SunPower Solar Panels
In an effort to provide our clients across Arizona with the highest efficiency solar energy systems available, Empire Renewable Energy has partnered with SunPower.
SunPower modules have a 40-year lifespan and superior lifetime production. SunPower’s solar cells are the best performing on the market today with an operating efficiency of up to 24%. Per square foot, this produces as much as 20% more energy than competing products, which means you’ll get a faster return on your investment. SunPower solar panels: Outperform their competitors in the early morning, late afternoon and in cloudy conditions Absorb different light wavelengths to generate even more electricity Are more efficient at converting light into electricity rather than heat, which means they perform better in Arizona’s high temperatures Maintain optimal efficiency past their initial break-in phase Request A Quote
SunPower solar panels are consistently rated the highest in their output when compared to the same sized solar panels in the industry. This translates into nearly 10% more energy, even against panels that are rated for the same power output. As the chart to the left shows, this payback you receive increases over time since savings on power are cumulative.
The Best SoLar Panel technology
The secret to the exceptional performance of SunPower photovoltaic panels is their patented Maxeon® solar cell technology. Maxeon solar cells are made of premium materials that capture more light than other products. Unique features include a grid-free design and a backsheet that reflects additional light back into the solar cell. SunPower cells are designed to endure real-world weather conditions, which keeps long-term maintenance costs low while ensuring a minimum 98% uptime.
SunPower solar panels feature an industry-leading 25-year comprehensive warranty covering both manufacturer’s defects and overall performance — if your solar installation doesn’t continue to deliver exceptional efficiency during this time, Empire Renewable Energy will cover the cost of a replacement. Because we are an authorized SunPower dealer for Arizona businesses, we’re your first point of contact for all service and maintenance concerns, making it easy to quickly take care of any issues that arise.
The longer a panel lasts, the more power it produces. But claims of panel longevity typically aren’t matched by the warranties that are given. SunPower has the most generous warranty on the market. In fact, they guarantee their product against defects and that it will continue to produce more power over the warranty period. If the product fails to perform in either instance, SunPower will replace the panels and cover the removal and installation costs. The charts to the left compare SunPower’s warranties with those generally offered by other manufacturers.
YOUR PARTNER FOR SUNPOWER SOLAR PANELS IN ARIZONA
As the largest and best-established provider of renewable energy solutions in Arizona, Empire is committed to bringing the best products and service to all our clients. Our partnership with SunPower is a natural one, as both our companies have a long history of innovation and leadership. When you work with Empire, we’ll help you choose the right SunPower solar panel for your application. With access to the company’s entire lineup of products and the expertise necessary to help you make Smart choices, we can provide the service and support you need for any residential or commercial solar project. SunPower solar panels require little regular maintenance and can be counted on for years of trouble-free use. For any service issues, maintenance or warranty work that is required, one call to Empire is all it takes.
SunPower® Complete Confidence Warranty
The first step in installing a SunPower solar panel system is to get in touch with an Empire representative directly. We’ll schedule a comprehensive site evaluation in which we go over your power needs and the specifics of your property to present you with several options and pick the best one for your budget. We’ll then put together a package containing SunPower panels and all the hardware necessary to begin the installation. Find out more about SunPower solar panel installation by contacting Empire today. Request A Quote
Have you been thinking about making the switch to home solar power?
It’s never been easier! From the initial consultation to installation, SunPower will guide you through the simple five step process. SunPower’s systems are backed by the company’s industry-leading Complete Confidence Warranty, which covers everything from panels and racking to monitoring hardware and storage.
Did we pique your interest in home solar power? Have a solar energy consultant from SunPower help you customize the solar package that best matches your needs and life at home. SunPower will also provide different financing options.
Home Solar Solutions provided by SunPower
You’ve always thought about taking the first step towards harnessing solar energy, and now’s the time to consider your individual benefits by contacting a SunPower energy consultant.
Make your mark
A: It is a complete turn-key solar energy system that contains a solar panel design that fits your roof, full installation of solar panels, microinverters, and mounting system, complete with a monitoring app for your phone. There are different price points to fit the budgets of the many people. IKEA, together with SunPower, intends to make clean energy affordable, accessible and easy to understand.
A: In order to provide to our customers with great technical expertise, IKEA is partnering with SunPower. SunPower has been in business for more than 37 years and globally has more than 13.2 GW of installed solar capacity to date. That’s the equivalent of powering over 7.5 million homes each year. SunPower’s solar panels among the most efficient and durable technologies on the market. The Home Solar offer combines the IKEA knowledge of life at home with SunPower’s technical expertise in solar energy to secure a great customer offer and experience. You will be redirected to the SunPower website after signing into your IKEA Family account for more information.
A: First, sunlight hits a solar panel on the roof. The panels generate direct current (DC), energy which flows to an inverter. The inverter converts the electricity from DC to alternating current (AC), which you can then use to power your home. It’s beautifully simple and clean, and it’s getting more efficient and affordable all the time. The solar system generates electricity during the day to power your home. If you have a solar storage system, any excess solar energy generated can be stored in your home solar storage battery. In the evening, the energy stored in the solar storage system can be used to help decrease the amount of electricity drawn from the grid. The solar plus storage system enables you to generate your own electricity and then use it when it best suits your needs.
A: When you install solar panels you will save by reducing your electricity consumption from the grid and thus, you’ll see a reduction in your electricity bill. If you choose to install a battery, your savings will likely be even higher as you can consume the excess electricity you produced and stored during sunny hours in the evening or when the sun is not shining.
A: One of the advantages of solar energy is that the addition of PV panels can increase home values. In 2019, an online real estate marketplace found that U.S. homes with solar panels typically sell for 4.1% more than comparable homes.
What The Hell Is SunPower?
SunPower is a US company that produces panels in the Philippines, presumably because they saw the people there badly needed a boost to their low wages.
The company was founded in 1985 by Richard Swanson, who first started investigating solar cells because he was fascinated with their use in space. The company spent 6 million developing space solar cells, but they were not a success and I couldn’t find a single example of their solar cells being blasted into orbit or beyond. I’m afraid Spectrolab pretty much has the space solar market stitched up. But I think SunPower deserves credit for trying. Personally, I wouldn’t compete against Spectrolab in anything, as they are clearly winner of the prize for having the company name that makes them sound most likely to attempt to kill James Bond.
SpectroLab: They have a James Bond name and they beat SunPower in the solar space race.
Richard Swanson is also famous for Swanson’s Law, which states that for every doubling of production capability, the cost of solar panels fall by 20%. And while the price of solar panels have had their ups and mostly downs, his law has done fairly well. So let’s all hope solar panels have a few more Swansons left in them.
SunPower’s Warranty Is The Best You Can Get
SunPower sell panels with a 25 year warranty. And that’s not just the performance warranty. I can buy cruddy solar panels from a company with an internet site that claims a photograph of an architect’s model is their factory and they will come with a 25 year performance warranty. While SunPower does have a 25 year performance warranty, I’m talking about their product warranty. That’s what’s important, because if your solar panel stops working, the performance warranty won’t cover that. Only the product warranty does and SunPower Australia’s is 25 years, which is more than twice as long as the next best I am aware of.
SunPower’s failure rate is 27 in 1 million. That means only one panel in 37,000 is defective and needs to be replaced. So if you have a rooftop solar system of around 5 kilowatts with 15 panels, that means there is about one chance in 2,500 you will have a defective panel that needs to be returned. And those are damn good odds.
Did I say return a panel? Actually, there is absolutely no need to return it. If you have a defective panel, SunPower will send someone to come and replace it. Now that is good service. And presumably they will take the old panel away and perform an autopsy to determine why it died so young and take steps to try to ensure it never happens again.
How Do They Offer Twice The Warranty Of Anyone Else?
Thermal expansion is a major cause of solar panel failure. It results from temperature changes causing different materials to expand and contract at varying rates and puts strain on joins between different materials and can cause cracks to form in the thin metal wires that conduct electricity. Once those wires break and stop the flow of current they can form a hot spot that gradually burns through the protective encapsulate that covers it, which can lead to corrosion and the failure of the entire panel.
SunPower claim to have completely eliminated thermal expansion as a cause of failure, for at least the first 25 years of their panel’s life.
They have done this by making the wires that collect electricity a fine patterned mesh on the back of the cell, which resembles a printed circuit board. And this arrangement is apparently great at distributing stress caused by expansion and helps keep it together.
They have also greatly improved the survivability of connections between solar cells by having more of them and designing them so they suffer less stress from thermal expansion.
The panels also have a thin copper backing. Copper is a soft, ductile metal useful for avoiding damage from thermal expansion and it is also excellent for resisting corrosion. Unfortunately, copper is expensive, so perhaps they could benefit from using a different material. Looking up the periodic table, as I do at regular intervals, I see that elements with properties similar to copper are silver, gold, and something called roentgenium which decays so fast it has severe trouble lasting 25 minutes let alone 25 years. So maybe copper is a good choice.
SunPower cells have a copper plate on the bottom and a light trapping surface on the top.
Interestingly one of SunPower’s competitors in the premium solar panel market, Q-Cells are working on a cell design (codename: Q.ANTUM) that appears to be ‘inspired’ by SunPower but uses aluminium instead of copper, and has the reflector layer under the silicon:
Q-Cells appear to be moving to a Sunpower style back contact, but they have chosen aluminium.
Aluminium is much cheaper than copper – so it will be interesting to see how the final Q-Cells Q.antum panels compare in performance, durability and price. Watch this space I’ll let you know as soon as I can get more information.
Sunrun vs SunPower: Solar Power
Let’s look at a few solar panel elements where Sunrun vs Sunpower can be compared.
Sunrun sources their solar panels from third-party suppliers. In contrast, SunPower has partnered with Maxeon Solar Technologies—a reputable manufacturer that produces high-quality solar panels with a proven track record of durability and efficiency.
SunPower offers its own Maxeon Solar line, with A Series, X Series, E Series, and P Series.
Installation Costs and Financing
While Sunrun’s average installation cost is around 3.93 per watt, the figure stands at 4.60 for SunPower. It’s worth noting that the exact installation costs vary depending on various factors, such as roof size, location, and additional services required. For some more perspective, NRG Clean Power typically completes similar projects for right around 3.00/watt. Get a price here.
When it comes to financing options, Sunrun offers lease, loan, and PACE programs, while SunPower offers only loan or mortgage options.
How Solar Storage Works
PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is a financing program that helps homeowners and commercial property owners pay for energy-efficient upgrades, such as solar panels, through a property tax assessment. Offered by many local and state governments, the PACE program lends funds for these upgrades, which are then repaid over time through an assessment of their property tax bill.
Effortless Energy Independence with Sunrun
Backed by the prowess of the Tesla Powerwall and LG Chem, Sunrun offers its Brightbox™ solar storage service. The difference between Tesla Powerwall and LG Chem is that the former is for whole-home backup, while the latter is designed for partial coverage.
The Powerwall is a sleek and compact battery that can store up to 13.5 kWh of energy, which is enough to power a standard home for several hours during an outage. Sunrun offers financing options for their Brightbox™ service, so homeowners can get whole home backup with Tesla Powerwall for as little as down.
The company’s monthly and full amount lease of Tesla Powerwall comes with 24/7 systems performance monitoring and maintenance. Brightbox™ also enables homeowners to use stored energy during peak demand times instead of relying on more expensive grid electricity.
For instance, on hot summer afternoons, when air conditioning use is at its peak, utility companies may charge higher rates for electricity. With Tesla Powerwall, Brightbox™ can instead revert to energy generated by solar panels during high-demand periods to power your home. By avoiding the jacked-up electricity prices, homeowners can save on their utility bills.
Without having to pay high upfront costs, homeowners can take control of their home energy, reduce reliance on traditional power sources, and ensure access to electricity even during power outages.