Warranty Portal

Service Level Agreement

Introduction

This SLA defines in practical terms the relationship between distributors and ZOLA ELECTRIC as it relates to technical installations and operations. It emphasises stakeholders activities, expected deliverables with timelines, responsibility matrix, ZOLA support departments and penalties where applicable. The SLA covers the three installation process phases: preinstallation, core installation and post installation.
The objective is to ensure the stakeholders have sound understanding and are in full compliance with all that is presented within the SLA for the following reasons.

  • Enhance business growth and sustainability
  • Mutual respect and collective goals
  • Excellent customer service and relationship
  • Enhance operational efficiency

Technical Training and Certification

ZOLA Electric shall be responsible for the technical training and certification of distributors’ technical teams. The technical training shall be facilitated by ZOLA Electric technical teams at the ZOLA office.

Technical partnership engagement certificates shall be issued to distributors who have proven to be successful at the technical training. The technical partnership engagement certificate shall be renewable every four years for big distributors and every two years for small distributors. The renewals shall be through refresher training tests, operational and service performance over the previous years.

ZOLA Electric reserves the right to withdraw/terminate issued certificates where the distributor fails to meet up with expected best practices guidelines relating to HSE noncompliance, shoddy installations, unethical dealings, nonpayment of requisite operational charges and poor customer service.

Distributor Stakeholders Team

  • Managing Director (MD)
  • Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
  • Chief Technical Officer (CTO)
  • Head Technical Project Manager
  • Customer Service Lead
  • Supply Chain Lead
  • Field Supervisors
  • HSE/QA Lead
  • Field support Engineers

ZOLA Electric Products Stakeholders

InstallationTaskDepartment
Pre-Installation- Site and Energy audit
- System configuration mix presentation/design
- Engagement and consultation
- Inventory planning: sorting, staging etc.
- Equipment, Resources and Accessories deployment
Customer Service
Engineering
Product
Sales
TechOps
Core InstallationMechanical Installation
- Mounting and installation of solar panel racking system
- Solar PV installation
- Earthing, termination, testing and commissioning of all mechanical installation components
Electrical Installation
- Site earth/ground system assessment
- INFINITY IPS and all inclusive system components positioning and installations
- All electrical cable terminations
- Appliances utility interconnection
- Installation quality checks before commissioning
TechOps
FW installation and upgrades
- String configuration, testing and commissioning
- Mobile App set up
Application
TechOps
Customer Engagement (Education)
- INFINITY Mobile App download
- System operations education
- Best practice application/System Warranty Education
- Sign-off
TechOps/ Product Field Quality/Engineering
Project Closure Reports
CAT1
PWD2
TechOps
Post InstallationINFINITY IPS Technical support
- Customer Onboarding
- After Sales Technical Support Services
- Local & Remote support/preventive/corrective
Customer Service
Engineering/ Product Field Quality
Product/Support service
TechOps

Technical Installation Process Phases Activities and Responsibility Matrix

Project phaseProject ActivityResponsibility Matrix
INTEGRATORZOLA
Pre-Installation- Site and Energy audit
- System configuration mix presentation/design
- Engagement and consultation
- Inventory planning: sorting, packing etc.
- Equipment, Resources and Accessories deployment
R/AC/l
Core InstallationMechanical Installation
- Mounting and installation of solar panel racking system
- Solar PV installation
- Earthing, termination, testing and commissioning of all mechanical installation components
Electrical Installation
- Site earth/ground system assessment
- INFINITY IPS and all inclusive system components positioning and installations
- All electrical cable terminations
- Appliances utility interconnection
- Installation quality checks before commissioning
FW installation and upgrades
- String configuration, testing and commissioning
Installation Components/Accessories Audit
- Audit of components/accessories:post installation inventory
- Document in BOM and PWD report
Janitorial
- Clean up all installation debris
- Solar PV maintenance
Customer Engagement (Education)
- INFINITY Mobile App download/setup for customer
- System operations
- Best practice application/System Warranty
- Sign-off
Project Closure Reports
- CAT
- PWD
R/AC/I
Post InstallationINFINITY IPS Technical support
- Customer Onboarding
- After Sales Technical Support Services
- Distributor responsible for forward and reverse logistics needed for warranty claims
- Local & remote support/preventive/corrective
R/AC/I
R: Responsible A: Accountable C: Consulted I: Informed

Scope of Work (SOW) with KPI

This section defines details of key installation process service support, scope of work with timelines and responsibility matrix
Installation
Phase
Scope of WorkTimeline for ClosureDistZOLAComment
Pre
Installation
Energy Audit with report. configuration mixWithin 24 hours of requestR/AC/lConfigurator tool will be provided
Inventory logistics to distributor warehouseThis varies depending on the order volume, location, country of inventory dispatch etc. Usually within 48 hours - 8weeks post payment confirmationR/AC/lInstallation location
Core InstallationMechanical, Electrical , FW installations and system commissioning with PWD and CAT sign-offWithin 48 hours of the inventory drop off at the last mile. gam - 6:30pmR/AC/IEnd-to-end installation with sign-off is between 8am -6:30pm daily
Post InstallationSystem registration for warrantyWithin 30 days of installationR/AC/lDistributor shall register system details on the warranty portal
Customer OnboardingWithin 5- 7 days of CAT sign-offR/AR/A/C/lDistributor shall communicate CAT sign-off to ZOLA within 24 hours
Preventive MaintenanceWithin 4 - 6 HoursR/AC/lSolar PV cleaning, proactive system performance remote monitoring
System UpgradeWithin 4 - 6 HoursR/AC/lIPS scalability- optimizing capacity
Hardware ReplacementWithin 4 -6 HoursR/AC/lISP, IIPA, Sub panel, Circuit breakers, FLEX P1 inverter, interconnection electric cables. NO IPS or FLEX meter box tampering
Forward/reverse logistics for system/component pre and post repairsWithin 48 hours of system request to service centreR/AC/lDestination is ZOLA accredited service centre
IPS Repairs within Approved Service Centre (ASC)Within 72 hours of ITPlR/A/CINFINITY IS comprehensive diagnosis, repairs and testing to be done by ZOLA. Task within service centre
Ethical Battery DisposalAt end-of-lifeR/A/ICStakeholders
R: Responsible A: Accountable C: Consulted I: Informed

Escalation Severity and Categorization

Escalation severity are categorized into three: S1, S2 and S3.
Where S1 is defined as HIGH, S2 represents MEDIUM and S3 represents LOW.
The various severity categorizations are described below.

Note: Faults logging, tracking and management would be through provided SaaS platforms.

SeverityAbbreviationClassificationDescription
Severity 1S1High
  • Non availability of power supply from the system. Where the system is presented as non-functional, LED displays white light in ship mode manner or no light at all.
  • Non-functionality of the cooling fans in the box triggering very high temperature alarm
  • INFINITY IPS abrupt shut down
Severity 2S2Medium
  • Where only IP4 is functional while other IX boxes have no LED glow
  • ISP or FLEX solar PV panel not producing voltage despite highly sunny day (sun hours)
  • EInterface panel has circuit breakers tripping or not responsive
  • Customer lighting components; bulbs, tubes etc. fluctuating consistently in all parts of the installation site.
  • Needing remote support for technical guidance
Severity 3S3Low
  • INFINITY IPS not charging via grid after grid power restoration e.g. Consistent drop in battery SOC with grid availability
  • FLEX P1 inverter LED on RED
  • ERROR 1 message on FLEX meter box Ul monitor
  • No supply to some parts of the installation site
  • Mobile App not displaying system configuration mix and readings
  • Mobile App not displaying notifications/daily/weekly/monthly KWH

Severity and Service Level Support

The severity and corresponding support levels are defined below with mode of support and responsibilities.

Faults Resolution KPI for Incident Escalations

The faults resolution KPIs are for faults escalations only due to installation and post installation non-compliance and system errors. These are assigned to the distributor’s  team to resolve within presented KPIs. The KPI will be used to measure  distributors responsiveness and ultimately quality of service. All presented descriptions correspond to severity categorization and respective support levels are to be administered.

Note: Faults logging, tracking and management would be through provided SaaS platforms.

Root Cause Analysis

Where recurring incidents and major incidents are logged as a result of installation errors. The distributor team shall submit root cause analyses to ZOLA technical team. The ZOLA team shall call the distributor team for further training. If the recurring incidences continues, ZOLA shall penalize the distributor as deemed necessary.

Where the recurring incidents are logged as a result of the poor installation  quality issues. Where the fault is investigated by ZOLA and proven to be a production quality  defect by the ZOLA technical team.. Such system shall be decommissioned for replacement by the distributor for proper technical diagnosis at the service centre. .ZOLA shall decide if to redeploy the repaired system or replace with a new system.

The distributor shall be responsible for forward and reverse logistics where the system has been requested to be brought to the service centre.

Authorized Replacements

The distributor shall be given technical authorization for components replacement services. These components shall include the following only with remote support from the ZOLA technical operations or engineering team. 

FLEX SPS

  • FLEX SPS meter box
  • Faulty FLEX P1 Inverter
  • Faulty wall charger for the FLEX SPS
  • FLEX solar PV modules
  • Bundled lighting components for FLEX SPS

INFINITY IPS 

  • IPS: IP4 + IX
  • ISP
  • Interface Panel
  • Sub panel
  • Electrical, RAW/engage cable and Q Cables

Distributors are not authorised to open or attempt to open the FLEX SPS meter box,  the INFINITY IPS box or the proprietary inverter for any reason. Distributors found in violation risk losing the distributor partnership certificate and other penalties as deemed necessary by ZOLA may be meted against violators. 

Warranty and Out-of-Warranty

For systems and components confirmed faulty within warranty period. ZOLA Electric shall be responsible for diagnosis, repairs and testing. While the distributor will be responsible and accountable for forward and reverse logistics cost regardless of the product warranty status. Where such systems or components are diagnosed to be tampered with, such action voids the warranty clause in the agreement. The distributor shall be responsible for  both forward and reverse logistics, full cost of the faulty component,  replaced/repaired charges as the case may be and all related taxes within the operating country. A letter shall be sent to the erring distributor with applicable penalty for unauthorized tampering.

For out of warranty systems and components. The distributor shall be responsible for all corrective or recovery maintenance charges which includes spare parts, repairs charges, taxes and forward/reverse logistics charges. 

Please check our warranty policy for comprehensive details for all  requirements for warranty claims, warranty extension and warranty transfers etc. Visit warranty portal on our website.

Allowable Spare Components Level

Distributors shall have between 5-10% spare components level of the total quantity of inventory purchased. This is to ensure that spare components are always available when needed. This would enhance prompt and reliable MTTR and ultimately enhance effective customer service.

Distributor Installations Remote Monitoring Accessibility

Distributors shall be given access to remotely manage all installations within their cluster. The distributor shall be responsible for annual subscription of  the software as a service (SaaS) cloud computing  platform for first-hand remote monitoring. This service   enhances proactive service deliverables at all times to their customers. The remote monitoring capabilities gives access for system efficiency, performance monitoring and management. Where distributors fail to make subscriptions  the SaaS platform will not be accessible.

Service Centre Operations and Service Hours

ZOLA Electric shall be responsible for the operations and management of the service centre. The service centre shall be responsible for L3 service support which includes the localized technical diagnosis, sensitive  parts replacement, repairs, system  refurbishment, post repairs system functionality tests and end-of-life systems management. It will support all certified distributors in ensuring prompt diagnosis and repairs of faulty systems complying with L3 support services. 

The service centre operations shall be between 9am – 6pm daily excluding Sundays and some public holidays. Cost of forward and reverse logistics of systems/equipment deployment to the service centre shall be the responsibility of the distributor. 

ZOLA customer service shall communicate the diagnosis report which will include cost of faulty components  repairs/replacements, repairs charges, taxes etc. to the distributor within 36 hours of receival at the service centre. 

 Distributor will be expected to give consent for repairs  within 24 hours by issuing an instruction to proceed (ITP) confirmation via email and phone communication. Where ITP is not communicated, repairs will be put on hold.  Where ITP instruction is issued via email by the distributor. Repairs timeline is targeted for 72 hours post instruction to proceed (ITP). Where a delay is envisaged for any reasons that may lead to non- compliance to the 72 hours deliverable timeline. The ZOLA customer service shall communicate this ahead to the distributor with apologies.

SLA Breach Penalty

The distributors HSE/QA compliance, installation and service performance shall be reviewed by ZOLA monthly. Where technical gaps or inefficiencies are identified or reported. ZOLA shall document and  take the issue(s) up with the distributors in writing. demanding root cause analysis. 

 ZOLA shall request retraining for all distributor technical teams at the ZOLA office or online to further enlighten and empower the teams. Repeat offenders shall be penalized accordingly.  Penalties shall range from 2-8weeks suspension for offenders, distributor reimbursing customers or ZOLA Electric for faults resolution and lastly suspension or termination of technical engagement agreement/certificate. 

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