Jun. 16, 2025
Machinery
For the PV Module Buyer’s Guide, we sent a questionnaire to every major solar panel manufacturer. This Guide is a snapshot of their global and U.S. capacity, what’s new this year, and their top product lines. Click products to expand for more information.
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The solar module market is more competitive than ever in terms of pricing and power rating. So, what else should residential and commercial solar installers and procurement teams consider when selecting solar modules?
“With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) expected to accelerate residential and C&I solar deployment, thanks to more certainty around the long-term extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), demand for high-power and high-efficiency modules with long-term warranties will grow more competitive. Installers must ensure they have access to a dedicated module supply to avoid project delays, procurement problems, and customer dissatisfaction,” – Melissa Cavanagh, Marketing Manager, North America, Trina Solar.
“The variety of solar modules available in the U.S. market, from both established and new players, is growing. Installers know that not all modules are created equal, and selecting a relatively unknown module company comes with risks in terms of warranty, reliability, performance and customer service. Established, bankable brands – whose modules go through rigorous third-party testing by labs like PVEL and RETC – offer peace of mind and a proven track record,” Elena Zhang, General Manager of DG North America for LONGi Solar.
“As the solar industry grows in importance, so does our responsibility to become more sustainable too. Consumers are far more cautious about the environmental footprint of the products they are buying and want to make more responsible choices. Installers must be aware of sustainable aspects of their modules’ portfolio, on top of technical features.” – Cary Hayes, President, REC Americas.
Other key trends to note when scrolling this year’s PV Module Buyer’s Guide:
What’s new? Since its founding 25 years ago, accumulative shipments of Trina Solar’s modules totaled 140 GW, while 210mm module shipments exceeded 65GW by Q1 , ranking first globally. As the first mover of 210mm modules, Trina recently put 210mm n-type capacity into mass production, reinforcing the company’s competitiveness with next-generation n-type cell technology. Trina’s newly upgraded n-type i-TOPCon modules with Vertex 210R (rectangle cells) n-type 605W and Vertex 210 (square cells) n-type 695W modules, with up to 22.4% efficiency. The company’s newest facility has already begun production of 210mm monocrystalline ingot and will have 20GW of planned capacity once fully operational. Trina’s 6.5GW wafer facility in Vietnam marks the milestone of a completely restructured and independent supply chain.
Where to buy: Utility-scale and C&I Customers can contact the Trina Solar US sales team here. Residential Customers can find a distributor here.
What’s new? LONGi continues to be one of the world’s leading solar technology companies. The company has once again been ranked in the highest AAA category in the latest edition of the PV ModuleTech bankability ratings (Q1, ), marking its 13th consecutive AAA ranking and consolidating the company’s leading position among the world’s module manufacturers.
Where to buy: LONGi modules are available via the leading DG distributors in the US and Canada. For direct sales inquiries, contact the sales team at .
What’s new? In the past year, Panasonic released two new lines of all-black compact EVERVOLT solar modules. Developed with performance, accessibility, flexibility and pleasing aesthetics in mind, the 400W/390W HK Black Series modules provide eco-conscious homeowners with a greater range of solar options at a more accessible price point. Additionally, Panasonic released the Panasonic 370W/360WPK Black Series modules, both of which are Panasonic’s first panels made with Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) technology. The sleek all-black modules are made with 60 half-cut cells and PERC technology, have module efficiency of 20.3 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively, and guarantee power output of at least 86 percent in the 25th year after installation.
Where to buy: Installer | Panasonic North America – United States
What’s new? Founded in in Vietnam, Boviet Solar is part of Boway Alloy and a global Tier 1 solar technology company that specializes in the manufacturing of Monocrystalline PERC cells, Gamma Series Monofacial and Vega Series Bifacial PV modules, as well as solar project development. The company works with IPPs, EPCs, project developers, solar installers, and contractors to deliver top-performing PV modules for utility-scale, commercial, industrial, and residential solar projects. Boviet Solar has maintained its position as a BloombergNEF Tier 1 solar module manufacturer and supplier since . The company offers financial stability, technological know-how, manufacturing excellence and supply chain transparency. Boviet Solar’s PV Modules have been rated as top performers on the PVEL module reliability scorecard since . Boviet Solar’s has offices in USA, Germany, and its global headquarters are in Vietnam.
Where to buy: visit here for further information.
What’s new? Qcells is investing more than $2.5 billion to build a complete solar supply chain in the United States. The company’s commitment to the clean energy economy in America will create nearly 2,500 direct jobs in Georgia. The announcement marks the largest investment in the history of American solar and sets Qcells up as the only company in the U.S. to establish a fully-integrated, silicon-based solar supply chain from raw material to finished panel.
Where to buy: Through distribution or contact Qcells directly right here
What’s new? JinkoSolar has deployed more than 130 GW in 160 countries globally, including 18 GW in the U.S. EAGLE Modules come from facilities in Malaysia and Florida. EAGLE Storage brings together the best energy storage technology for turnkey hardware and energy storage services. Publicly vetted by trusted industry third party laboratories and top financial institutions, JinkoSolar has more than 300 employees based in San Francisco, CA and Jacksonville, FL offices to provide timely, local service.
Where to buy: ABC Supply Co., Greentech Renewables, Inter-Island Solar Supply, McNaughton & McKay, The PowerStore, R&R Solar Supply, Sonepar, Van Meter
What’s new? In March, , Silfab Solar announced a second investment round by ARC Financial Corp. to help fund the next expansion of made in America technology to include 1 GW cell production and over 1 gigawatt of solar module production within an additional location in the USA.
Where to buy: Silfab Solar is primarily sold through national and regional certified distributors across North America such as Greentech Renewables, Krannich, Baywa r.e. Platt, WTS and some select large volume national direct partners.
What’s new? REC continues to focus on advanced heterojunction technology (HJT). REC’s latest innovation and top performing product is the REC Alpha Pure-R: With up to 430 Wp of power in compact 20.77 ft2, the ‘REC Alpha Pure-R’ offers efficiency of 22.3%. The ‘REC Alpha Pure-R’ is one of the few modules with heterojunction cells in the large G12 format for the residential rooftop segment and lead-free according to RoHS. In addition to the G12 cells, the Alpha Pure-R module uses the four-part junction box, which takes the groundbreaking REC Twin Design a step further.
Where to buy: REC modules are available nationally in the US from major distributors including Greentech, Renewables, Wesco, and Sonepar companies. For a complete list of our US distribution partners, click here
What’s new? Heliene owns and operates the newest and second largest solar module manufacturing factory in the U.S., and has been producing solar modules in North America since . A partnership with Canadian Premium Sands that will supply Heliene facilities with their solar glass for panel manufacturing.
Where to buy: Plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario or Mountain Iron, Minn., :
What’s new? Last October, Mission Solar announced plans to expand capacity to reach 1 GW annually in . These plans are underway, including the construction of a 200,000SF storage facility. Expansion of the Mission Solar facility began in Q4 . The increase in capacity is directly related to the company’s sourcing strategy. OCI Company Ltd., the module manufacturer’s parent company in Seoul, South Korea, will play a vital role providing polysilicon for Mission modules.
Where to buy: List of distributors here
Tags: Boviet Solar, Heliene, JinkoSolar, LONGi Solar, Mission Solar Energy, Panasonic, QCells, REC Group, Silfab Solar, Trina SolarOnce you have decided to invest in solar panels you are most likely in for a win. Based on the Energy Saving Trust's figures, it could typically take 8-12 years to recoup the costs of installing panels. From April , when the price of electricity is predicted to increase yet again, this may become a shorter timescale.
It might sound obvious, but the more you use them, the quicker the investment will pay for itself.
If you don’t have a solar battery, you'll want to put the generated energy to good use. Most providers are required to purchase the surplus energy your panels are generating through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme. To be eligible, residential solar systems are normally required to be accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
The SEG rates don’t include transmission and distribution costs and therefore are lower than what you pay for when buying electricity from the grid. At the moment one of our recommended energy suppliers, Octopus Energy, offers the highest rate at 15p per kWh while EDF only gives 1.5p. Compare that to the current 34p per kWh you pay to use electricity from the grid and you will want to use every single kWh your solar panel generates, otherwise you will still have to purchase energy from the grid when the sun is not shining.
Incidentally, this is when UK households use the most electricity: in the morning and in the evening. (This is one reason why photovoltaic energy is a better fit in hotter countries, where electricity use often peaks in the middle of the day when people are using air conditioning).
Although using the generated electricity during the day may be easier said than done, there are ways. If you own an inversion heater and a hot water cylinder, then by installing a power diverter you can shift the surplus energy there. Storage heaters can also use daytime energy to heat up, releasing it during specified hours.
If not, you could make clever changes to your daily routine. Do the laundry, the dishes and the cooking (if you have an electric hob) during daylight but do one at a time so as not to overstretch the capacity of your system. If you’re not home during the day, you could set timers and perhaps invest in a slow cooker that does the job while you’re out.
If your concern is the climate, you should aim to deal with your heating first: insulate your home and consider getting a heat pump. The heat pump can be run through electricity generated on your roof.
Heating needs to be addressed at the domestic level, but electricity for this cool and breezy island could be better addressed with offshore wind farms than domestic solar panels.
The operation of solar panels – or photovoltaic (PV) systems – doesn’t create emissions while generating energy and that is one reason they are so much better than fossil fuels.
However, the environmental impact of their manufacture and disposal is significant.
Solar panels are made primarily of silicon, which is mined in open pit mines and requires high heat for proper shaping. They also contain metals and rare earth minerals, which are mined and transported.
This is all mostly done with fossil fuels and thus has a carbon footprint: a typical house array of ten panels, each with a peak capacity of 350 watts, will have an embodied carbon footprint of around two tonnes.
Our total annual carbon footprint in the UK is about 12 tonnes each, so this looks like a sizeable proportion. But solar panels last a long time - the latest solar panel models on the market have an expected lifespan of 40-50 years. Even on our gloomy and dark island their carbon footprint can be paid back in the first six years of their operation. If you live somewhere sunnier, this can go down to as little as 1.5 years.
Furthermore, the embodied carbon in the panels has been falling dramatically and it is predicted that in the not too distant future, when they are made using recycled materials, the carbon payback time will be less than half this. For the rest of the solar panels’ lifetime their overall carbon footprint drops into the negative and owners can enjoy truly carbon-free electricity, knowing that their system will save over 900 kg of CO2 per year.
This doesn’t mean that solar panel manufacturers can rest on their laurels; they can and should cut their emissions and, as solar panel manufacturers, they have the means to do so. Our carbon rating showed that most of them weren’t doing enough, with only Canadian Solar, LONGi, and Panasonic getting best ratings.
Other adverse environmental impacts of solar panels include pollution and use of hazardous materials. The chemicals used in the manufacturing process vary depending on the make and model of the panel but they generally include PVC and compounds of copper, cadmium, and gallium. Unless these are properly handled during manufacture and are recycled at end-of-life they will contaminate both soil and water.
All companies got worst ratings in the pollution and toxics category so there is plenty of scope for improvement in this area.
Companies did better on other environmental impacts such as water use and waste reduction and nine got middle ratings in our environmental reporting category: GB-Sol, LONGi, Trina, Viessmann, Canadian Solar, Sunpower, Sharp, Panasonic, and REC Solar. The rest got worst ratings.
We reviewed and rated 16 companies making solar panels and/or photovoltaic (PV) systems.
There are big ethical differences between the brands.
One company scores 0/20 points, and several others languishing near the bottom of our score table.
We assessed all companies in the guide for their carbon management and reporting. We exempted companies whose only product is solar panels from many of our usual carbon rating requirements because we consider them to be contributing to the climate transition. These companies all got a middle rating by default.
To achieve a best rating, they also had to have a credible and detailed discussion on how they had made emissions cuts in the past and would do so in the future.
Suggested reading:If you want to learn more, please visit our website Raw Material For Solar Panel.
Only Canadian Solar and LONGi did this because they had plans to move their operations fully to renewable energy in the next few years.
Companies which make other products were subject to our full carbon rating.
The only one to get a best was Panasonic. Sharp got a middle rating and Viessmann, REC Solar, and Hyundai all got worst.
Nearly 70% of the world’s solar cells and modules are made in China. Vietnam comes next with 8%.
Neither are countries renowned for their respect for workers’ rights. Despite publishing long sustainability reports, solar panel companies say little on workers’ rights and as a result all companies got a worst rating in our supply chain management category, apart from GB-Sol which received a best rating.
This is particularly concerning given the use of Uyghur forced labour (see below) and the fact that solar supply chains include large quantities of quartz – the mining of which is linked with silicosis – and which is often sourced from countries with poor workers’ rights regulation.
The solar sector did not do well on our tax rating with only GB-Sol, Vikram Solar, Hyundai, and Yingli, getting best ratings – although there was little up-to-date corporate information on Yingli so this rating may not be reliable. LONGi got a middle rating and the rest got worst ratings.
It was notable that three of the Chinese solar companies: Jinko, Suntech, and JA Solar, were headquartered or had parents who were headquartered in the Cayman Islands (on our list of tax havens). Norwegian REC Solar itself got a best rating, but its parent Reliance Industries got a worst rating.
LONGi, Canadian Solar, Sunpower, Panasonic, and REC Solar got worst ratings for their political activity. All lost marks for political lobbying in the US, some for donations to US political parties, and some for membership of the corporate lobby group, the World Economic Forum.
REC Solar did not engage in any lobbying itself but it lost marks through its fossil fuel-producing parent Reliance Industries which spent over half a million dollars on political lobbying in the US in and over a million in .
There is a high risk that Uyghur forced labour has been used in the manufacture of solar panels entering the UK. This is because most solar panels use refined silicon, known as polysilicon, to convert sunlight into electricity and the Xinjiang Region of China, where the Chinese government has placed possibly millions of indigenous Uyghur and Kazakh people in coercive labour schemes, accounts for approximately 45% of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon supply.
In , Sheffield Hallam University published a report detailing the involvement of Xinjiang-based raw material suppliers and polysilicon manufacturers in forced labour schemes.
It analysed corporate documents and showed that these companies supplied some of the world’s largest solar panel manufacturers, including several in this guide.
Internment camps and forced labour
The report explains that the Xinjiang region’s well-documented detention centres and internment camps form only a small part of a much larger scheme of labour relocation programmes, justified by the government on the grounds of poverty alleviation.
These schemes are shown to operate “within an environment of unprecedented coercion, undergirded by the constant threat of re-education and internment” meaning that refusal to participate is not an option.
Those released from internment camps are often required to work in factories located near the camps in which they were interned. People with interned family members may be told that their labour will hasten their detained family members’ release.
Worker movement is restricted, with many of the factories employing supposedly free citizens being surrounded by razor-wire and security cameras, and monitored by police.
People working in the factories are either unpaid or paid far less than the minimum wage.
Which solar companies are implicated?
The report traces the supply chains of JA Solar and LONGi to silicon and polysilicon suppliers for which it found evidence of involvement in coercive labour schemes. Jinko Solar and Trina Solar were found to have also used forced labour directly.
We deducted a mark in the human rights category from these companies.
We also deducted half a mark from Canadian Solar as, while there was no evidence of forced labour in its supply chain, it was involved in a joint venture with a company found to have used forced labour.
Other companies in this guide did not appear in the report. But given the dominance of the Xinjiang region in the world’s polysilicon supply, and the fact that polysilicon from multiple suppliers is often blended by manufacturers, any companies sourcing from China are risky.
An ethical dilemma?
This makes it hard to avoid solar panels produced using forced labour in the supply chain, and you might ask whether it’s ethical to buy solar panels at all.
We would argue that it is: the transition to renewable energy generation is essential if we’re to tackle global climate breakdown. And these kinds of systemic issues can’t be addressed through consumer choices, they need governments to take action to force sector-wide change.
The good news is that there are signs that this is already happening. A new US law preventing the import of products made with forced labour has seen solar panels made by the companies named above held at the US border or shipped back to China and there are calls for similar actions in the UK.
What can you do?
If you want to support these efforts, sign the following petitions:
You are also encouraged to contact companies direct:
In January Anti-Slavery International and partners released a guidance document for investors and a policy brief to the UK Government, to help the solar and electric vehicle industries move away from reliance on forced labour in the Uyghur Region where there is systematic persecution by the Chinese government.
They say “There is no reason that green technology should go hand in hand with human rights abuses” and “it is imperative for governments and investors to divest from the Uyghur Region and diversify sourcing locations to ensure both an ethical and stable source of inputs for solar and EV technologies.”
“Consumers must use their bargaining power with companies that sell electric vehicles and solar panels, demanding information on their supply chains and links to the Uyghur Region.”
Visit the Anti Slavery International website for more information.
The guide doesn’t cover companies manufacturing solar batteries. However, it’s important to talk about them as they are becoming increasingly popular for storing solar-generated energy but are associated with severe environmental harm and human rights abuses. Also, batteries are expensive, and not needed when you can sell the energy back to the grid.
Given supply issues, some argue that battery production should be prioritised for electric vehicles which do need them.
Lithium-ion batteries are currently the most popular type in the UK for solar energy storage.
Lithium extraction can be extremely environmentally damaging. It pollutes water sources, diverts water away from farming, produces massive waste, uses a huge amount of electricity, and increases CO2 emissions through destruction of vegetation in mining areas. Although lithium mining is currently not sustainable, lithium has the potential to do a lot of good.
As demand increases, innovations will hopefully be made to make the process better for the environment.
The world’s largest lithium mining nations are Australia, China, Chile, and Argentina. Some analysts predict that if battery power replaced oil, South America would become the “new Middle East”.
Another issue with lithium-ion batteries is the mining of the rare earth minerals they contain, such as graphite, nickel and cobalt. The ores of these minerals are typically mined in Central Africa, where regulations protecting workers’ rights are weak.
The southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo sits atop an estimated 3.4 million tonnes of cobalt, almost half the world’s known supply. While conflict minerals such as the 3TG ones used in mobile phones are included in US and European (although not UK) regulations, cobalt isn’t. Investigation has revealed severe environmental and social impact in artisanal mines, where up to fifth of the cobalt production takes place.
Workers have complained of issues such as long working hours, lack of protective gear, and child labour.
It is expected that at least 11 million tons of used lithium-ion batteries will accumulate worldwide by . Recycling solar storage batteries is critical because they contain highly toxic materials, however it is estimated that currently only 5% are being recycled. Thankfully, the lithium battery recycling market is expanding.
Several alternatives are being researched by scientists trying to find cheaper, more environmentally friendly energy storage.
These include batteries made of salt, glass or even sea water and hemp! Some of the research is in its early stages but it is anticipated that we’ll see the first prototypes of sodium-ion batteries in the next one or two years.
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