PV Expert Report for Insurance & Warranty

Wann brauchen Sie ein PV-Gutachten?

A photovoltaic expert report is required whenever technical findings become legally or economically relevant. This is the case in three specific situations: following an insurance claim, when enforcing warranty claims, and when buying or selling a system.

The decisive difference between a simple inspection report and an expert report lies in the gutachterlichen Stellungnahme: it assesses not just what is present, but also wodurch how it arose. This causality assessment is indispensable for insurers, courts and purchase-price negotiations.

Insurance damage: what the expert report must deliver

After hail, storm or a surge event there is a time-critical documentation requirement. Insurers generally require a damage report within 72 hours – the full expert documentation can be submitted later.

A usable insurance expert report for PV systems contains, per IEC TS 62446-3: geo-referenced thermograms of all modules, classification of all anomalies by temperature difference and damage severity, comparison of thermogram and RGB image, site plan with exact module position, measurement-conditions log (irradiance, wind, temperature) and a yield-loss calculation. In addition, the Premium package contains an gutachterliche Stellungnahme with damage-cause assessment – evidence that the damage was caused by the event and not by pre-existing damage or normal degradation.

Gewährleistungsansprüche: Mängel rechtzeitig dokumentieren

The statutory warranty period for PV systems is 5 years from commissioning (§ 634a BGB). After this period expires the operator can no longer have installation defects rectified at the installer's expense. A thermographic expert report 3–6 months before expiry identifies all defects still remediable under warranty: hotspots from handling damage, faulty connectors, cell mismatch from incorrect string assignment and mounting errors on the substructure.

The expert report documents these defects with evidence that they were already present at handover or arose from workmanship errors. Against the installer this evidence is the decisive basis for negotiation.

Technical due diligence: independent assessment before the transaction

When acquiring a solar farm or commercial system the seller's yield projections and maintenance reports say little about the actual technical condition. The thermographic expert report provides an independent, geo-referenced condition picture that shows all active defects and their quantified yield loss. This document becomes a direct negotiating instrument for the purchase price.

Häufige Fragen

Weiterführend: Insurance damage documentation to standards · PV warranty inspectioen lassen · Hail damage to a PV system