QCells vs. Silfab: Which Solar Panels Are Best For You?
With so many solar panel manufacturers, deciding which brand to install with your solar energy system can be difficult.
If you found this blog, you are likely already considering two of the better solar panel brands available in Q Cells and Silfab. This blog aims to help you narrow down your selection between the two brands.
This blog compares these solar brands in four key areas:
Solar Panel Comparison: Q Cells vs. Silfab
Before we jump into the product comparison, here’s a rundown of both of these solar manufacturers.
Q Cells is owned by Hanwha Chemical, a company with businesses that span the manufacturing, construction, finance, leisure, and lifestyle industries. The business is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. In 2019, Q Cells opened the Western Hemisphere’s largest solar assembly facility in Dalton, Georgia. This facility can produce approximately 1.7 GW worth of solar panels yearly, underscoring their commitment to manufacturing in North America.
Started in 2010 by a collaboration of international solar investors, Silfab Solar brings loads of experience to the North American solar sector. From their corporate headquarters in Canada and their two USA locations in Washington, their manufacturing capacity is 800 MW worth of panels each year.
Both companies provide high-quality solar panels that are a great option for your system, but we compare several differences below.
The Cost of Q Cells and Silfab Solar Panels
There are many great benefits for installing solar panels (reduced electric bill, tax credits, clean energy), but the installation cost is one big hurdle that must be addressed. The panels are just one of many components of a solar system. However, they are a big portion of the cost.
While there is a difference in price between Silfab and Q Cells, the difference is minor. Q Cells and Silfab’s solar panels are generally very close in price, and the overall cost depends more on the options chosen than the brand itself. i.e. all black panels vs. silver framed panels.
Some brands do vary more in price, but when comparing Silfab and Q Cells, some of the other aspects below are more important to consider.
Are Q Cells Efficiency Than Silfab Solar Panels?
Most solar panels available today are able to convert 15. 23 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. This solar panel efficiency varies between solar panels, and it is an important factor to consider when making choices about which solar panels to purchase.
Silfab and Q Cells offer an efficiency rating on par with the industry’s best solar panels. Silfab offers both commercial and residential solar panels with 19.6% to 22.0% efficiency rates. Q Cells offer an efficiency rate of 20.9% for their residential panels and 21.4 to 21.6% for their commercial panels.
The residential line is a slightly lower efficiency due to the all-black panels; while they improve the aesthetics of the system, those good looks come with slightly lower efficiency.
Product Warranties
The product warranties that come with most solar panels are in place to protect the consumer from receiving defective or damaged panels.
Both Silfab and Q Cells offer superb product warranties of 25 years on their products. Silfab includes a standard 12-year product warranty, which is freely extended to 25 years with the condition that your installer is registered as a qualified Silfab installer. Q Cells offers up to 250 in labor costs for systems registered through their Q.PARTNER program in addition to their product warranty.
When considering the various solar companies and their warranties, you will want to also look at a company’s financial standings. While having an excellent warranty is great, if the company goes out of business, that warranty becomes void.
Both Silfab and Q Cells are reputable companies that appear to be in good standing to continue manufacturing panels and honor product warranties well into the future.
Silfab is a company that has more than forty years of experience with solar. Q Cells has been a major manufacturer of solar panels since 1999 and continues to provide solar panels for a large portion of solar projects around the world.
One advantage of installing a solar system with Paradise Energy Solutions is our Triple Ten Guarantee. This covers any labor costs for replacing products under warranty, a cost that is often not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. This is an added layer of protection that also includes a ten-year performance guarantee and system monitoring.
Performance Warranties
As solar panels age, the amount of electricity it produces decreases. This is called degradation, and it’s something that happens to every panel over the course of its life.
To help protect consumers from a panel that doesn’t meet performance standards, the manufacturers offer performance warranties to promise that their panels’ degradation rates stay above a certain percentage.
When comparing performance warranties, Silfab offers a slightly better warranty. Q Cells offers the industry-standard 25-year performance warranty, while Silfab offers a 30-year warranty.
Silfab guarantees their panels will perform at or above 85.1% after 25 years and 82.6% after 30 years. Q Cells solar panels come with a guaranteed 25-year performance at 86% of the original efficiency.
While Q Cells promises a higher percentage at the end of 25 years, Silfab offers a guarantee for an additional five years. Both of these companies offer a performance warranty well above the industry standard 25-year performance warranty of 80% of original efficiency.
Which Solar Panels Are Best For You?
While both the Q Cells and the Silfab Solar panels offer reliability and are a strong option for those looking for solar panels, there are some distinct differences that should be understood before you make a decision. Take into account the cost, panel efficiency, product and performance warranties, and degradation rates before choosing a brand of panels.
If you need help selecting the best solar panel for your system, let our team help. Request your custom quote below.
Still not convinced about which solar panel brand to go with? Check out these other brand comparisons that our team put together and this guide to the best solar panel brands.
Hanwha Q Cells opens the largest solar factory in the Western Hemisphere
The 300,000 square foot factory in Dalton, Georgia has the capacity to produce 12,000 PV modules per day, or 1.7 GW annually – the same peak generating capacity as the Hoover Dam.
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Friday was a big day for U.S. module manufacturing. Hanwha Q-Cells, the Korean PV maker which acquired Germany’s Q-Cells seven years ago, has officially opened the biggest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere, with 300,000 square feet of floor space and 650 workers.
Of course opening is always a relative term. Friday was the big ribbon cutting with officials from Korea, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) and even a token presence from the Trump Administration, but the factory has been churning out modules for months; every solar factory must go through a lengthy process of equipment tests and calibration, and then will be slowly producing more and more modules (ramping) until it hits its full production volume.
Hanwha Q Cells executives report that the factory began production in January and started shipments in February, and that all three production lines are currently running. “The factory is currently producing over 10,000 modules per day and very close to the full 12,000 module per day capacity,” Hanwha Q Cells Director of Strategy and Market Intelligence Scott Moskowitz told pv magazine. “We expect to be running at full capacity by the end of the year.”
The factory will make modules with 120 half-cut mono-PERC cells in the company’s Q.PEAK DUO BLK-G6 line. These have six busbars, around 19% module efficiency and a wattage of 330-345 watts, which is not bad for what would be a 60-cell module in full-cell terms.
These modules are being sold into both the rooftop and large-scale ground-mounted solar markets. While 72-cell modules are more popular for large PV plants, some of the projects that will utilize these modules are ’s new data center in Georgia.
Trump, tariffs and taxes
Greentech Media has cast this as a win for Trump’s trade policies, but there is a lot of nuance here. Four large solar factories are either under construction, ramping or have opened in the United States since Trump imposed the Section 201 tariffs: Hanwha’s 1.7 GW factory in Georgia, LG’s 500 MW factory in Alabama, Jinko Solar’s 400 MW factory in Florida, and First Solar’s 1.2 GW factory in Lake Township, Ohio – which is currently under construction.
It’s a safe bet to say that these would not have happened without the Section 201 tariffs giving a relative edge to product made in the United States. But as every one of these companies has told pv magazine, they also probably would not have happened without the changes to the U.S. tax code under the tax reform rammed through by Republican majorities in Congress in late 2017.
Also, while these factories and a the smaller ones that had held or or started back up total around 5 GW of capacity, the United States is expected to install more than 12 GW of solar this year – more than double the nation’s entire module capacity.
Also, the cell sector is almost completely missing in the United States. There are no merchant cell factories in the United States, and all of the crystalline silicon factories that have recently ramped up import cells from overseas. In fact, the one big integrated cell and module factory in the United States – the Tesla/Panasonic Gigafactory in Upstate New York – does not appear to be producing much.
As such, the minor revival of U.S module manufacturing that these factories represent does not change the fundamental nature of trade flows or manufacturing in the solar industry; the United States still overwhelmingly installs imported solar products, mostly from Asia.
Update: This article was updated at 10:12 AM EST on September 23 to include more information on the ramping of the factory.
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Christian Roselund
Christian Roselund served as US editor at pv magazine from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this he covered global solar policy, markets and technology for Solar Server, and has written about renewable energy for CleanTechnica, German Energy Transition, Truthout, The Guardian (UK), and IEEE Spectrum.
0W Q.Peak DUO L-G7 Solar Module by Hanwha Q.Cells
The 400W Q.Peak DUO L-G7 Solar Module by Hanwha Q.Cells offers an architecture that is particularly good for locations with trees, neighbouring buildings, roof obstructions. This 72-cell monocrystalline solar module uses half-cut cells 6 bus bar assembly architecture to minimize the effects of shading. Making it ideal for a wide range of residential commercial applications.
Description
The 400W Q.Peak DUO L-G7 Solar Module by Hanwha Q.Cells offers an architecture that is particularly good for locations with trees, neighbouring buildings, roof obstructions. This 72-cell monocrystalline solar module uses half-cut cells 6 bus bar assembly architecture to minimize the effects of shading. Making it ideal for a wide range of residential commercial applications.
The new Q.PEAK DUO L-G7 solar module from Q CELLS impresses thanks to innovative Q.ANTUM DUO Technology, which enables particularly high performance on a small surface. Q.ANTUM’s world-record-holding cell concept has now been combined with state-of-the-art circuitry half cells and a six-busbar design, thus achieving outstanding performance under real conditions – both with low-intensity solar radiation as well as on hot, clear summer days.
400W Q.Peak DUO L-G7 Features…
State-Of-The-Art Module Technology High yield per unit surface area, and up to 19.9% efficiency
All-Weather Performance Optimal yields through excellent low-light high temperature performance
Enduring High Performance Long-term yield security via anti-LID, and anti-PID, hot-spot protect, and traceable quality
Extreme Weather Rating Aluminum allow frame designed for high snow (5400Pa) wind (4000Pa) conditions
Maximum Cost Reductions Optimized logistics reduces module pricing
Warranty 12-years mechanical, 25-years power output
Target Applications…
400W Q.Peak DUO L-G7 Specifications…
Electrical Power at MPP1 PMPP [W] : 400 Watts Short Circuit Current ISC [A] : 10.19 Amps Open Circuit Voltage VOC [V] : 48.96 Current at MPP IMPP [A] : 9.7 Voltage at MPP VMPP [V] : 41.23 Efficiency η [%] : ≥ 19.9
Mechanical Frame : Anodized aluminum with white backsheet Dimensions (including frame) :79.3 in × 39.4 in × 1.38 in (2015 mm × 1000 mm × 35 mm) Weight : 51.8 lbs (23.5 kg)
Who Is Hanwha Q.Cells?
Hanwha Q.Cells is one of the world’s leading photovoltaic companies and offers a wide range of photovoltaic solutions. As a global leader, Q.Cells is committed to maintaining our excellent quality, combined with industry-leading technological innovations. Hanwha Q.Cells cell production capacity of 5.7GW and its solar module manufacturing capacity of 5.7GW makes the company the largest cell and one of the biggest solar module manufacturers in the world.
Hanwha Q.Cells never stops improving its products. Their premium solar modules are the result of industry-leading technical expertise. than 400 scientists and engineers research, develop, and conduct tests in four RD centers and in their module test center. Altogether, more than 1,300 employees work in four RD centers and in manufacturing plants for innovation and improvement in technology and quality. It is no coincidence that Hanwha solar modules have set numerous world records for efficiency. They have been awarded the 2016 Top Brand PV Seal in Europe, the USA and Australia, which shows that customers place trust in quality and performance of their products.
Hanwha Q CELLS Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, with its technology and innovation headquarters in Thalheim, Germany. The current company was created in February 2015 by combining Hanwha SolarOne and Hanwha Q CELLS. It is a subsidiary of the Hanwha Group.
Smarter E Products: Hanwha Q Cells showcases 400 W n-type solar module with 22.3% efficiency
Hanwha’s new PV modules, designed for rooftop applications, are available in two versions: a 400 W product with a power conversion efficiency of 22.3% and a white frame, and a black 395 W module with an efficiency of 22%. For both products, the temperature coefficient is.0.30%.
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South Korea’s Hanwha Q Cells is presenting a new solar module based on n-type Q.antum Neo solar cells with passivating contacts at this year’s Smarter E in Munich, Germany.
“The Q.Tron-G1 module is ideally suited for rooftop applications – either for private residences or commercial and industrial installations,” a spokesperson from the company told pv magazine.
The new product, which was developed at its RD facility in Thalheim, Germany, is based on a solar cell technology that combines a passivation layer and electrical interconnection functionality in the panel transmitter. This cell configuration reportedly allows for full area passivation and contact at the same time.
The solar panel is available in two versions: a 400 W product with a power conversion efficiency of 22.3% and a white frame; and a black 395 W module with an efficiency of 22%.
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Both measure 1,717 mm × 1,045 mm × 32 mm and weigh in at 19.9 kg. The have a temperature coefficient of.0.30%, which the manufacturer said is an improvement on industry-standard modules. They come with a 25-year product warranty and a 25-year performance warranty. The first-year degradation is said to be 1.5% and 25-year end power output is guaranteed to be no less than 90.58% of the nominal output power.
The module also features Q Cells Yield Security technology, which includes anti-potential-induced degradation (PID) and anti-light-induced degradation (LID), as well as protection from hot spots. “ Another inherent feature of Q.antum technology is Tra.Q, which is Q Cells’ unique laser identification process that traces and monitors every single cell manufactured by the company, to guard against counterfeiting,” said the spokesperson. “We also secured QCPV certification from TÜV Rheinland, which ensures long-term reliability thanks to TÜV Rheinland’s production monitoring and material testing.”
According to the manufacturer, the solar m odule is already available in South Korea and will soon be introduced into leading European markets.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Emiliano Bellini
Emiliano joined pv magazine in March 2017. He has been reporting on solar and renewable energy since 2009.