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What are the factors I should keep in mind while looking at buying solar panels?

There are a number of factors that you should consider when selecting a solar panel. They are:

Trustworthiness

Any solar panel company can make a promise about quality, materials, warranty and support but the key is selecting a product made by a company whose promises can be trusted and who will be around in the long term to support you. Trustworthiness is hard to quantify but is usually best described through experience, reputation, commitment, transparency, integrity and size.

The quality of solar panels available in the market varies greatly. The type of aluminium used for the solar panel frame, the thickness and quality of the solder, the efficiency and quality of the solar cell, the water seal over time, the way the cells are encapsulated, the protection against micro cracking, the UV resistance of the backing sheet, the quality of the cables and plugs, all these factors together determine the quality and longevity of the solar panel.

LG panels are made in South Korea, in the Gumi factory, located near one of LG's state of the art LCD TV factories. Our manufacturing process is automated as our video example (LG's Automated Solar factory) shows . Our panels are manufactured to within a fraction of a millimetre to the same specification. We only use high quality input materials. The quality control done on our panels is as extensive as is done for LG’s other world class electronic equipment such as TVs, washing machines or fridges.

Trustworthiness also extends to your local supplier and installer of solar panels. Choosing a long established local company who has partnered with a diversified solar panel manufacturer is a great place to start. LG’s Authorized Dealer network offers you this combination.

Performance

Performance matters in two distinct ways.

Firstly, you need a solar panel that produces a good power level. Good power need not be the highest power (unless you have very limited space), but certainly it should be towards the upper end of the typical power ratings available in the market, which steadily increase over time as efficiencies increase.

Solar panel quality In 2013 LG’s current Mono-X 60 cell panel has 260W output, while many other panels only 250W output. Over the life of the home solar system, assumed to be 25 years, this difference of 10W per panel will give you for example in Brisbane over 8000kW/h more output for a 20 panel 5,2kW LG system compared to a 20 panel 5kW system.

Secondly, the solid and ongoing panel performance of a solar panel should also be backed up by strong technical confidence which can be demonstrated through tight power tolerances, a low temperature co-efficient and a clear description of how the products are tested, affected and rated against Potential Induced Degradation (PID) and Light Induced Degradation (LID).

A supplier who makes quality solar panels such as LG electronics typically offers a strong warranty that provides peace of mind about ongoing performance and has the dependability if something goes wrong.

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