Qcells review

Qcells - Solar Panel Reviews

4.8

Based on 1259 ratings

Finn's Qcells Panels Review & Verdict

Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO

Qcells are great solar panels. Good performance, great quality, high energy density, and sensible physical sizes that make installers' lives safer and easier. They are priced in the mid to upper mid-range. They are well supported in Australia. 

I gotta say their marketing is terrible though. They change their logo more often than I change my boxers, and if you go to their website looking for panel specs, the only links you get are: GET INSPIRED, GET STARTED, GET SUPPORT, STAY IN THE LOOP. What the hell?

So if you want technical info on the panels, avoid the Qcells (or is it q.cells or q-cells?) site and look at our solar panel comparison table with links to all the spec sheets and warranty documents for every Qcells panel available in Australia.

Qcells Panels: Pros & Cons

  • Tier 1 manufacturer.
  • Company experience with solar PV, inverters & batteries.
  • Manufactured and supplied in-house.
  • Strong panel frames, broad clamp zones, and flexible mounting options.
  • Up to 25-year product and linear performance warranty.
  • Variety of sizes, including easier-to-handle widths (1879 × 1045 × 32mm).
  • Reasonably priced for respected products.
  • Local support with local website.
  • Consistently good star ratings based on reviews submitted to Solar Quotes.
  • German-engineered, Korean-owned, and manufactured in China, Malaysia, and South Korea.
  • Salt mist corrosion resistant.
  • Larger models are now 1000 mm or wider, making some difficult to handle (1722 × 1134 × 30 mm).
  • All black frames, which run hotter.
  • No longer available in Australia.

About Qcells

Qcells is a manufacturer of high-quality solar panels and also sells a home battery.  The company is Korean-owned and manufactures in China, Malaysia, Korea, and now the US. Despite expanding their production capacity overseas, Qcells is currently withdrawing from the Australian market and their products will soon no longer be available for purchase.

But while their panels and batteries will no longer be sold here, they are not abandoning their warranty responsibilities.  If you are one of the many Australians who purchased their solar panels in the decade and a half they’ve been operating in Oz, you have little to worry about.  Qcells has informed us they will continue to honour all existing warranties in Australia.

After-sales support and service will be carried out by the Australian solar company, Zeco.  Because Qcells still appears to be going strong overseas, the company looks unlikely to disappear and take their warranty support with them any time soon.

Company History

Qcells is a Hanwha Group company. Hanwha Group started in South Korea as Hanwha Explosives Inc. in 1952 and rapidly exploded into a massive international conglomeration. They acquired the German company Q Cells and its solar panel manufacturing capacity in Germany and Malaysia when it became insolvent in 2012. They also acquired Solarfun, which was a Chinese panel manufacturer. Not wanting to be mistaken for a bunch of clowns, they changed the name of Solarfun to Hanwha Solar One.

In February 2015, Hanwha Group squished the two companies together to create Hanwha Q CELLS.

Since then, the company has rebranded a few times; tinkering with logos, hyphens and capitalisation in its name. This brings us to today's "Qcells".

Manufacturing Locations

Qcells solar panels are manufactured in the USA, Malaysia, China, and South Korea, but the company does not produce any German made panels.

They describe their panels as “Engineered in Germany”. While they no longer manufacture panels in that country, their headquarters for research and development are in Germany and I have been told in the past they have over 200 experts there working to improve the design and production of solar panels.

Qcells also have 3 other research and development centers around the world - in Malaysia, South Korea and China.

Qcells currently has 10GW of cell and 12.4GW of solar panel production capacity. But in early 2023, the company announced a huge investment in the U.S. state of Georgia. 3.3 gigawatts each of solar ingots, wafers, cells and finished panels will be manufactured at a new facility annually, and an additional 2 GW of panels will be manufactured at an existing facility.

But Australians shouldn't expect to get U.S. made panels here - they'll be for the US market.

Qcells Panels

Qcells offers several different product lines in Australia, currently the Q.MAXX, Q.PEAK DUO and Q.BOOST range. Qcells solar panel specifications and estimated pricing can be found in our solar panel comparison table.

Warranty Claim Procedure For Orphaned Customers

If you need to make a warranty claim on your Qcells panels but your original installer has gone out of business, the responsibility falls to Qcells to handle your claim. The company can be contacted on 02 9016 3033, and have advised they have an established warranty support network to assist with claims. Their warranty terms cover labor costs for replacement of panels under warranty.

A Cost-Effective, Reliable Panel

The Qcells 20 - 25 year product warranty is more generous than the 12 years some panels currently sold in Australia still have, although warranties this short are becoming a rarity. 25 year product warranties used to be the exclusive realm of the most expensive brands, but we're increasingly seeing other manufacturers also implement them.

In my opinion Qcells manufactures high quality reliable panels and I have no problem recommending them. And it seems many Australian installers feel the same way. In the 2023 SolarQuotes Installers' Choice Awards, Qcells took out out equal 3rd place for the best solar panels in 2023 overall and 3rd place for best value panels.

See what other Australians think of Qcells solar panels in the reviews below. And if you own these modules, I encourage you to add your own review.

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Qcells Reviews (1259)

Show Most Relevant reviews from All time

  • 5 star 1008
  • 4 star 230
  • 3 star 15
  • 2 star 4
  • 1 star 2

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Excellent so far and no issues at all. Performing as expected.

After 1 year of use, we have seen the benefits of our solar system and sized it correctly. Our quarterly bills have been in the single digits and that’s with a fair bit of rain/cloudy days.
The QCells panels quite regularly push our inverter to its max 8.28kw and we are comfortable with putting the A/C on, washing machine and dish washer, knowing that we are consuming our own power with a reasonable amount going back to the grid.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

8kW

Installed By

The 16 north-facing QCells Maxx-G3 390w panels are performing very well (I wish we could fit more!). The system with 5kW inverter has produced a daily average of 25kWh in a very wet February.

Inverter Brand

SolarEdge

System Cost

$15,000 to $20,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

The Q cells have performed well and have consistently peaked at their upper production limit on clear sunny days. Very evenly spread across all panels bar some minor shading early morning and late in the day. Hopefully the performance continues throughout their lifespan.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

4kW

Installed By

We are happy with the savings already and that we can monitor them on the app. We were also very pleased that the timing of our solar system councided with the latest Hanwha Q cell panel release meaning less panels required for the same output.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$10,000 to $12,500

System Size

9kW

Installed By

excellent performance, have had no problems panels where installed on stainless steel risers (QCELLS PEAK Dou G5 325w Mono)

Panel's Orientation Pitch

13 270 20
13 310 20
13 90 20 total out put 13 months =19.11 MWh

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$10,000 to $15,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

Panels are giving me 5.6 kw peak on my system, with some panels facing in different directions. No downtime so far, 17000 EV Kms driven with mostly solar power since August 2022. Beats Diesel and Petrol equivalent costs. If i take that into consideration, the system will pay for itself in short order.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$12,500 to $15,000

System Size

9kW

Installed By

The panels (Q.Peak Dou-G6+) come with a 25 year product warrant which is far superior to any others on the market. This is in addition to the 25 year performance warranty.
At this time all is performing excellently.

Inverter Brand

Sungrow

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Solar system up and running only for 6-7 weeks, so not that much experience with it yet.
So far all good though.
It is winter now, so input value a bit low. Still it runs most daylight hours most or all of our electrical requirements. After changing some household routines from night time to day time.
The connection to the grid was relatively painless. New red tape rules had come in play since the ordering of the system, so it took altogether a bit longer then expected.
Our selected installers provided good to great service, but were not the cheapest choice. Especially not after an unexpected and considerable price hike due to overall increase for both transport and manufacturing cost of the hardware.
And the contractors installing the system were excellent.

Inverter Brand

Goodwe

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Minor inconsistencies across the panels but they're all within a per cent of two of each other after about 20 months of use.

Biggest gripe is not with the panels but retailers droping the Feed-in-Traffi by nearly 50% since I installed.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

We thought we would go with a better brand of panels and the Qcells surely didn't disappoint. Great all round system

Inverter Brand

Huawei

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Chose these Panels for their Solar Quotes Rating, Recommendation and Performance Guarantee, and Warranty.

12 month update - Panels have lived up to expectations after nearly a year of operation

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

More than $20,000

System Size

15kW

Installed By

In most months we have struggled to match the average predicted generation on which the financial analysis was based. In part this would be due to some shading from trees - particularly in the winter months. After 1 year + 2 weeks of operation we have generated 7.4 MWh compared with the estimated annual production that we were quoted of 7.66MWh - this is quite a bit better than I would have expected based on our actual vs predicted average monthly results. Ours system is rated at 5.53 kW but maxes out at 5.0 kW under ideal conditions. I am not sure if this is normal - perhaps depends on the angle of the panels?

Inverter Brand

Solaredge

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

Got the 390kw panels with the 25yr warranty peace of mind knowing the panels will last the distance..my friends panels died exactly 10yrs and had to change his panels which costs most $$$

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$2,000 to $4,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

They seem to be generating a good amount of electricity at the moment.
I will be using Smooth Current Electrical in the future when we purchase and install some batteries.
I have already recommended Smooth Current electrical to a number of friends

Inverter Brand

SolarEdge

System Cost

$10,000 to $12,500

System Size

10kW

Installed By

Panels and optimisers seem to be working to spec., but the positioning of some of the panels causes them to be largely shaded at present (winter) so we have not yet got full production (building is not ideally situated or oriented - not the installers' fault). Also, others of the panels get temprarily shaded during the day. We will have to see what happens as the seasons change.

Inverter Brand

SMA

System Cost

More than $20,000

System Size

13kW

Installed By

The best part about the solar panels is the brand and panel reliability.

Over and above all - tenants get to ‘save’ on their electricity bill whilst we get to reap the rewards through the value it adds to the property now and in the future.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Had one take a hit from two errant golf balls. Interestingly, it hardly affected the generation of power. I am unhappy with the performance coming from one panel. it is consistently down like 40% and not due to shadowing. It could possibly be the inverter?

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$10,000 to $12,500

System Size

8kW

Installed By

Because of my roof shape and the height of my trees my panels are in scattered positions on the roof:
- 9 facing North unshaded
- 3 facing North partly shaded
- 5 facing East partly shaded
Luckily the roof angle is about 27 degrees - ideal for Brisbane.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

Installation was super quick, they walked us through each component and what it did which was good. I think they look great on on the roof and we have had a few comments already from people interested in getting their own

Inverter Brand

Sungrow

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

Production drops dramatically in the winter (13 June), the 8.6KW system peaks at a mere 4.5KW due to being nearly flat (5%) and facing East - I nevertheless thought they would be producing a bit more, and in the summer with the sun right above them, they never hit 8KW

Inverter Brand

Sungrow

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

9kW

Installed By

Performance is great so far. Admittedly it is summer but it has produced over 50 kWh several days and over 52 kWh on occasion. Even on completely cloudy days it just about covers our daytime usage.

I also tried to avoid panels produced in the PRC, given there is a 25 year warranty period, and who knows where the international relationship will sit between now and then.

Inverter Brand

SMA

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

7kW

Installed By

Early days but everything appears to be working well.
Now it's approaching one year since we first started seeking out solar info - whether to upgrade or replace our old, small set up which included a dead CMS inverter. This site put us onto 3 quality businesses who promptly provided us with very competitive options and quotes. Solareze won our business with their well informed and super helpful salesperson Peter. He came up with the best plan for our situation and was happy to provide us with quotes and brochures for all the different solar panels and inverters we were curious about.
When Rob and Dave and the boys came to install the system, they were everything you'd hope for. They arrived on time, even though they had to deal with co-vid border passes and navigate the local bridge closure and detour, talked to us about what they were going to do before they started, and completed the job before lunch. They were wonderful in every way and I recommend them without reservation.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$12,500 to $15,000

System Size

10kW

Installed By

355w Qcells duo G6+

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Look good, perform well and easy to clean with a simple damp cloth. Not premium brand but easily the best value in this part of NSW due to amazing 25 year warranty.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

The panels are installed at a bad angle, to hide them from the street. They slope 4 degrees South not North.
The panels have stayed clean and fault free so far. No complaints really.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

So far so good. Installed in late June (middle of winter), so we didn't see the real power of the panels until the days got a bit longer and warmer.
Now we're regularly receiving b/w 20-30 kW/h of daily feed-in - with our usage of below 5 kW/h usage (10 kW/h was the average same time last year), mostly through using the dishwasher, TV, computers, etc... in the evening.
We have 18 x QCell G5+ 330w panels (5.94 kW total) running through a Fronius 5.0-1 Inverter.

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

I can't see them from the ground but performance wise they still seem good. They've survived dust storms, strong winds and hail alike.

All seem functional and haven't had any issues.

Inverter Brand

SMA

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Fantastic panels, look great, work perfectly, I have 13KW on my roof which faces 3 different directions, so not ideal. Ray and the installers Glenn and Damian came up with a great compromise and while the system is limited to 10KW, I made 9.8kw recently testing 5 airconditions, I pool pump using 1.5kw, and still sent power to the grid. And I love the software.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$12,500 to $15,000

System Size

13kW

Installed By

Panels look good and install means they are quite unobtrusive.
Seems to be producing 28-29 kw on a good day in winter which is more than my daily average of 23.45 kw prior to install.

Inverter Brand

Sungrow

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

We got G6+ Panels which Solarwide mentioned to have 25 year product warranty thatn 25 yr performance warranty.

Looks doing pretty good with solar.

For a heavy rainy worst day 6.6 Kw system did 7KWh.

Inverter Brand

Sungrow

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

east facing panels on shed (16 x 395w) these don't produce as much as my north facing panels on house 22 x 270w, Q power G5-270 2020 .Shed produced 4,505.55 kwh Jan to now 21/7/2020
house produced 4,690.71 kwh same period

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

Hanwha Q Cell panels are very well made. I have had no issues.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

24 x Q-Cell G6+ 350W solar panels were supplied and installed - 13 east facing and 11 west facing due to roof configuration and aspect. Too early to tell about reliability, but no problems since installation a few weeks ago.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$10,000 to $12,500

System Size

8kW

Installed By

Super happy (although we are only 1 week in). I look at things in detail, and up close you can see QCells are quality panels.

Inverter Brand

Solaredge

System Cost

$12,500 to $15,000

System Size

10kW

Installed By

They look good, with no issues to date. The efficiency of the panels [and the solar technology generally] seems to have 'come of age'. This is partly why we decided to make the investment when we did.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$4,000 to $6,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

I am an engineer and I had a look at the panels when they were unpacked and they appear very well made, quality items. They also survived a massive hailstorm so they are probably indestructible.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

not having a battery if the grid shuts down (this happend in feb 2020) then our solar system does not operate which is disappointing. I believe we may need a back up battery so that the meter are still powered and can operate.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

6kW

Installed By

Q Cells Q.Peak DUO G5+ x 40 (13.2 kw)

Inverter Brand

SMA

System Cost

$12,500 to $15,000

System Size

10kW

Installed By

16 X Q CELLS Q.PEAK DUO-G5 325w in two banks, 6 installed on northern bank and 10 on eastern bank.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

It has now been over one month since commissioning and I have been monitoring the panels Harvest and Export values on the Enphase Enlighten App and am extremely impressed with what I can see.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

The panels are performing better than expected. Solar generation is far exceeding the written estimation of performance. We have had a lot of dust due to building in a new development area as well as dust from fires and haze but yet the panels keep performing. Highly recommended.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

They have been great with the micro-inverters i can see the difference that teh shade makes. I can see how much energy I create and I just wish a battery was a bit cheaper as I would like to store rather than sell...

Inverter Brand

Solaredge

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

The performance of the panels has been good, we don't have a North facing section of roof so the panels are split with 10 on the East face and 11 on the West face and at present we are averaging around 38 kwh with a high of 42.7 kwh. Based on the current estimate from our electricity supplier we are in credit to just over $190. We feel that this is a very good result.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

I only wish I had more roof space to install more! It's amazing what the sun can produce and what technology has enabled! I am currently trying to get our apartments to install solar panels on their roofs to offset the exorbitant common area electricity cost.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$8,000 to $10,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

Very happy with performance. We had 39 x 310w panels installed with a 10kw inverter.
We generate 60 to 80 Kw on a good day.
We had a $245 credit at the end of summer which has seen us through winter. To get a credit on your electricity bill every quarter is awesome and we dont have to worry anout whether to put the air con or heater on!

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$10,000 to $15,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

I was up on my roof recently cleaning out my gutters and i noticed i had a damaged solar panel.. The panels are less than 3 years old. I cant be 100% sure how one is now damaged, but it looked like it has exploded inside the panel and the outer glass covering is now severely cracked.. Rain water has now leaked into the panel. I have 20 panels in all , and only one is damaged so far. I will be talking to the electrician who installed the panels originally, and will ask for his advice.. Not very impressed so far.. The system is a 5kw ..

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

1.5kW

Installed By

I've only had the system installed a couple of weeks so it's a bit early to comment on the reliability etc of the panels. Time will tell but so far very happy with the system.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $8,000

System Size

6.6kW

Installed By

as stated 10 months including some record summer extremes, no apparent glitches thus far, although I have not gone on the roof to inspect them. I have seen daily totals as high as 60kwh, and even on days with thick cloud, system still produces in excess of 8kwh.

Inverter Brand

Fronius

System Cost

$6,000 to $10,000

System Size

More than 6kW

Installed By

We had 6 new Q-Cells panels added to our existing 14 Tindo panels, all now with Enphase micro-inverters. All working well, and very happy not to have to scrap our existing good panels.

Inverter Brand

Enphase

System Cost

$3,000 to $6,000

System Size

1.5kW

Installed By

On good days we are generating up to 34KW of power.
Our last three months we had a credit of $244.00 @ a feed in rate from Origin of 15 Cents per KW.

Inverter Brand

Zeversolar

System Cost

$3,000 to $6,000

System Size

5kW

Installed By

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