Cheapest Solar Panels – Which Companies Sell at the Lowest Price and Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers
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Solar Panels despite being mostly a commodity comes in a wide variety of types,technology,prices,size and colors.You can read an introduction about the lowest cost panels here.With there being no global index of Solar Panel Prices and with Prices of Solar Panels forming very quickly,its a difficult problem in acquiring the cheapest solar panels.The problem is compounded for solar panel buyers because these panels are typically sold by wholesalers and distributors who charge fat margins without providing any additional value.Also due to the lack of knowledge about the quality and the properties of solar panels,buyers generally get fleeced.Also panels are seldom sold separately as it is generally part of the overall package of the complete installation of panels,inverters,wiring,connection and integration.Here is a quick overview of which are the companies which make the lowest cost solar panels on the planet at a good quality and the most recent prices which they are selling at.Notice that the European and Japanese solar panels are of much higher price despite there being very little to differentiate themselves from Asian solar panels.
Lowest Cost Solar Panel Companies
There exists a number of low cost panel producers however for reference purposes here are the 3 of the biggest low cost solar panel producers.There are a number of other companies as well which sell at marginally higher prices than these 3 producers.
1) Trina Solar – Trina Solar is one of the lowest cost manufacturers of Solar Panels in the World right now and also sells it at a very low price.This is the reason that the company in a span of few short years has manged to acquire a 10% global marketshare.The prices the solar panels being sold are around $340 per 200 watt module.
2) Solarfun – The Company which was recently acquired by South Korean Chemicals Giant Hanwha also makes one of the cheapest panels and sells it a very low price.The quality is also quite good and with strong parentage behind it,the solar panels made by the company.Again like Trina Solar,it has very low cost Chinese manufacturing capacity.The company also sells at around $1.65/watt.
3) Canadian Solar – The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.The Company also sells panels at around $1.7/watt.
Summary
Note the European and Japanese companies like Sharp,Kyocera,Mitsubishi,Solarworld,Sunpower have very little extra in terms of quality compared to the much higher prices that they charge.These companies ask for 20-40% higher panel prices compared to cheap Chinese solar panels.A lot of these companies outsource the production to the Chinese companies as well like Flextronics etc.It makes better sense to buy directly from the companies than distributors who charge a huge margin without providing any benefits.
5 Comments
I do confirm the canadian solar, I bought a 20K system with Canadian solars and i never had any problem with them. its quality is very good and its cost is reasonable. i thing they are perfect panels.
Since here you talk about the cheap panels, I think it is good to mention where i got them. I was looking for these panels in Florida so I found Sun Electronics, the thing I like about them is that they know what they are doing. I got my whole system from them and I’m happy with that. I hope that would help you.
Thank you Peter,your information is appreciated
Your advice “Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers” then leaves me the question: How do I purchase directly from the manufacturer, and who do I then consult to obtain the specs on what I need for my particular installation?
Are there installers who will do the work without selling the product as well?…In the Los Angeles area?
Thanks for any help you might be able to give!
Hi James,
Can’t specifically answer for the Los Angeles area but in general installers will sell you a combined installation package along wit the panels as well.However I think you can get the quotes for specfic companies’ products and in 2011 you should be able to get them as well.
Abhishek
I believe you are completely wrong about purchasing from distributors/wholesalers.
Here is what they offer, a one stop shop for all your installation needs, they will help you design a system, package it all together and have waiting for you at your job site, what is the alternative does each dealer need a warehouse to store product, and as James asked and you could not answer what are you going to do spend all your time finding each company of each product in the integration of the system, it is thinking like this that has ruined the solar sales channels, you have factories in China and other countries trying to sell a pallet at a time to the dealers, if all sales were done through authorized distributors you’d have consistent pricing and much better service.