Joining a bunch of other high-powered rooftop solar panels unveiled for the Australian market this year is Phono’s Quasar back-contact, dual-glass, bifacial solar module — expected to start shipping to local installers from late next month.
What Are The Specs For The Phono Quasar 475-Watt Panel?
- Model: PS475L7GFH-18/VBH
- Capacity: 475 Watts (front face)
- Cell Type: N Type Back Contact
- Module Efficiency: 23.27%
- Temperature Coefficient – -0.26%/°C
- Max system voltage 1,500 V DC
- Dimensions: 1800mm x 1134mm x 30mm ( a smidge over 2m2)
- Weight: 23.5kg
- Glass: 2.0mm front, 1.6mm back
- Salt Mist Certification: to Level 6
- Cyclone rated
- “Increased hail testing”
- Product warranty: 30 years for residential installations.
- Performance Warranty: 30-year linear performance warranty to 88.5% of original capacity at year 30. (1% allowable degradation first year, then 0.35% each year thereafter).
The “increased hail testing” is a bit of a mystery at this point as this datasheet, which isn’t AU-specific and around 4 months old, seems to indicate standard hail testing1. For standard hailstone resistance testing, international standard IEC 61215 stipulates panels must survive a test of 25mm diameter ice balls fired at 23m/s (82.8 km/hr ).
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UPDATE 20 November 2025: After this article was published, an Australian datasheet for the Quasar 475-Watt was uploaded to Phono’s website indicating hail diameter @ 97.9km/h of up to 35mm. An Australian warranty document is also now available.
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Shipments to installers don’t start until late December 2025, but the Quasar 475-Watt has been listed by the Clean Energy Council since the middle of September and is eligible for Australia’s solar panel rebate; so it’s ready to rock on that front2.
Commenting on the Quasar, co-founder of local solar wholesaler Supply Partners John Degotardi said:
“We believe the new Phono panel is one of the best on the market. Back-contact plus dual-glass AND bifacialality [sic] isn’t just for show. It’s about stronger energy yield in real homes, over decades, with fewer compromises in heat, wind or salt air. With a 30-year product and performance warranty for residential systems and local support, Phono is seriously better than similar panels with plastic backsheets.”
… and cue the inevitable debate on any boost provided by bifacial solar panels3 installed on residential rooftops.
Further information on the Phono Quasar 475 Watt can be found here.
Phono Solar Panels In Australia
Phono, or Sumec Phono Solar to use its full name, is a Chinese solar panel manufacturer founded in 2004 as a subsidiary of the Sumec Group; which was founded in 1978. The company has been supplying panels to Australia since 2010.
Phono has a total annual production capacity of 3 GW and states it has shipped over 20 GW of modules during its history. While very well-established, it’s still a small-ish player compared to some of the big-league brands. For example, JinkoSolar — which started producing panels in 2009 — had cumulative shipments of 320 GW by May this year.
Phono solar panels are currently listed on SolarQuotes’ recommended solar panels chart. In terms of pricing, they aren’t the cheapest — but nor the most expensive. We don’t have the Quasar on our solar panel comparison table yet, but you can compare specs of another Phono model, Helios, with a bunch of panels from other brands.
As for the opinions of Australians who have purchased the company’s gear, Phono solar panel reviews here on SolarQuotes have generally been positive; averaging a 4.7 star rating overall and 4.9 stars in the last 12 months — however, there’s only been 18 ratings submitted in the last year.
Other Powerful Panels Unveiled In 2025
Among other big-capacity rooftop panels announced for or released in Australia this year are Aiko’s 500-Watt monster, Trina’s Vertex S+ 475 W, the TW Solar TWMNH 470 W, Risen Energy’s RSM96-11 475 W and the Winaico WST-475BDX54-B2 475 W.
The Phono Quasar 475-Watt module was showcased at All-Energy Australia in Melbourne late last month. SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock highlighted some of the many other products on display; from MC connectors to home batteries — check out his All-Energy review video here.
Confused about your module choices? Learn about choosing the best solar panels for your home.
Footnotes
- And there are also some other differences, such as weight: 25kg and the glass on the back: 2mm — which explains the added weight. ↩
- I also noticed 480W, 485W, 490W and 495W Quasar modules are on the CEC-approved list; but there’s been no mention of if/when they might be available here that I’m aware of. ↩
- As well as harvesting solar energy from the front face, bifacial panels make use of light hitting/reflecting onto the back of the module. ↩
About Michael Bloch
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Having had some bad storms recently here in south east Qld and a lot of broken solar panels, hail rating is front of mind for me. To see the vague reference to enhanced hail testing with no detail is a little troubling.
We really need something better than 25mm hail testing – hail during the recent storms here was close to 4 times that size.
Yeah, insurance might buy you new panels, but word of mouth from friends who have had damaged panels in the past, it can take up to a year for the insurance company to actually replace them. Which of course will be costing you thousands in power.
“increased hail testing” yes, not much going to help with QLD / NSW storms of recent times.
I’m in the hail repair game, AND in the glass industry, and watching the hail auctions starting to come through now.
No solar panel is going to stand up to the recent and past storms of SE Qld and NSW regions, when they are bad at least.
Many of these vehicles coming through have 4mm toughened rear glass getting broken, and that’s curved which is stronger too !
These panels here are obviously flat, have 2mm toughened glass front, and 1.6mm rear (obviously not as important for impact protection), they are going to get smashed for sure if not glancing impacts . . . make sure you are covered by insurance with system listed on the policy.
The Australian data sheet has been finalised and the panel passed the 35mm hail test – https://phonosolar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/PS-Quasar-475W-Datasheet-I-Compressed.pdf