The Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) ranking system has become the industry standard in classifying solar panel manufacturers. This classification is based on bankability and various other factors. There is a widespread debate among retailers and enthusiasts on whether the tier system correlates to the performance and reliability of a PV module. However, as with every commodity, BNEF’s tier ranking system provides a baseline for classification of solar panel modules. The list of tier-1 solar panels manufacturers is updated quarterly.
Tier-1 Solar Panels – August 2017
In the third quarter of 2017, Canadian solar is the leading tier-1 solar cell manufacturer with an annual capacity of 6,970 MW. They are one of the most popular brand in the Australian market due to longevity and performance of their modules. Furthermore, they are used in many of the large-scale commercial solar installations in the world. On the other hand, by the end of 2017, Jinko solar is on track to become the first PV company to hit the 10GW module shipment in one year. The terms and conditions of BNEF prevents third parties from publishing the list. Therefore, here are the top 4 panel manufacturers from Q3 2017. All of them have an annual capacity of over 6000 MW. In addition, all these tier-1 manufacturers offer 10 year product warranty and 25 year performance warranty on their PV modules.
Furthermore, other top brands in the tier-1 include JA solar, Risen, GCL systems, Talesun etc. In the Australian residential PV market, these brands provide the budget options for customers through their highly competitive pricing. Our recent 100kW commercial solar system at Fashion Biz,Wangara made use of 370 x 270W Canadian PV panels. As announced this week, Canadian Solar will also build a 112 MW project in Pernambuco, Brazil.
