What are the best solar panels to buy in Australia?

If you ask 5 solar installers what the best solar panels are, chances are high that you'll get 5 different answers. There are over a dozen solar panel brands I recommend, including:

• SunPower
• REC
• Longi
• Jinko Solar
• Trina Solar

Some people think that 'the best' simply means the most expensive - but you'll find the panel brands listed above vary quite a bit in price.

It's perfectly logical to think best = most expensive. When people think about the 'fastest car' or the 'best TV', they're usually the most expensive ones on the market.

But - the difference in performance between a budget-end solar panel (from a reputable brand) and a top-end panel can be quite marginal.

And when the difference in price between a system using top-end brands and budget-end brands can be thousands of dollars, some rightly question whether the diminishing returns are worth thousands!

I truly believe that the best solar panels to buy are simply the ones that best meet your needs.

To help you gauge the best solar panels for your situation, ask yourself the following questions:

• How long do I plan to stay in my home?
• How important is a long warranty to me?
• Is my budget realistic for my wants?

Let's look at these questions in a bit more detail:

How long do I plan to stay in my home?

A 6.6kW solar system isn't large by today's standards but is still commonly installed in Australia.  Depending on your location and electricity consumption, such a system can easily save around $1,200 per year.

A budget-end 6.6kW solar system can be had for around $5,000. A top-end 6.6kW solar system will can cost up to $9,000 or more.

What this means is, with savings of $1,200 per year, a budget-end 6.6kW system can pay for itself in a little over 4 years, while a top-end 6.6kW system can pay for itself in around seven and a half years.

So, if you're planning on staying in your home for a decade or less, you may want to maximise your return on investment by choosing a solid budget system using cheaper, reliable solar panels over a premium system.

How important is a long warranty to me?

A few years ago, most solar panels had 10 to 15 year product warranties.  If you wanted a 25 year product warranty you had no choice other than to pay a hefty premium.

But now it’s easy to find panels from reliable but low cost manufacturers with 25 year product warranties for around the same price as shorter warranty ones.

This means you’re unlikely to receive any significant financial benefit by getting panels with less than a 25 year product warranty.  Even if you don't think you'll stay for long, my advice is to install panels with a 25 year warranty if you can, because they're very unlikely to suffer any problems before a small portion of their warranty period is over.

If you want a longer product warranty, you can pay a little more to get 30 years or a lot more to get 40.  If you think you’ll stay where you are a long time or you just want to leave a long lasting solar system for whoever comes next, I think it’s worth paying a little extra for a 30 year product warranty.  But, unless a top-of-the-line premium system is what you’re after,  I wouldn’t recommend paying a lot more for a 30+ years.

Is the most efficient panel the best solar panel?

A more efficient solar panel is not necessarily better.  A low-efficiency 440W panel and a high efficiency 440W panel will both produce the same amount of power in the same light.  The difference is the more efficient panel will be a little smaller because it needs less light to produce the same power.  So paying extra for high efficiency panels is really only worthwhile if you want to squeeze as much power as possible from a limited roof area.

These days, most panels going on roofs are from 20% to 22% efficient and this includes lower cost reliable panels.  You can pay extra for slightly higher efficiency ones but be sure you consider the extra expense worthwhile.  Using 23% efficient panels rather than otherwise identical 22% efficient ones will only increase output by 4.5%, so you may not think it's worth the extra cost.

If you really want the most efficient panel, you can find it (and compare panel costs) on my solar panel comparison table. Just select the 'sort by efficiency' option.

Is my budget realistic for my wants?

It's all well and good to want the best, but you need to be realistic as to whether you have "champagne tastes on a beer budget".  Fortunately, you can now get solar panels with a 25 year product warranty, with an inverter likely to last over 15 years, from a quality installer, for a very competitive price. 

In conclusion

The "best" solar panel, in my humble opinion, is the one that fits neatly into your performance and warranty expectations, without breaking your budget.