Tag Archives: solar warranties

best solar panels 2018 graphic

Best solar panels in 2023: Top products compared

Going solar is an easy and popular way to lower your electricity bills and your carbon footprint. If you’re starting the solar shopping process, one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is which solar panels you want to install. With many high-quality options available, comparing solar panels can be a daunting challenge. 

To streamline your comparison process, we researched thousands of solar panel models quoted by installers in the EnergySage Marketplace. Based on our analysis, we’ll explain how solar panel brands stack up against each other, and which companies offer the highest quality panels for your home.

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Image of a black solar panel on a white and blue background. The text on the image reads Q CELLS the complete review

Q CELLS solar panels: the complete review

Founded in Germany in 1999 by a group of German engineers and acquired by Hanwha Group in 2012, Q CELLS (formerly Hanwha Q CELLS) is one of the world’s largest solar panel manufacturers. Now headquartered in South Korea, they produce panels in the United States, Malaysia, and China. In North America, they are based in Dalton, Georgia, where they have the largest solar manufacturing facilities in the Western Hemisphere! The combination of aesthetically pleasing and high-quality panels at a relatively low cost has made Q CELLS an increasingly popular choice for solar shoppers comparing their options on the EnergySage Marketplace

When evaluating your solar panel options, it’s essential to compare what’s available so you can be confident in your solar investment. So, let’s look at Q CELLS’ solar panel technology and how it compares to other leading solar panel brands available today.

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Image of a black solar panel on a white and orange background. The text on the image says LA Solar Group the complete review

LA Solar Group solar panels: the complete review

LA Solar Group has been installing solar panels since they were founded in the Los Angeles area in 2011, with current installations spanning three states: California, Nevada, and Texas. During the past 12 years, they’ve installed over 25,000 systems and approximately 625,000 solar panels. In 2019, they took their years of experience as solar installers and expanded their business to offer their own line of solar panels. So, how do their panels compare to other leading panel brands? In this article, we’ll explain what you need to know about LA Solar Group and the products they offer.

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rec solar panels review

REC Solar panels: the complete review

REC Group is Europe’s largest solar panel manufacturer, with offices in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Australia. The company was founded in Norway in 1996 and manufactures its solar panels in Singapore. REC is known for pioneering half-cut cell technology in 2014, which improved the performance of solar panels by cutting solar cells in half. 

In 2022, REC launched its newest series of solar panels: the Alpha Pure-R. They now offer four series of high-power solar modules for residential applications, including Alpha Pure-R, Alpha Pure, N-Peak 2, and Twinpeak 4. REC solar panels are growing increasingly popular – they’re now some of the most quoted and most selected panels on the EnergySage Marketplace.

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Image of a solar panel with text that says SunPower: the complete review

SunPower solar panels: the complete review

SunPower solar panels are one of the most frequently requested solar panel brands on the EnergySage Marketplace and for a good reason: SunPower panels are often the most efficient (read: powerful!) products on the market today, and they offer an industry-leading warranty. For many years, SunPower has been a fully-integrated solar shop, manufacturing solar cells and panels and then offering sales and installation services for residential and commercial applications. But, while they are considered some of the best panels, they do come at a premium price. 

When evaluating your solar panel options, it’s essential to compare what’s available so you can be confident in your solar investment. Let’s look at SunPower’s solar panel technology and how it compares to other leading solar panel brands available today.

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Image of Panasonic solar panel with text

Panasonic solar panels: the complete review

As one of the world’s largest consumer electronics manufacturers, Panasonic is a household name that entered the solar industry in 1975. Panasonic solar panels are popular among EnergySage shoppers and installers – in fact, they’re the third most quoted brand in 2023! However, in 2021 Panasonic announced that they’ll no longer manufacture their own solar panels (they previously had a manufacturing deal with Tesla). But if you’re interested in Panasonic solar panels, don’t worry: unlike LG Solar, Panasonic is continuing to sell high-performing panels – manufacturing is now just outsourced to a third party. 

When evaluating your solar panel options, it’s important to compare what’s available so you can be confident in your solar investment. Let’s take a look at Panasonic’s solar panel technology and how it compares to other leading solar panel brands available today.

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how long do solar panels last

How long do solar panels last? Solar panel lifespan explained

The industry standard for the lifespan of solar panels is 25-30 years. However, a solar panel won’t die after 25-30 years – rather, its power output will decrease a significant amount below what the manufacturer projected. It’s hard to understand the upfront cost of going solar without knowing how long you can expect your rooftop panels to produce ample energy. Ultimately, your solar panels will offset your electricity use for decades and significantly reduce your energy bills – but to get a sense of when you’ll need to replace your system, it’s important to understand industry projections and degradation rates.

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guaranteed production for solar

What is guaranteed production for solar?

Declining costs and increasing incentives make a solar investment extremely valuable – but the price tag certainly isn’t low. When shopping for solar, also known as a photovoltaic (PV) system, you want to ensure you’ll get your money’s worth. So, it’s important to understand the lifetime of the equipment and its expected energy production. Many solar installers will guarantee a certain amount of electricity production to provide peace of mind when installing a PV system. In this article, we break down solar power production guarantees, what happens when a system’s production doesn’t match the amount of power guaranteed, and why some solar companies don’t offer this for home solar panel systems

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Solaria warranty review

We read Solaria’s warranty so you don’t have to

Let’s face it – warranties aren’t the easiest (or most gripping) documents to read. There are often a lot of details and fine print included that can be hard to digest, leaving many to wonder: what does the warranty actually cover? Am I vulnerable? Anything I might be missing?

To make it as easy as possible, we’ve read warranty documents for the top solar equipment manufacturers–and talked to them to confirm what is and isn’t included–and plan to point out the most important aspects of each in a series of articles. This article reviews the warranty offering of Solaria, an innovative manufacturer of solar panels and solar panel tracking systems. 

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Comparing solar warranties

How to compare solar panel warranties in 2022

If you think comparing solar panel warranties is confusing, you’re certainly not alone. Even if you take the time to sift through pages of dense documentation, understanding the differences in warranties across the various manufacturers can feel like comparing apples to oranges! We sat down with some of the top solar panel companies to better understand their individual warranties, and to get a feel for the key warranty factors to be on the look out for. To help you compare different company’s warranties, we developed a scoring system that allows you to compare different options head to head. In this article, we’ll explain our scoring system and break down how each of the companies stack up against one another.

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