Warranty and spare parts in solar pump tenders
A warranty is only as good as its start date, its exclusions and its response time. The headline number of months, which is the part everyone negotiates, is usually the least important of the four.
This page is about what to pin down in a contract. It is not a statement of the terms we offer: those are settled per order against the factory behind the goods, and we say so rather than implying otherwise.
The start date decides it
From shipment or from commissioning. Six months in a warehouse comes off one of them and not the other.
Read the exclusions
Dry running, sand, wiring errors and surge with no surge protection. That list is where the substance sits.
Spares are cheaper than downtime
A seal kit costs little. A pump out of service through a growing season costs a harvest.
What one tender asked for
The service clause from a World Bank funded irrigation programme, quoted as written. It is a demanding list, and it is a useful picture of what a well-advised buyer asks for.
- •Train-the-trainer sessions for the buyer’s own staff
- •Installation support
- •Commissioning and functional testing, with measured flow and effective TDH recorded on a signed test sheet
- •End-user training
- •Technical documentation supplied in editable form
- •Remote engineering support
- •24 months of after-sales cover and spare parts availability
- •Repair or replacement within 21 calendar days of notification
This is a buyer's requirement, not a supplier's offer
We publish this because it is useful to see what a careful procurement asks for. It is one tender, so it does not establish an industry norm, and it is a list of demands rather than a list of commitments. What any supplier, including us, can actually agree depends on the factory behind the goods and on the project. Ask; do not assume.
The six parts that decide whether a clause is worth anything
| What is covered | Manufacturing defect is the usual baseline. Fair wear, consumables such as seals and impeller wear rings, and damage from dry running or bad water are usually outside it. Get the exclusions in writing, not the inclusions. |
| How long, and from when | From shipment, from arrival, or from commissioning. On a project with six months between container and installation this is the difference between real cover and none. |
| Response time | A stated number of days from notification to repair or replacement. Without a number, "we will support you" means nothing at claim time. |
| Who carries the cost of return | Freight both ways on a failed borehole pump is significant, and it is the clause most often left silent. |
| Labour to pull and refit | Almost never covered by a goods warranty, and on a submersible it can exceed the value of the pump. Know this before, not after. |
| What evidence is needed | Serial number, commissioning test sheet, photographs, sometimes the failed part returned. Agree it up front so a claim is not refused on process. |
A clause that says “24 months warranty” and nothing else has answered one of these six. It reads well in a bid and does very little at claim time.
The spares worth having on the shelf
Most of what stops a solar pumping system is small and cheap. What makes it expensive is that it is four weeks away.
| Impeller and diffuser set | The wearing parts on a submersible. Sand in the well is what consumes them. |
| Mechanical seal and O-ring kit | Cheap, small, and the reason a pump is out of service for six weeks if not on the shelf. |
| Motor cable and splice kit | Cable damage on installation is common. A splice kit on site saves pulling a whole new cable. |
| Controller or drive board | The long-lead item. If uptime matters, one spare drive per site cluster is usually cheaper than the downtime. |
| Surge protective device cartridges | Consumable by design. They are meant to be replaced after a strike, and nobody stocks them. |
| Float or probe assembly | Exposed, cheap, and the pump stops without it. |
On a programme with many sites, one spare drive per cluster of pumps is usually the single best value item on the spares list, because the drive is both the long-lead part and the one that a lightning season will eventually take out.
Questions that get a useful answer
| "Does the warranty run from shipment or from commissioning?" | One sentence, and it changes the real cover by months. |
| "Please send the exclusions list." | More informative than any statement of what is covered. |
| "Within how many days of notification, and who pays freight?" | Turns a sentiment into a term. |
| "Is the labour to pull and refit covered?" | Almost always no. Better to know now. |
| "What evidence do you need for a claim?" | Serial number, test sheet, photographs. Agree it before, so a claim is not refused on process. |
| "How long will you hold the spare parts prices?" | A period, not a promise. |
Where we stand
We are a sourcing integrator, so the warranty on a pump is ultimately the factory's. What we do is negotiate the terms for your project, put them in the order confirmation in words rather than in a brochure line, and handle the claim with the factory if one happens so you are not dealing with a Chinese supplier directly in a second language.
We will not publish a headline warranty period on this page, because the honest answer is that it depends on the equipment and the project. Ask on a specific enquiry and you will get a specific answer with the start date, the exclusions and the response time in it.
Ask about terms on a real project
Send the equipment scope and the project, and we will come back with warranty terms in words, a recommended spares list, and prices for it.
Warranty and spares FAQ
What warranty do solar pump tenders usually ask for?
The tender described on this page asked for 24 months of after-sales cover with repair or replacement within 21 calendar days of notification, plus a recommended spare parts list with prices held. That is one buyer’s requirement rather than an industry standard, and what any given supplier can actually commit to depends on the factory behind the goods.
Does a pump warranty start at shipment or at commissioning?
It varies, and it matters more than the headline duration. On a project where the container arrives six months before installation, a 24-month warranty from shipment leaves 18 months of real cover. Pin the start date down in the contract; it is a one-line change that is easy before an order and impossible after.
Does a solar pump warranty cover the labour to pull the pump out?
Almost never. A goods warranty covers the goods. Pulling a submersible out of a borehole needs a rig or a tripod and a day of labour, and on a deep well that can cost more than the pump. Assume it is yours unless the contract says otherwise in words.
What is usually excluded from a solar pump warranty?
Fair wear on consumables such as mechanical seals and impeller wear rings, damage from dry running, damage from sand or aggressive water, damage from incorrect installation or wiring, and surge damage where no surge protection was fitted. Ask for the exclusions in writing rather than the inclusions; the exclusions are where the substance is.
Which spare parts should be ordered with a solar pumping system?
The cheap consumables that stop the system when missing: a mechanical seal and O-ring kit, a motor cable splice kit, surge protective device cartridges and a spare float or probe. On sites where uptime matters, one spare drive per cluster of pumps is usually cheaper than the downtime it prevents.
Why do tenders ask for spare parts prices to be held?
So the buyer can budget maintenance for the life of the project without renegotiating each time. It is a commercial commitment rather than a technical one, and the validity period is the negotiable part. Expect a supplier to hold prices for a stated period rather than indefinitely.
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