Cheap to install, expensive to service: why we don't install low-quality PV equipment

Two quotes for the same roof can look almost identical: the same power in kW, the same number of panels, a price difference of a few thousand lei. You won't see the difference on installation day. You see it after 3–5 years, when the first problem appears and you have to call for service.

We have been working in the energy sector since 2011. We have installed hundreds of systems, we supply other installation companies across Romania, and we have often been called in to repair systems installed by others. That experience has led us to a simple rule: we don't install equipment that we know will bring the customer back to us dissatisfied a few years later, even if it would make our quote cheaper today.

Where "cheap" hides in a PV system

It is rarely a single component. Usually the savings are made in several places the customer doesn't see when signing:

• Panels with lower efficiency, a weaker temperature coefficient (they lose more in summer) and faster degradation over time.
• Inverters that are very popular because they are cheap, but for which service is hard to get: long queues, missing parts, replacements that take weeks.
• Batteries with fewer guaranteed cycles and a warranty subject to conditions nobody explains.
• 4 mm² solar cable instead of 6 mm², with higher losses and more heating along the cable run.
• Unbranded MC4 connectors. They cost a few lei less, but a poor connector can overheat and cause faults or even a fire.
• Mounting structures that are undersized or made of poor materials and have to be redone after a few years.

Taken separately, each saving looks small. Together, they decide whether the system produces quietly for 25 years or whether you end up on first-name terms with the service technician.

The real problem shows up at service time

There are a few cheap and very popular brands on the market. Precisely because they are installed in very large numbers and have many faults, their service departments are overloaded. Requests are slow to be resolved, parts arrive late and the customer waits.

Let's do a simple calculation. A 10 kW system produces around 45 kWh per day in summer. If the inverter fails in June and the replacement takes 6 weeks, you lose approximately 1,900 kWh. You buy all that energy back from the grid, even though you have already paid for a system that should have produced it. Add to that the trips, the phone calls and the frustration.

That is why we say a warranty is worth exactly as much as the company that honours it. A 10-year warranty on paper doesn't help you if the manufacturer doesn't respond, if the product was bought through a channel the manufacturer doesn't recognise, or if there is nobody in Romania to handle the claim.

What we install and why

We don't work with "whatever is cheapest this month". For our customers, and for the installation companies that buy from us, we choose brands proven over time: large companies that don't compromise on quality and that have been sold for years in very demanding markets such as Germany and France.

Component	What we install	Why
Panels	AIKO 650 W, 24% efficiency, and LONGi 480 W, 23.5% efficiency	AIKO and LONGi are the only two brands with 25% efficiency series-production panels in the global TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES ranking (October 2026 edition), so they share first place. A company that makes 25% panels knows how to make good panels. Both use back-contact technology and have a temperature coefficient of −0.26%/°C.
Inverters	Hinen (we are an official distributor and import directly), plus Fronius, Huawei or Deye, depending on the project	Hinen Premium inverter with a 10-year warranty. Hinen has operational centres, warehouses and technical teams in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.
Batteries	Hinen	10-year warranty and 8,000 declared cycles, compared with around 6,000 cycles for many batteries on the market.
Cable	6 mm² solar cable	Lower losses and less heating along the cable run.
Connectors	Original Stäubli MC4, from Germany	Almost negligible in price within the total project cost, very important for safety.
Structure	Directly imported, in use for over 4 years	Chosen for your roof. If the roof requires a special structure, we order one specifically for it.

A few independent reference points on the brands we use: AIKO and LONGi jointly lead the TaiyangNews ranking at 25% efficiency for their top-of-range models. AIKO won the Intersolar AWARD 2023 and was named Top Brand PV 2025 in five major European markets by EUPD Research, based on installer ratings. LONGi is one of the winners of The smarter E AWARD 2025.

Why we don't buy "bargains"

We are direct importers and distributors. This means we see the offers circulating on the market every day, including batches of panels and equipment at very low prices: downgraded batches or batches rejected at acceptance, old stock, products for which the manufacturer's warranty is no longer clear. Some of them end up being sold and installed in Romania.

We avoid them, even when they are discounted and even if they would increase our profit. The customer would pay for today's price difference a few years later, in lost production and service call-outs. We have written about this in detail in the article Why it matters to buy from a direct importer.

7 questions to ask about any quote, including ours

1. Exactly which panel model will I get? What is its efficiency and temperature coefficient?
2. Who honours the panel and inverter warranty in Romania? How long does a replacement take in practice?
3. How many cycles and how many years of warranty does the battery have? Under what conditions?
4. What is the cross-section of the solar cable: 4 mm² or 6 mm²?
5. Which MC4 connectors are used? Are they original, branded connectors?
6. Which structure will be installed, and is it suitable for my roof?
7. Who does the electrical work? Is the company ANRE-certified?

We answer all these questions in writing, in our quote. Nectaria Solar is ANRE-certified for design and execution (C1A and C2A), and the electrical work is done only by our own engineers.

Quality doesn't necessarily mean more expensive

Because we import directly from manufacturers, without intermediaries, we can offer top equipment at fair prices. We have the goods in stock at our warehouse in Alba Iulia, and we install a 3–12 kW residential system in a single day.

See our PV systems with installation, without batteries and systems with batteries, or call us on 0723 172 359. We will tell you honestly which system suits your home and why.