Suntech Solar Panels: An Independent Review by Solar Choice

Note: Solar Choice is not a solar installer and has no financial or other incentives to promote any product brand over another.

Overview of Suntech Solar – Company History

Suntech Power was founded in 2001 by Dr Zhengrong Shi who is widely recognised as a pioneer of solar module manufacturing and dubbed as the “sun king” as he became the world’s first solar billionaire in 2006. Since commencing operations in 2001, Suntech has manufactured over 50GW of photovoltaic modules which have been distributed to over 100 countries. They grew quickly to be the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world in 2011. Suntech encountered financial troubles and restructured in 2013.

Suntech has developed a strong connection to the Australian market, with research and development projects being run at UNSW, ANU, and Monash University. These connections were enabled as founder and former CEO, Dr Shi obtained his doctorate degree of solar power technology at UNSW prior to founding Suntech.

In 2014 Suntech was acquired by Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited, a renewable energy investment and independent power company. Suntech has received international recognition, being awarded Top PV Brand by the EuPD Research Institute. This is an illustrious award as EuPD is considered the solar industry’s leading research institute. Suntech has also received rewards from branches of the United Nations for its contribution to environmental protection.

Read Solar Choice’s extensive Suntech solar panels review below:

Key Panel Indicators

What is a Bloomberg Tier 1 Solar Panel?

Bloomberg’s infamous tier 1 ranking is NOT a measure of Solar Panel quality in any way. It is simply an indication of the bankability of the manufacturer based on publicly released information on the financial health of the company. This should give you an idea if the company is a large, well-known manufacturer.

See full list of Bloomberg Tier 1 Solar Panels 

What is PV Evolution Labs Top Performer?

PV Evolution Labs with support from DNV GL independently test solar panel reliability. The tests are voluntary, with solar panel manufacturers paying to participate in the testing. This testing process is internationally renowned and is an accurate reflection of the solar panel’s performance.

Suntech Solar Panels was listed as a top performer for 5 performance tests(thermal cycling, damp heat, mechanical stress sequence, PID, LID+LETID) in the latest report for their mono-facial double glass residential solar panel (STPXXXS-C54/Nshkm+). This was their only residentially-sized model that performed this highly.

See full list of PV Evolution Labs Top Performing Solar Panels

Why is office location in Australia Important?

Most solar panel manufacturers entering the Australian market first set up their distribution channels and worry about customer service later. This has led to many unhappy customers who are left trying to contact Chinese head offices to claim on their 10-year product warranty.

Relying on your solar installer is not always an option as we’ve seen many residential solar installers (including the large ones) go out of business well within the lifetime of the systems they are installing.

Suntech’s Australian head office is located in Chatswood, NSW.

How Much Do Suntech Solar Panels Cost?

Based on Solar Choice’s database we have provided the below-average costs as an indicative guide. These prices include:

• Full turnkey Solar System with Suntech Solar Panels
• Installation from a pre-vetted reputable installer from Solar Choice’s network
• The STC rebate and GST

 Important Note: Prices will vary depending on location, inverter brand and which installer is used

Suntech Solar Panels – Points of Difference

There are many solar panels out there, what makes Suntech solar panels stand out?

Long History Company

Suntech is a solar manufacturer with over 20 years of “rollercoaster-like” history in the solar industry. Suntech was the biggest solar panel manufacturer in the early 2000s and played a leadership role in developing new manufacturing technologies to get to incredible scale. 

However in 2013 Suntech suffered a series of financial issues including debt default and plant closure. Through a restructuring process, Suntech gradually paid off its debts and returned to the market. Suntech has had steady development since then; their annual module capacity reached 11GW at the end of 2021 and reached the 10th largest module capacity position. 

Successful projects Developed by Suntech Solar Panels

Apart from Suntech’s history, their solar panels have a good reputation and quality due to their large portion of R&D investment and strong academic background. You can find many solar project cases utilising Suntech Solar panels, from your neighbours house, to local businesses and to many of the utility-scale solar farms in Australia.

Suntech Solar Panel Technologies

Suntech currently has 108 solar panels approved by the Clean Energy Council in Australia under the name “Wuxi Suntech Power Co Ltd”. This is a requirement to be eligible for the federal STC solar rebate.

Currently, in Australia Suntech offers one main series for the residential market which has a few different variants for customers to choose from.

Ultra V Pro Mini

Ultra V Pro Mini is the latest Suntech solar product in Australian market. Ultra V Pro Mini Series panels have a range of solar modules from 420Wp to 440Wp with an impressive maximum efficiency rating up to 22.5% (STP440S-C54/Nshb).

All the panels use 108 half-cut N-type monocrystalline silicon cells which make up a slightly smaller than average dimensions of 1722mm x 1134mm for the solar panel.

The series comes in bifacial or monofacial options. The bifacial panel will generally only offer yield benefits if you are installing the panel on tilt frames with a reflective white or light grey roof. The bifacial solar panel uses 1.6mm of glass on each side of the panel, which is slightly thinner than many bifacial options which use 2mm of glass on either side. The monofacial option with a 3.2mm front glass sheet and a polymer back sheet (STPXXXS – C54/Nshb).

The series also has an ‘all-black’ option which offers very similar performance characteristics but presents a more attractive looking option for homeowners with a visible roof-space.

Suntech’s Warranty Offer for Australian Customers

Typically solar panels in Australia come with a 25 year performance warranty and a minimum 10 year product warranty.

The performance warranty guarantees the amount of energy that a solar panel will provide in certain conditions. These warranties usually decline over the 25 year period in line with the degradation of the silicon in the panel. Suntech’s Ultra V Pro series offers a 30-year performance warranty, outpacing some of the alternatives on the market. The solar panel output is guaranteed to decline no more than 1% in the first year and 0.4% each year thereafter resulting in a minimum of 87.4% after the 30th year. We would consider this to be exceeding the industry standard.

The product warranty is more valuable and claimed on more often. These days it is rare to see a solar panel with less than a minimum of 15 years full replacement warranty. Suntech’s panels Ultra V Pro series offers a 25-year product warranty which is rapidly becoming the norm for residential solar panels in Australia.

Suntech’s warranty policy is also bolstered by the fact the have an Australian office and team where you can make a warranty claim. If your installer doesn’t last the next 25 years then you will be glad you have this option to go to them directly.

Click here to read Suntech’s full Australian warranty document

Comparison of Popular Suntech Solar Panel Specs

Pros and Cons of Suntech Solar Panels

Pros

• Long history company with reasonable product quality
• Bloomberg tier 1 panel brand listed
• Have local office in Sydney and Melbourne

Cons

• Smaller range of solar panels for residential projects with no top-end premium options 
• Their bifacial panels have slightly thinner glass sheets used (1.6mm instead of 2mm) which may lead to greater susceptibility to hail damage. It should be noted that their double glass bifacial solar panel (STP440S-C54/Nshkm+) still performed highly in PV Evolution Labs 2024 hail testing.

Should I Buy Suntech Solar Panels?

Suntech solar panels would suit a customer looking for a cost-effective option with good technical characteristics. They are well supported in Australia with a local office and established distributor relationships.

All the signs suggest that, despite some earlier financial troubles, the company is now in a stable financial position. Their Bloomberg Tier 1 rating provides independent confirmation of this. 

When selecting the best model from Suntech, we like their double glass bifacial solar panel (STP440S-C54/Nshkm+) which was named as a top performer across 5 of 7 categories in the latest PV Evolution Labs independent testing.

Example of a Suntech Solar Commercial Solar Project

Suntech have supplied solar panels to a number of solar farm projects in Australia. The project illustrated here was installed in 2019 and has a total system capacity of 140MW. Suntech also supplied solar panels to a new 400MW project in Australia that will be completed next year.

Read more product reviews from Solar Choice

• About
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Jeff Sykes

CEO at Solar Choice

Jeff has consulted on over 20MW of commercial solar projects, ranging from SMEs to ASX top 100 companies. Jeff has also provided independent advice to 100s of residential solar, battery and EV charging customers across every state in Australia. He holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and is an expert in business strategy and financial analysis.

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