Wind turbine performance guaranteed

Insurance specialist Lloyd’s of London has developed a tailor-made insurance, specifically for Autarco. The company’s total solution ensures that all components, such as solar panels, inverters, roof-mounting parts and balance of system, work seamlessly with each other. Next to this, Autarco developed software which considers environmental factors and the exact shading of each module based on aerial height maps in the calculation of the possible performance. Installers use the software to determine how much energy can be generated.

After the installation, the installer registers the system and then Autarco monitors and analyses the performance from a distance. If a deviation from the expected performance is detected, the ‘value adding’ installer gets a message that they must check and maintain the system. If there is under-performance of the kWh guarantee, then the compensation is paid from an independent foundation tasked with managing the insurance and cash reserves so every claim is paid, regardless of what happens to Autarco.

Optimise, monitor and signal
CEO Roel van den Berg explained that solar panels and inverters are the most important parts of a solar system, but without active monitoring and signalling of the performance, the end user or company cannot receive reliable data about the functioning of their system and the performance it ultimately generates.

“That’s exactly the offer of Autarco - we optimise the hardware, we measure the performance, we signal possible problems, and therefore we can guarantee the performance and insure it. This is done in five year periods and the settlement of the policy is handled by an independent foundation.

Lloyd’s of London added: “We have carried out rigid tests on all technology of Autarco in other to be absolutely certain that all risks are well covered by them. It is a unique insurance, which we could not issue until now, since no other market player has been able to do this.”

Performance not met – compensate difference in cash
If Autarco’s promise of the calculated normal performance is not achieved, then the lost kWhs can be claimed, at a predetermined compensation price per kWh. This is important for the end user, but also for the installers of solar energy systems.

Roel van den Berg: “The market until now has been dominated by component brands. The installer had to combine and optimise and provide a possible performance guarantee at his own risk despite having close to zero control on the performances of these components during the guarantee period. A component brand can only guarantee their component and not the performance of the whole system, such as a kWh guarantee.”

Promised yield not transparent
Autarco believes that industry growth is hampered by the fact that the risk of the component brand is moved to the installer and from the installer to the end user. This end user until today had to settle for an expected guarantee without sufficient protection of their bottom-line investment.

Now the market is maturing, the future is bright for brands which do not shift the risk further down the chain, but instead take their responsibility in such a way that the whole chain can offer the end user a solid proposition. Finally, Roel van den Berg added: “For us, it's about trust in solar energy and, of course, our systems in particular. With the insurance proposition, we feel that we can speed up the energy transition.”