Finding the best solar panels for your home can feel like a daunting challenge. There are more than a hundred different brands of solar panels and other solar equipment on the market at any given point. In this article, we’ll discuss how solar panel manufacturers stack up to one another, and who makes the best solar panels.
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How solar panel cost and efficiency have changed over time
Solar panel technology has been around in some form for a long time – Bell Labs invented the first useful solar cell more than 60 years ago, and scientists have known for centuries that the sun can be used to produce energy. However, it’s only in the last ten years or so that solar photovoltaics (PV) has really taken off as a renewable energy source. There are two major factors influencing the technology’s growth: the steady improvement of both solar panel cost and solar panel efficiency over time.
Continue readingSunPower solar panels: the complete review
SunPower solar panels are one of the most frequently requested solar panel brands on the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, and for 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 & panels, and then offering sales and installation services for residential and commercial applications as well. Recently, SunPower announced that they’re spinning off their manufacturing arm into a new company–Maxeon–to focus on installing solar panels.
Continue readingPanasonic solar panels: the complete review
Panasonic is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of consumer electronics and an increasingly popular choice for U.S. homeowners installing solar. Panasonic’s heteroinjuction technology (or HIT) is included across their product lines, providing a unique take on the solar cell. Their HIT, HIT+ and HIT AC series are all high performers on EnergySage, with Panasonic the most quoted solar panel brand on EnergySage in 2019.
Whether you’re trying to decide between SunPower and Panasonic solar panels or simply evaluating your solar PV options, thoroughly reviewing the product options available to you is the best way to be confident in your solar investment. EnergySage’s Panasonic reviews take a look at the technical specifications of Panasonic solar panels to evaluate how they compare to other manufacturers on the market.
Continue readingSolar panel recycling: what you need to know
Solar panels have a lifetime of about 30 years. With the increasing number of solar panels being sold and installed in the U.S. each year, it’s only a matter of time before high volumes of panels are at the end of their useful life and have to be disposed. Solar panel recycling is still at an early stage, but as the solar market continues to expand, recycling processes will have an increasingly important role to play.
Continue readingMicroinverters: what you need to know
Inverters are an essential component of any solar panel system. They’re responsible for converting direct current energy (DC) generated at your solar panels into usable alternating current (AC) electricity for your home’s appliances. When it comes to choosing an inverter solution for your solar panel system, there are a few options to consider. In this article, we’ll go over one of the more popular types of inverter technologies: microinverters.
Continue readingThe SunPower Equinox: an all-in-one home solar solution
More and more often, new technology in the solar industry is geared towards making installations as aesthetically pleasing as possible. This was SunPower’s motivation for their Equinox home solar energy solution, which was first introduced in 2016.
This solar solution is an all-in-one packaged system where every component is made by SunPower. It’s designed to be as sleek as possible on rooftops by hiding parts of the solar panel system that are otherwise visible in most installations. Typical solar energy systems may include panels, inverters, and monitoring from separate manufacturers. In an Equinox system, every component of the system is from SunPower.
Continue readingWe read SunPower’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 companies–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. In this article, we dive into one of the most popular companies in the solar industry: SunPower.
Continue readingWhat to know about solar equipment manufacturer endorsements
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing an installer, including experience, years in business, online reviews, licensing, and more. A lesser-known factor you may want to consider as you’re comparing one installer versus another is whether a solar company has received any manufacturer endorsements.
Continue readingHow are solar companies making it easier to go solar during the COVID pandemic?
Investing in solar is a big financial decision no matter the state of the economy. As everyone around the country (and the world) grapple with the ongoing health and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the question of whether it’s the right time to go solar has become harder to answer financially for many homeowners. With that in mind, a number of solar companies throughout the country introduced new programs to help make paying for solar easier for people who install solar today.
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