China’s JA Solar has been a rather quiet achiever compared to some of its flashier competitors. But in 2025 the firm is strutting its stuff, celebrating two decades in the PV manufacturing game.
JA Solar was founded in 2005 by Jin Baofang, who reportedly previously worked as an electricity bureau official in Ningjin and also dabbled in photovoltaics in the 1990s. The company has made him a billionaire, but his success has had its share of troubled times — including being detained by Chinese government authorities in 2020 for reasons unknown. The company continued on during that period and he returned to work the following year.
JA Solar began manufacturing solar cells soon after it was founded, and in 2006 achieved what was a world record at the time — 17.8% cell conversion efficiency. The company listed on the NASDAQ in 2007, then began producing solar panels in 2010. In 2012, it further expanded to offering full solutions for large-scale projects.
JA Solar was delisted from the NASDAQ in 2018 after being acquired by JASO Acquisition Limited, which was formed by a group of buyers to facilitate acquisition of the firm. In 2019, the company officially listed on the A-share market in China on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
As of the first quarter of this year, JA Solar’s cumulative module shipments surpassed 280 GW according to the firm, which makes it one of the world’s biggest manufacturers in terms of total shipments. Just as a comparison with a couple of other panel manufacturing heavyweights:
- In December last year, JinkoSolar (founded in 2006) announced it had shipped 300GW of panels since it began operations.
- By the end of March 2025, Trina Solar has shipped more than 275GW of modules (founded in 1997).
“Our 20th anniversary belongs to every employee, partner, and customer who has been part of our journey,” said Aiqing Yang, Executive President of JA Solar last month. “As we look ahead, we reaffirm our commitment to driving innovation, advancing green development, and delivering long-term value to our global partners.”
JA Solar Panels In Australia
The firm entered the Australian market in 2013, so their panels have had a good workout under local conditions.
The company’s panels are particularly attractive to budget buyers. For example, the bifacial Deep Blue 4.0 Pro 440 Watt (front face wattage) module we have listed on our solar panel comparison table has an estimated retail price of $140 – that’s just 32 cents a Watt.
While Deep Blue panels have a product warranty of 25 years, this doesn’t cover labour costs for removal and reinstallation of new panels. Even among some similarly priced budget competitors (such as Jinko), this is covered. Another point of difference is JA Solar’s panels tend to be a little larger than some of its competitors in the same wattage class.
But Australian buyers appear to be generally happy with their purchases, with JA Solar panel reviews here on SolarQuotes averaging 4.8 stars overall (722 ratings) and 4.9 stars in the last 12 months (99 ratings).
As for SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock’s take on the firm’s panels:
“Cheap, reliable, and well-supported in Australia. Nothing to get excited about and nothing to complain about. A low-risk option for the budget-conscious.”
The company, which has a local presence through an office in Sydney, is currently listed on our recommended solar panel brands chart.
However, JA Solar didn’t score a spot on the podium again this year in our Installers Choice Awards for the best solar panels in 2025 (residential installations); coming in at 7th place with ~5% of votes. In fact, the firm has never ranked in the top 3 among participating installers since the awards began.
While not the darling of the local residential PV scene on the installer side of things, the firm’s modules have featured in a number of Australian utility-scale projects such as Ross River Solar Farm in Queensland and Gannawarra Solar Farm in Victoria.
On a related note, discover everything you need to know about choosing solar panels.
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