Solar Panels: Parallel Imports, Support And Warranty

A solar panel brand with an Australian presence should mean expedited warranty claims and support handled locally – but that may not always be the case.

If a solar panel starts playing up, getting support or pursuing a warranty claim should usually happen like so:

• Contact your solar installation company – they are obligated to assist and should be the first point of contact. But if your installer has disappeared …
• Contact the manufacturer’s Australian office or authorised importer – that party is next on the hook for warranty and support issues. But if the importer has disappeared …
• Contact the manufacturer.

The first option is preferable – it’s someone who you’ll be familiar and hopefully on good terms with. But if your installer is no longer, knowing there’s an Australian office for the panel brand is reassuring. If you’re left with only having the manufacturer as a contact point, that can be more challenging given the tyranny of distance, time zones and even language and culture.

This is why it’s wise to buy solar panels from a brand with an office in Australia – and it’s one of the criteria for inclusion on the SolarQuotes recommended solar panel brands chart. But something you (and solar businesses) need to be careful with is not just whether a brand has local representation, also if the panels have been sourced via that or an otherwise approved local entity.

Genuine kit coming from outside authorised import channels are known as “grey”, “parallel” or “direct” imports.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says:

“While you have the same consumer rights when you buy parallel imports as you do with any other goods, it may be more difficult to obtain a remedy if something goes wrong with a parallel import.”

The Leapton Solar Example

Leapton Energy is a Japanese company producing panels through its Chinese arm, Leapton Solar. SQ’s Ronald wrote about Leapton solar panels a couple of years ago, and Leapton panel reviews and ratings from Australian customers have generally been pretty good.

A curious alert has been appearing on the Leapton Australia web site with regard to 415W solar panels popping up in Australia. Even though these panels are listed on the Australian web site along with a bunch of other models, the company says they haven’t arrived here via Leapton Australia or its authorised importers.

The panels (Model: LP182x182-M-54-MH-415w) appear on the Clean Energy Council’s approved modules list; so that’s all good – but Leapton Australia says:

“Please note there will be no local support or warranty cover from Leapton Australia on these panels. The only model we are distributing currently is LP182*182-M-60-MH-440W.”

A little bird told SolarQuotes warranty statements for the “unauthorised” solar panels are coming from Leapton in China, not via Leapton Australia.

There appear to be some odd dynamics behind the scenes here and we’ll leave that for the lawyers to sort out rather than speculate – perhaps there will be some further comment from Leapton Australia down the track.

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Update: July 15. Leapton Energy in Japan contacted me today, stating it has terminated the logo/trademark authorisation with Leapton Pty Ltd, which is associated with the website at https://www.leapton.com.au/. That termination letter was sent to Leapton Pty Ltd on July 11.

Leapton Energy says it has established its own company in Australia for after-sales service and warranty claims – Leapton Energy (Australia) Pty Ltd. The associated website is www.leaptonau.com and the company’s registered address is 74 Moruya Drive, Port Macquarie NSW 2444.

Leapton Energy (Australia) Pty Ltd is responsible for support and warranty relating to Leapton’s 415W panel (LPI 82*182-M-54-MH-415W). In April 2022, Leapton Energy authorised One Stop Warehouse as the exclusive distributor of this panel in the Australian market.

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For more information on parallel/direct/grey imports and consumer rights (and not just in relation to solar power gear), see this page on the ACCC website.