Yingli launches partner program for installers

Yingli Solar has launched a new partner program - Yingli4You - that aims to raise the quality benchmark for Australia’s solar PV industry.

Designed as an integrated educational, incentive, technical and project management package to support authorised Yingli installers, the program offers participating installers tools and support to increase their productivity, efficiency and competitive advantage. Business and residential customers will have the assurance of working with installers that will receive a high standard of training as well as increased supplier support and backup from Yingli Solar.

Solar PV installers face tremendous cost and time pressures and the program will provide our partners with a competitive advantage that helps them streamline their operations and grow their businesses, said Daman Cole, managing director for Yingli Green Energy in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. “This program will add value to our relationships with installers and improve their after-sales process. This will ultimately increase the confidence and assurance of residential and business customers who know they are investing in quality solar PV panels that are being installed by highly skilled installers.”

Yingli has also introduced an iPhone app - Y4U - with a corresponding website which acts as an integrated digital storage tool for all technical and site information and photography, facilitating streamlined project management.

Through the app and website, installers will be able to maintain a database of installations, and add location-based tags to installation images and orientation and pitch image grabs. Installers can log Yingli inventory used through a barcode reader and verify the compliance of a solar PV installation against Clean Energy Council (CEC) standards. The website and app will allow installers to process product warranties online and to verify the authenticity of Yingli Solar PV panels.

Designed to sync in real time with back-office functions, the app and website will eliminate the need for manual or additional data entry.

The program will help accredited installers maintain their professional development requirements. Under this program, partners will receive specialised annual training from Australia’s pioneering renewable energy training organisation, GSES, at no additional cost. On completion of this training, employees will receive up to 75 points that go towards their CEC Continuous Professional Development (CPD) accreditation renewal.

“Until today, installers have had to rely on manual processes to document solar installation projects. With our Y4U app and website, we are providing a single, integrated source of information and the ability to capture data and manage projects from one environment. This reduces the hassle installers and administrators face in managing multiple projects and provide them with the peace of mind knowing their customer projects and installation details are securely stored and accessible from any location,” Cole added.

The Yingli4You Partner Program offers a service guarantee that compensates installers for their time to manage approved warranty claims, ultimately improving the level of support available to all customers.