Me and my friend have made our own functional solar panels for considerably less than retail prices and we are thinking about selling them. Are there any legal issues regarding this? Would I need any special licenses or anything? Would using brand name components or parts in the panels make any difference legally? I want to know before I just go out and start doing it. Thanks!
you might first patent the design . Make sure everything is well documented . talk to patent agents and lawyers . Then instead of becoming a seller , introduce your design to established companies. They already have all the licences , lawyers, codes..etc to sell , install, advertise to buyers . they can often make you a partner or buy your design for a lump sum . Solar is a huge step . Best wishes
They are your property. If you want to sell them, have at it. Of course, as soon as the government sees you making some money, they will descend on you like hyenas for ;their 'share'. If you apply and get a 'commercial' permit, they will be in you pocket in a flash. The government will steal anything they can get their hands on. They use 'zoning laws' to carry out their ruse. Then they call themselves your 'partner'. Same as the mafia does. They have a lot of worthless bureaucrats that want somebody else's money. In California, most of the government workers seem to be communists. They hate business and are extremely jealous of any entrepreneur. They think they are experts on Fair business Practices. Most of them have never worked an honest days work in their life. Let alone think up an idea such as yours.
Would those be heating panels, or electric panels? If the latter, you would not have any safety certifications (I assume), so the panels would be illegal to use for a serious, grid-tied system. You would need to make this clear to your customers, that they could only connect to stand-alone systems. If this is in the US, there is always some finite danger of lawsuits if your product is defective. If the water heater leaks or blows up on someone's roof, you might have to go to court to defend yourselves. Even if you disclaim all warranties, in some states, if you sell something as a water heater then it has to heat water reasonably, and also not be hazardous. In other words, fit for its purpose. Check your local laws.
Aren't there any safety or efficiency standards you have to comply with? If I were buying solar panels I'd want to be sure the manufacturer was competent and licensed as a manufacturer/retailer. If someone brought a case against you for something that went wrong, and the brand name components were named as part of the problem, then yes, those brand name companies would certainly think there was a legal complication. Just do your research first. Your local chamber of commerce or university legal department would be able to help you.
