Will Attaching the Net Supports to Solar Panels Impact My Warranty?

This is a frequent topic of discussion.

Specifically, will drilling holes in the frame of the solar panels be used by the solar module manufacturer as reason not to honor the performance warranty?

According to www.energysage.com, the failure rate of solar panels is less than 0.05%. Thant means 1 out of 2000 modules.  Only if you are one of the very small percentage of those that experience a failure could the manufacturer call into question if the support brackets caused the problem.  

The chances are very small you will every experience a problem.

The most common assumption is that modifications of solar panels is prohibited.

However, there is a decades long practice of drilling holes in solar modules for a variety of reasons, most being well understood by module manufacturers. Holes were commonly drilled for attachment of ground lugs and fastening to support rails.

The bottom line, as supplied by a recent discussion with REC Solar (George), was as follows:

The warranty is not impacted by holes so long as the following considerations are guarded against:

1. The weight bearing capacity of the solar module cannot be impacted.
2. The glass is not impacted by the holes.
3. The lamination is not impacted by the holes.

HighTec Solar (Jesse): Attaching solarnet support to the frame is absolutely not a concern; warranty should not be impacted. (www.hightecsolar.com)

The SolarNets Supports self-drilling screw holes are placed such that solar panels of 30mm thickness or greater, will not be negatively impacted by the bracket installations.