If you are looking for the most efficient solar panels, you will quickly find that there are a whole lot of seemingly conflicting information out there. The reason for that is that the efficiency metrics are different. The efficiency of a solar panel is expressed as a percentage, and this shows how much of the sunlight is converted into electricity. The higher the percentage, the higher the efficiency.
Practically, if you were to take two solar panels that have the same size, and one’s efficiency rating is 21%, whereas the other one’s efficiency rating is 14%, then the first will produce 50% more electricity than the second, under the exact same conditions. Hence, it is very important to purchase efficient panels, as those are the ones that will give you the greatest savings on your energy bills, and produce the greatest amount of energy.
High Efficiency Brands of Panels
Efficiency is probably one of the key issues of importance in terms of the quality of a solar panel. That being said, it is not the only thing you should look into when evaluating different panels. The efficiency rating describes the ability of panels to turn sunlight into energy, but you also have to consider the cost of the panel and its supply rate.
Residential solar panels can have efficiency ratings of 22.5%, although most have efficiency ratings that are between 14% and 16%. Those with higher efficiency, such as SunPower, tend to also be a lot more expensive. There are certain things you need to consider first:
- Do you want maximum offset or maximum production? If you want to have a system that produces as much electricity as possible, or if you want to make sure you buy almost no energy from the grid, but you only have a limited amount of roof space available to you, then you need to purchase panels with a higher efficiency rating. Hence, you will get the greatest production.
- What do you class as value for money? The solar panels with the greatest efficiency ratings are significantly more expensive than those with lower ratings. It may be cheaper, if you have the space, to buy more less efficient panels, therefore. This is particularly true if you only want to generate power for your own usage. If you also want to sell back and generate a lot of SREC income, however, then you may be better off buying those solar panels with a higher efficiency rating. It is a calculation that you will have to make yourself, therefore.
Average Efficiency Ratings – Top 20 Most Efficient Solar Panels
So what are the 20 most efficient solar panels that you could choose? These are:
- Amerisolar, which has an average efficiency of 15.97%. Maximum efficiency is 17.01% and minimum efficiency is 14.75%.
- Axitec, which has an average efficiency of 16.1%. Maximum efficiency is 16.9% and minimum efficiency is 15.37%.
- Canadian Solar, which has an average efficiency of 16.58%. Maximum efficiency is 17.72% and minimum efficiency is 15.88%.
- CentroSolar, which has an average efficiency of 16.21%. Maximum efficiency is 17.8% and minimum efficiency is 15.3%.
- China Sunergy, which has an average efficiency of 15.78%. Maximum efficiency is 16.53% and minimum efficiency is 14.98%.
- ET Solar, which has an average efficiency of 16.51%. Maximum efficiency is 17.52% and minimum efficiency is 15.37%.
- Grape Solar, which has an average efficiency of 116.75%. Maximum efficiency is 17.64% and minimum efficiency is 16.21%.
- Green Brilliance, which has an average efficiency of 15.03%. Maximum efficiency is 15.58% and minimum efficiency is 14.24%.
- Hanwha Q CELLS, which have an average efficiency of 16.97%. Maximum efficiency is 18.3% and minimum efficiency is 15.9%.
- Hanwha SolarOne, which has an average efficiency of 15.45%. Maximum efficiency is 16.2% and minimum efficiency is 14.7%.
- Heliene Inc., which has an average efficiency of 17.31%. Maximum efficiency is 19.3% and minimum efficiency is 15.6%.
- Hyundai, which has an average efficiency of 15.37%. Maximum efficiency is 16.5% and minimum efficiency is 14.2%.
- Itek Energy, which has an average efficiency of 18.94%. Maximum efficiency is 18.94% and minimum efficiency is 16.49%.
- JinkoSolar, which has an average efficiency of 16.95%. Maximum efficiency is 18.57% and minimum efficiency is 15.57%.
- Kyocera, which has an average efficiency of 15.42%. Maximum efficiency is 16.11% and minimum efficiency is 14.75%.
- LG, which has an average efficiency of 18.28%. Maximum efficiency is 19.5% and minimum efficiency is 16.8%.
- Panasonic, which has an average efficiency of 20.3%. Maximum efficiency is 21.6% and minimum efficiency is 19%.
- Solaria, which has an average efficiency of 19%. Maximum efficiency is 19.3% and minimum efficiency is 18.7%.
- Suniva Inc., which has an average efficiency of 17.14%. Maximum efficiency is 17.65% and minimum efficiency is 16.66%.
- SunPower, which has an average efficiency of 20.58%. Maximum efficiency is 22.2% and minimum efficiency is 19.1%.
You may have noticed that this list of 20 solar panels is not arranged in the order of efficiency, but rather in alphabetical order. The reason for this is the complexity of the concept of “efficiency”, and that is without looking at the price. For some people, the average efficiency is the true efficiency rating. This tells them the amount of power that they will usually get over the course of a full year. Other people, however, feel that the maximum efficiency it can obtain is the best indicator in terms of the quality of the panel. Lastly, there are those who feel that the minimum efficiency is the most important, as they are guaranteed to get at least that, regardless of the climate or the amount of sunlight outside. As you can see, there are no easy answers in terms of what the most efficient panels are, and only you can really decide what you feel are the most important. Naturally, the price of the solar panels will also play an important part in your final choice.
