > > back. I also tried info@, which is listed as their > > information contact e-mail address on their web site and received > no > > response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no > > response. > > > > This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely > > nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming. The > > bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I would > stay > > clear
of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent > specs, > > but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done > little > > to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems to > feel > > that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims. > > > > – Geoff Schultz > > www.GeoffSchultz.org > > >
We won’t tell. Get more on shows you hate to love(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV’s Guilty Pleasures list.

Posted by Dave_Benjamin (dave_benjamin@…>)

Speaking of autopilots I wonder if any of the older Freedom ketches
have Wood Freeman A/P’s? A buddy has one in his Garden ketch.
PRacticall indestructible and you can still get parts for ones that
are nearly 50 years old. My buddy is ordering a new electronic front
end for his.

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, Frank Minelli <myslo@…>
wrote:

I went through a similar merry go round a few years ago with a
builder of autopilots. Those people finally went out of b usiness,
which ended the matter for me. (the 7 grand worth of useless gear
in on the bottom of Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad) Wonder if Solara
is about to go belly up too?

lance_ryley <lance_ryley@…>
wrote: Geoff,
I just read through your website, and it is amazing what you’ve
been
through. I hope you get your panels soon!

Lance
Bright Star

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@> wrote:

About a week after posting the above note in multiple sailing
and
solar energy related Internet forums (mid-December, 2006) I
received
a message from Solara AG informing me that they would replace
the
panels. They blamed Solara Energy (the US distributor) for not
doing
anything to help me.

They also claimed that the warranty period for the panels is 2
years
and not the 20 years listed on web sites in the USA, Australia
and
Great Britain. I wonder how all of these sites got the same
wrong
information? I also wonder how they compete when their
competitors
have warranties in excess of 20 years?

Anyhow, they offered to replace the panels if I paid half of the
shipping from Germany. This works out to 100 Euro or about $132
US.
Considering that these panels cost me $2000, this was a bargain
and
I
immediately agreed. Someone from customer service contacted me
and
sent invoice. I noted that the invoice was for a single panel
instead
of two and questioned this. The customer service person said
that
they would check on this and get back to me when the manager who
approved this got back to the office.

A week went by. I sent more e-mail questioning what’s going on.
Nothing…More e-mail from my side…nothing. I keep sending e-
mail
to everyone who was corresponding with me and nothing comes
back.
So
at this point I’m stuck again. Other than flying to Germany and
coming back with the panels (they actually suggested this :-), I
don’t see any solution.

In case you have any doubts about the veracity of my reporting
of
the
events, I’ve created a web page with all of the e-mail
correspondence
with the various parties. It’s even color coded so you can
easily
see
who sent what to whom. You can find it at
http://www.geoffschultz.org/Solara/e-mail.shtml.

I’ll be headed off cruising to the Turks and Caicos at the end
of
February and it looks like I won’t have working solar panels
again.
To me this is incredibly bad customer service and anyone who is
thinking about purchasing solar panels manufactured by Solara AG
should take this into consideration.

– Geoff
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@> wrote:

The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG,
a
manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their
warranty
obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG
has
decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the
distributor.
While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also
a
large provider of land based panels.

In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft.
Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment
upgrades.
One
of the projects was the installation of two solar panels.
After
a
lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels
as
they provided the highest output available per their footprint
and
their flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard
dodger.
The
following link provides a good view of the panels as well as
information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-
flexible-
panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE
Marine
in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat
back
to
the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next
cruising
season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no
longer
functioning. One provided no output and the other would only
provide
output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool.

The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my
problem
would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE Marine and they put
me
in
contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP
of
Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US
distributor
of
Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It
was
clear
that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the
Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US
again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to
the
US
and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived.
Peter
tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very
far
as
they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s
company
and
they couldn’t do anything to help me.

After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank
Heise
(heise@) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had
very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager,
was
asking me questions about the installation and the problem
that I
was
having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided
photographs
of
the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-
mail
from
Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone
unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank,
but
I
haven’t had any calls returned.

I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all
that
he
provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site.
This
list
seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive
distributor
for
Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of my e-mails on
to
Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If
that’s
true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the
business
relationship between the primary distributor and the
manufacturer.

I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO,
Thomas
Rudolfe (rudolfe@) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything
back. I also tried info@, which is listed as their
information contact e-mail address on their web site and
received
no
response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no
response.

This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely
nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming.
The
bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I
would
stay
clear of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent
specs,
but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done
little
to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems
to
feel
that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims.

– Geoff Schultz
www.GeoffSchultz.org


We won’t tell. Get more on shows you hate to love
(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV’s Guilty Pleasures list.

Posted by Geoffrey Schultz (geoff.freedom@geoffschultz.org>)

I am happy to report that when we arrived at the boat that there were
2 panels waiting for me. Other than the fact that they changed the
location of the holes on the modules which required filling and
repainting the fiberglass dodger that they were mounted on, I am very
happy to have working solar panels again. I do believe that if I
wouldn’t have mounted an Internet campaign to let potential
purchasers of their products know about their abysmal warranty
practices, that they probably wouldn’t have replaced the panels. I
hope that they learned their lesson and will be much more willing
meet their contractural warranty obligations.

I would like to thank SE Marine for their support during this saga.
They always tried to help resolve this issue compared to Solara
Energy who just tried to pass the buck.

Now I just need some favorable winds to get across the Gulf Stream
and begin this cruising season!

– Geoff
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@…> wrote:

About a week after posting the above note in multiple sailing and
solar energy related Internet forums (mid-December, 2006) I
received
a message from Solara AG informing me that they would replace the
panels. They blamed Solara Energy (the US distributor) for not
doing
anything to help me.

They also claimed that the warranty period for the panels is 2
years
and not the 20 years listed on web sites in the USA, Australia and
Great Britain. I wonder how all of these sites got the same wrong
information? I also wonder how they compete when their competitors
have warranties in excess of 20 years?

Anyhow, they offered to replace the panels if I paid half of the
shipping from Germany. This works out to 100 Euro or about $132 US.
Considering that these panels cost me $2000, this was a bargain and
I
immediately agreed. Someone from customer service contacted me and
sent invoice. I noted that the invoice was for a single panel
instead
of two and questioned this. The customer service person said that
they would check on this and get back to me when the manager who
approved this got back to the office.

A week went by. I sent more e-mail questioning what’s going on.
Nothing…More e-mail from my side…nothing. I keep sending e-mail
to everyone who was corresponding with me and nothing comes back.
So
at this point I’m stuck again. Other than flying to Germany and
coming back with the panels (they actually suggested this :-), I
don’t see any solution.

In case you have any doubts about the veracity of my reporting of
the
events, I’ve created a web page with all of the e-mail
correspondence
with the various parties. It’s even color coded so you can easily
see
who sent what to whom. You can find it at
http://www.geoffschultz.org/Solara/e-mail.shtml.

I’ll be headed off cruising to the Turks and Caicos at the end of
February and it looks like I won’t have working solar panels again.
To me this is incredibly bad customer service and anyone who is
thinking about purchasing solar panels manufactured by Solara AG
should take this into consideration.

– Geoff
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Geoffrey Schultz”
<geoff.freedom@> wrote:

The following chronicles my futile attempts to get Solara AG, a
manufacturer of Solar Panels in Germany, to live up to their
warranty
obligations. My panels failed and it appears that Solara AG has
decided to ignore me as well as the dealer and the distributor.
While this problem relates to marine panels, Solara AG is also a
large provider of land based panels.

In 2003 I moved my sFreedom 40/40 to from the Caribbean to Ft.
Lauderdale, FL in order to do some extensive equipment upgrades.
One
of the projects was the installation of two solar panels. After
a
lot of research I decided upon Solara AG’s SM225M solar panels as
they provided the highest output available per their footprint
and
their flexibility allowed them to be mounted on my hard dodger.
The
following link provides a good view of the panels as well as
information on the panels:http://www.barden-uk.com/semi-flexible-
panels.html. I ordered two panels at almost $1000/ea from SE
Marine
in Oregon. After completing many projects we moved the boat back
to
the Caribbean. The panels functioned fine during the next
cruising
season, but upon return to the boat in 2004 they were no longer
functioning. One provided no output and the other would only
provide
output first thing in the morning when the panel was cool.

The panels carry a 20 year warranty, so I felt secure that my
problem
would be quickly resolved. I contacted SE Marine and they put me
in
contact with Peter Burcat, who is a founder and executive VP of
Solara Energy, Inc. Solara Energy is the primary US distributor
of
Solara AG solar panels. Solara AG is based in Germany. It was
clear
that there was no way to get replacement panels down to the
Caribbean, so I decided to wait until we passed through the US
again. In July of 2006 we once again brought the boat back to
the
US
and I began writing to Peter Burcat even before we arrived.
Peter
tried to direct me back to SE Marine, but that didn’t go very far
as
they said they had purchased the panels through Peter’s company
and
they couldn’t do anything to help me.

After some more finger pointing, Peter had me contact Frank Heise
(heise@) at Solara AG in Germany. Initally Frank and I had
very good communication. Frank, who is the export manager, was
asking me questions about the installation and the problem that I
was
having. We exchanged multiple e-mails and I provided photographs
of
the installation. On July 24th, 2006 I received my last e-mail
from
Frank. All of my many e-mails to him since then have gone
unanswered. I’ve also called and left voice mail for Frank, but
I
haven’t had any calls returned.

I asked Peter for a list of contacts at Solara, AG and all that
he
provided was a copy of contacts from Solara AG’s web site. This
list
seemed rather thin as Solara Energy was the exclusive distributor
for
Solara AG panels. Peter has forwarded copies of my e-mails on to
Frank Heise, but apparently has heard nothing from him. If
that’s
true, then clearly something has gone very wrong in the business
relationship between the primary distributor and the manufacturer.

I eventually found the e-mail address of Solara AG’s CEO, Thomas
Rudolfe (rudolfe@) and e-mailed him. I didn’t hear anything
back. I also tried info@, which is listed as their
information contact e-mail address on their web site and received
no
response. SE Marine has sent several e-mails and received no
response.

This has been going on for 5 months and I’ve gotten absolutely
nowhere. Further, I don’t see any resolution forthcoming. The
bottom line is that if you’re looking for solar panels, I would
stay
clear of Solara AG panels. Their products may have excellent
specs,
but they don’t stand behind them. The US distributor has done
little
to help me resolve this problem and the German company seems to
feel
that they don’t need to resolve foreign warranty claims.

– Geoff Schultz
www.GeoffSchultz.org