Itel Energy has cautioned solar power users against improper installation and incorrect equipment configuration, warning that such mistakes could lead to system faults and undermine the performance of solar energy solutions.
The company’s Country Technical Support Manager, Emmanuel Kumuyi, gave the warning at the Nigeria Energy Week in Lagos, where itel Energy showcased its products and highlighted common equipment faults, installation requirements and after-sales support services.
Kumuyi identified overloading, inadequate protection systems, installation errors and improper matching of solar panel capacity with inverter and battery specifications as some of the common causes of equipment failure.
He advised consumers to engage certified engineers and ensure that their solar systems were correctly configured before installation.
He also stressed the importance of choosing reputable brands with reliable technical and after-sales support to guide customers through installation and address any problems that may arise.
“The ways to avoid this is to ensure that you get a good brand, get the right configuration for your installation and, at the same time, what is important is to get a brand that has the right after-sales service support that can guide you even before you carry out this installation,” he said.
Explaining the company’s complaint-handling process, Kumuyi said customers could report equipment faults for technical assessment and resolution.
According to him, call-centre agents first document complaints before forwarding them to online engineers for assessment. Where an issue cannot be resolved remotely, a field engineer is assigned to visit the customer and determine whether the equipment requires repairs or replacement.
He added that the resolution of reported faults would depend on the warranty applicable to the product.
The company also pledged to resolve reported faults involving its solar energy products within 48 hours, through repairs or replacement as part of its after-sales support commitment to customers across Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SunFi, a major distributor of itel Energy products, Rotimi Thomas, said reliable after-sales support was essential to distributors because customers depended on them not only for equipment but also for repairs and replacements when problems occurred.
Thomas described itel Energy’s 48-hour resolution commitment as a critical part of the service distributors offered to consumers.
“The 48-hour resolution commitment from itel Energy is very important for us as a distribution platform because we don’t make the product. When a consumer buys a product through SunFi, they’re actually buying a trusted service.
“That trust comes from the type of equipment we use and the promise of being able to replace or repair the asset when there’s a problem. We rely on itel Energy’s ability to absorb a product back when there’s a reported issue and fix or replace it within 48 hours.
“It’s a very critical service that enables a distributor like us to provide a trusted service to consumers,” he said.
He explained that the ability to repair or replace faulty equipment promptly helped distributors maintain customer confidence, particularly among households and businesses transitioning from petrol and diesel generators to solar energy.
According to Thomas, the 48-hour commitment has also influenced purchasing decisions by giving customers greater assurance that technical problems would be addressed quickly.
“It has influenced customer decisions because they have a guarantee — a guarantee of trusted after-sales services. When there’s an issue, unlike other equipment they might buy in the market, they can get a repair or resolution very fast.
“That social proof makes them tell other people that this works and you can trust it. If you’re getting rid of your generator, you don’t want to get into another problem; you want a reliable power solution. The 48-hour resolution guarantees that reliable power service,” he explained.
Thomas urged consumers to look beyond the duration of a product’s warranty when choosing solar equipment, advising them to examine manufacturers’ complaint-response processes, the conditions governing repairs and replacements, and the support available throughout the warranty period.
He also identified affordability as a major challenge facing prospective solar energy users, noting that high interest rates and rising equipment prices had made it difficult for some households and businesses to pay the full cost of solar and energy-storage systems upfront.
To address the challenge, he said SunFi offered flexible payment arrangements that allowed customers to make an initial payment and spread the remaining cost over periods ranging from three to 24 months or longer.
Thomas estimated that between 30 and 40 per cent of the company’s customers still required payment plans, adding that flexible financing remained important to expanding access to clean-energy solutions.
Meanwhile, itel Energy’s National Distributor Manager, Lucky Ovenseri, said the company had established distribution coverage across all 36 states of the federation, with showrooms in major cities, including Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
He added that the company operated dedicated energy after-sales centres to assist customers experiencing problems with their products.
According to Ovenseri, itel Energy also operated a replacement policy under which customers could receive another unit while their faulty equipment was being assessed or repaired.
At the exhibition, the company displayed several products, including its newly launched PowerTank 1000 and IP54 11kW Hybrid Inverter, designed for residential and commercial applications.
The company said its focus on technical support, product replacement and faster fault resolution was aimed at strengthening consumer confidence and improving the adoption of solar energy solutions in Nigeria.
