Commercial Solar Panel Installation Leads To Workmanship Dispute

Case Overview

This case involves the unpaid construction of a solar panel facility in Washington state. The facility and its solar panel modules experienced damage due to a snowstorm several months after the construction of the commercial utility project began. After the facility was repaired, the facility elected not to pay the construction company in full due to alleged construction and workmanship issues. The construction company then sued the facility for lack of payment and the owner of the facility countersued regarding alleged workmanship issues. An expert in solar panels installation and tracker systems was sought to comment on the process, including transportation, delivery, handling, and installation.

Questions to the Energy expert and their responses

Please describe your experience with installing solar modules and tracker systems for commercial utility projects.

My company maintains a roughly 40MW tracker and we have extensive experience in construction, construction management, estimating, maintenance and quality control of commercial and <30MW utility PV projects. We currently maintain and operate approximately 80MW of projects in one state.

What is your experience in quality assurance or quality control on a large commercial site?

We have extensive experience in quality control of commercial and <30MW utility PV projects.

What materials would you need to determine potential issues with workmanship and to estimate costs for repairs?

In order to estimate the cost of repairs I would require the specific equipment used and associated specs/manuals, pictures, a site visit, engineering drawings, the EPC contract, field reports, special inspections and the QC plan/logs.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert has worked in solar for over 15 years, having earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. He was previously the project manager and director of production for Hoku Scientific. He then became the general manager and vice president of project development at Hoku Solar. Currently, he is the founder and a managing member of a HI solar company, leading the development and asset management of solar projects.