Aiko 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 Aiko Solar Panels or any product brand over another

Overview of Aiko – Company History

Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy Co., Ltd (stock code: 600732.SH) is a new energy technology company, focusing on the R&D and manufacturing of solar panel products since 2009. AIKO now has 6 manufacturing plants in China and 3 R&D centres in China and Europe. AIKO has also established 20 global branches with over 15,000 employees around the world.

Aiko Solar estimate their current manufacturing capacity is approximately 35GW per year for TOPcon cells and 100GW for ABC cells.

Aiko Solar entered the Australian market at the Smart Energy 2024 event in Sydney. It revealed partnerships with local major solar distributors including Solar Juice, AC Solar Warehouse, Sol Distribution, and Tradezone. Aiko’s stated goal is to deliver 2GW of AIKO’s GEN 2 N-type ABC solar modules to the Australian market over the next three years.

Key Indicators for Aiko Solar Panels

 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

Aiko solar panels recently obtained their tier 1 ranking from Bloomberg in 2024.

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.

Aiko‘s solar panels are currently ranked on the 2024 PV Top Performers List, with some of their mono-glass modules named as a top performers in 6 out of 7 tests. These include thermal cycling, damp heat, mechanical stress sequence, hail stress sequence, PID, and LIT+LETID tests.

Their mono-glass panels with a polymer back sheet performed better than the dual-glass panels which didn’t feature as top-performers in hail testing and and damp heat testing.

See the 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 their 25-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.

Aiko currently has an Australian office in Melbourne.

Aiko Solar Panels – Points of Difference

There are many solar panels out there, what makes Aiko’s solar panels stand out?

‘ABC’ Solar Cell Technology

AIKO is known as one of the first manufacturers to mass-produce solar panels with ABC (All Back Contact) solar cell technology. This technology involves placing both the positive and negative metal contacts to the rear of the solar cell, whilst they would normally be one contact on either side.

This design has a few advantages:

1. Higher efficiency through reduced shading. The thin strips of metal that are traditionally on the front of the panel block a small amount of light from hitting the silicon cells. Moving them to the back increases light absorption 
2. Improved appearance. The removal of the metal strips from the front of the panel also enables Aiko to produce a truly all black solar panel which has a more striking look than many ‘all black’ solar panel options.  

Aiko Solar Panel Technologies

Aiko currently has 20 panels approved under the name of “ Zhejiang Aiko Solar Technology Co Ltd” including all three series of products for residential, commercial and utility uses.

NEOSTAR Series (Residential)

The NEOSTAR series targets residential users with a power range from 435W to 480W. These panels feature N-type ABC solar cells which leads to a reasonable max efficiency rating of 22.1% for their 440W option.  

The series has an ‘all black’ option which uses all black framing and also eliminates visible grid lines on the front of the panels through the ABC solar cell technology. 

The panel comes in a mono-glass or dual-glass option. The mono-glass option has a 3.2mm glass front sheet and a polymer back sheet while the dual-glass option has a 2mm glass sheet on each side of the solar cells. Independent testing by PV Evolution labs demonstrated that Aiko’s mono-glass solar panels are more resilient to hail and damp heat.

All panels in this series come with a 25 year product warranty and 30-year performance warranty.

COMET Series (Commercial)

The Comet Series from Aiko is designed for commercial applications with larger dimension panels with outputs ranging from 605W to 660W. 

The solar panels utilise the same N-Type ABC solar cells, however have an additional 34 half-cells for each panel. 

Notably the maximum efficiency ratings for the Comet Series are higher than the Neostar series, ranging from 22.8% to 24.2% which is very impressive. It should be noted that these panels come with a shorter product warranty of 15 years which is common for products designed for the commercial solar market.

How Much Do Aiko Solar Panels Cost?

Aiko solar panels are priced towards the middle of the market. The costs are indicative wholesale costs that would be available to a solar panel installer (not an end customer)

Please note there are many factors that go into a solar system quote including other inverters, panel mounting structure, labour, freight and other system components.

Aiko’s Warranty for Australian Customers

Solar panels typically come with both product and performance warranties. The product warranty covers manufacturing faults that lead to damage or malfunction and is typically 15-25 years for most solar panel manufacturers. Aiko’s Neostar series come with a 25 year product warranty, while their Comet series has a 15-year product warranty.

The performance warranty ensures a certain level of output for the panel’s lifetime, typically guaranteeing 80-85% of the nameplate output after 25 years. All Aiko’s main solar panels in the Neostar and Comet series offer a 30 year performance warranty degrading a 0.35% after year 2. This means they will deliver at least 90.6% of their nameplate value after 25 years and 88.85% after 30 years.

Aiko have established a local subsidiary (AIKO Energy Australia Pty Ltd) who are responsible for servicing Aiko solar panels locally. It is good to see that they have a physical office set up in Melbourne and can be contacted on 1300 245 628 or aus.service@aikosolar.com. 

See more details of Aiko’s Australia and New Zealand warranty document here.

Pros and cons of Aiko solar panels

Pros:

• ABC solar modules with high efficiency
• Local office and support in Australia
• Solar panels tested well in the 2024 PV Evolution Labs testing

Cons:

• Only fresh to the Australian market launching in 2024
• Limited availability of case studies showcasing the utilisation of their panels in larger projects in Australia

So Should I Buy Aiko Solar Panels

Aiko solar panels offer some impressive maximum efficiency ratings which is possible as one of the early adopters of the ABC cell technology. Their solar panels tested well in the PV Evolution labs tests and importantly the panels that were tested are ones that are sold in the Australian market.

The main downside we found in our Aiko solar panels review is that they are very fresh to the Australian market. They don’t have the same track record of some of the other brands to demonstrate their reliability and customer service.

If you do select Aiko Solar panels for a rooftop solar project we recommend going for their mono-glass option which has been proven to be more resilient to hail and damp heat.

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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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