The rapid growth of the Solar Panel industry has led to many electrical manufacturers working on their own solar panel technologies and many new companies setting up. Some of the brands are well known for producing other electrical goods and some are specialist purely in the solar panel industry.
Here at Solar Pages we have compiled a list of the top manufacturers within the solar industry and a brief synopsis.
SolarCentury
SolarCentury are the UK's largest independent solar company. They offer the complete process from design, to manufacture and installation of photovoltaic solar panels and are a supplier to schools, government, industry and homeowners across the country.
Sanyo
Sanyo Solar is a well-established innovator in the solar industry. Sanyo have been producing photovoltaic products for 30 years. Sanyo were the first company to design and produce 20% efficient PV solar panels available in volume to the market. Sanyo do this by their use of HIT solar modules, known as Hetero-junction with Intrinsic Thin Layer. These are hybrid solar panels that use solar cell technology with the thin layer technology together to create maximum efficiency.
Sharp
Sharp, a well-known player in the electrical industry, offer photovoltaic solar panels to mass markets at affordable prices. This does not mean there is a loss of quality, after all Sharp have been developing their photovoltaic solar panel offering for 50 years now.
Romag
Romag are a UK company that has photovoltaic solar panels as a core area of their business. The company specialises in glass processing and their SMT6 range of photovoltaic solar panels are all MCS approved (Microgeneration Certification scheme).
Suntech
Suntech are newer to the market having been in business for 10 years but in that time have become well established, shipping over 13 million solar panels. Suntech is the world's largest producer of silicon solar modules.
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi are an established electrical manufacturer that has over 35 years experience in photovoltaic solar panels. Mitsubishi are proud to use 100% lead-free solder in the production of their PV solar panels and strive to deliver highly efficient systems. Mitsubishi offer some of the more affordable systems, but do not compromise on quality.
Q-Cells
Q-Cells are globally one of the largest manufacturers of PV solar systems and have seen significant growth having only been in the market for 12 years. They employ over 200 scientists and engineers that are working constantly to advance their solar technology aiming to bring down the cost of their product but to improve the efficiency at the same time.
SunPower
SunPower are a US based company, they have a large range of PV solar products for business and residential purchase. SunPower design, manufacture and install their solar technologies and have been in operation in excess of 25 years. SunPower hold the record for the most efficient solar cells at 22.4% efficiency. All SunPower systems come with a generation meter so households can keep track of the energy they are producing.
Yingli
Yingli produce photovoltaic solar panels known best for their reliability. Yingli manage the production process from manufacturing the cell from silicon to assembling the modules. Yingli has over 11,000 employees with branches in 10 countries globally.
JA Solar
JA Solar are one of the newest companies to market, set up in 2005. JA Solar produce photovoltaic cells that they sell to solar manufacturers worldwide, but also develop and sell their own PV solar systems to commercial businesses and for residential use.
Kyocera
Kyocera have been in the market place for 35 years and pride themselves on completing all production processes in-house giving them 100% control on the delivered product.
First Solar
First Solar are the largest manufacturer of thin-film photovoltaic solar panels. First Solar have attained the smallest carbon footprint when measured on a life cycle basis of any PV technology. They have also produced the first thin-film photovoltaic system to generate 2GW when measured in a real life situation.
