REC solar panels review

REC

REC is short for Renewable Energy Corporation. The company was founded in Norway and and its headquarters are still there, but but its solar panels are produced in Singapore.

They produce tier one panels with 10 year product and a 25 year performance warranties that are certified as corrosion resistant.   REC has an Australian office in Melbourne.

A US Company Has A Similar Name

There is a company in the United States called REC Solar that installs commercial scale solar for businesses. They do not make their own solar panels. It is easy to confuse the two when looking for information on REC.

Manufacturing Capacity

REC is medium sized producer of solar panels. Their manufacturing capacity was around 1.3 gigawatts at the end of 2016. This means it would take them only 4 years to produce as much solar capacity as the whole of Australia had installed at that time.

Company History

REC was founded in Norway in 1996 under the name Fornybar Energi AS and produced its first silicon wafer in 1997. It became REC after merging with another company in 2000. By taking advantage of Norway’s comparatively cheap hydroelectric power, for a period at the start of the century, they become the world’s largest producer of multicrystaline silicon wafers used to make solar cells.

In 2008 and 2009 REC opened two new multicrystalline wafer factories in Norway. Then the company run into financial difficulties and shut them down permanently a few years later in 2011 and 2012. In retrospect it wasn’t a very bright move, but these are the sort of mistakes companies make when for some reason they decide not to predict the future with 100% accuracy.

In 2010 they started production of solar panels in Singapore, and currently in December 2016 that appears to be where all their panels are produced. REC is expanding capacity at this facility.

REC is building a factory in China as a joint venture that should become operational in mid-2017.

REC Solar Panels

REC produces two series of panels that are of standard size and likely to be used on residential roofs.

The first are called the REC Peak Energy Series. Their efficiencies range from 14.8% to 15.8%. They are certified as corrosion resistant, making them suitable for installation in coastal areas.

The second are called the TwinPeak Series. They are 16.1% to 17.3% efficient and certified as corrosion resistant. They are an interesting design because they are divided into top and bottom halves and if one half is shaded it won’t affect the output of the other. This makes them more tolerant to partial shade and soiling than many other panels. But if they are installed where there is no shade it is of little benefit. And like all solar panels they perform terribly when fully shaded.

I don’t know the details of how Twin Peaks panels are packaged, but if they come wrapped in plastic that would make me as happy as that gum I like coming back in style.

REC Panel Failure Rate

On the REC site they state:

“...out of 4 million panels manufactured each year, just 400 might come back as product claims.”

Apparently they like the number 4, because that is the same as saying their failure rate is around 1 in 10,000. But the number 4 and death are often associated in Singapore.

While those seem like good odds, they don’t say this is the predicted failure rate over the panel’s lifespan. It instead appears to be their failure rate when they are new, which isn’t nearly as impressive as if it was over 25 years.

REC Is Not Very Bright When It Comes To Warranties

On their internet site there is a video that proudly proclaims they have:

“...the highest quality solar panels on the market.”

But despite this, they only offer a 10 year product warranty.

You’d think with the highest quality panels on the market they’d be able to offer a longer warranty, wouldn’t you?. After all, Solarwatt panels are on the market which means they must be of worse quality, yet they have a product warranty of 30 years. You would think that since REC panels are of higher quality they could manage at least 20 years. But, despite the beneficial effect it would have on their sales, they seem to be sticking with 10 years. This is despite the fact that a 12 year product warranty is becoming the norm for tier one panels.

REC Is Ranked As Most Financially Secure Solar Panel Manufacturer

Solar panel manufacture is a very competitive business and many companies have gone bust, leaving customers without warranty support. Currently dark clouds hang over the futures of many panel producers.

But the clouds over REC are extremely tenuous. They’re more of a light mist, really. Because of the company’s current financial stability, REC has been ranked as the panel producer least likely to go belly up.

But things can turn around very quickly. Just 5 years ago REC couldn’t afford to keep their fjord factories open and shut down production in Norway. It’s hard to predict what things will be like in another 5 years.

High SVTC Rankings For Sustainability And Ethical Behaviour

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, or STVC to its friends, produces an annual scorecard where they rank panel producers on environmental sustainability and ethical behaviour.

REC came 4th out of 32 manufacturers in their latest report which was for 2015. In 2014 they came 5th and in 2013 they came 6th.

My Recommendation

REC produce quality tier one solar panels and I would have no problem installing them on my roof.