REC solar panels reviews

REC is short for Renewable Energy Corporation. The company was founded in Norway but now carries out all production in Singapore.

They produce tier one panels with 20 year product warranty (or 25 years if they're installed by a REC certified installer) and a 25 year performance warranty. They are certified as corrosion resistant.  

REC has an Australian office in Melbourne. Having a physical local presence is pretty important for building confidence in the brand and properly supporting its customers in Australia.

A US Company Has A Similar Name

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

REC Solar Manufacturing Capacity

REC is medium sized producer of solar panels. They shipped 1.34 gigawatts of panels in 2017, which was more than what was installed in all of Australia that year. Shipments since then aren't clear, but in terms of cumulative total, as at mid-2023 the company notes it has produced 46 million solar panels..

As for total manufacturing capacity, the last we heard it was around 1.8GW annually, but the company is looking to expand that to 5GW within the next year or two.

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 ran into financial difficulties and shut them down permanently a few years later in 2011 and 2012. In retrospect, it doesn't appear to be a very bright move, but these are the sort of mistakes companies make when they decide for some reason not to predict the future with 100% accuracy.

In 2010 REC started production of solar panels in Singapore and subsequently expanded capacity at this facility.  This currently remains the company's only manufacturing site. 

In 2015 REC Solar was bought by the Norwegian company Elkem, which is owned by the Chinese corporation Bluestar.  Then in October 2021, REC announced it had been acquired by Reliance New Energy Solar Limited; an Indian multinational headquartered in Mumbai.

This will make REC Solar an Indian-owned company that manufactures in Singapore, but for some reason it is still often referred to as a European company. I guess old habits die hard. 

They Were (Are?) Big In Germany

REC started as a European company and they were able to hold onto market share there. The company states that in 2016 they were the number one panel supplier in Germany and in in 2017 they also did well with 15% market share.  Punitive tariffs on Chinese panels in Europe that don't affect REC were part of this success.

How it has fared more recently in Germany isn't clear.

REC Solar Panels

REC currently produces several solar panel product lines that are of standard size and likely to be used on residential roofs in Australia. To see specifications and approximate pricing of various models - and how they stack up against competing brands - check out the SolarQuotes solar panel comparison table.

REC TwinPeak 4 And 5 Panels

REC produces TwinPeak 4 series panels; the fourth generation in this series.  These are an interesting design as they are divided into top and bottom halves - 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 installed where there is no shade, this feature is of little benefit. And like all solar panels they perform terribly when fully shaded.

TwinPeak 4 panels have an efficiency of 19.7% - 20.5%, and are available in 360W, 365W, 370W and 375W models.

The fifth generation, TwinPeak 5,  is a bigger, heavier panel than the 4, but is available in capacities of 395W, 400W, 405W, 410W and 415W.

REC Alpha Solar Panels

In 2019, the company unveiled its Alpha Series solar panels. REC said it was the highest power 60-cell module in the world at that point in time.

The Alpha originally offered a panel efficiency of up to 21.7%, but the Alpha Pure that followed offers up to 22.2% and is available in the following wattages: 385W, 390W, 395W, 400W, 405W and 410W.

REC picked up an Intersolar Award in May 2022 for the Alpha Pure Series, with the judges commenting on its "outstanding" power output, small carbon footprint and lack of lead use in manufacturing.

Also in May 2022, REC unveiled its Alpha Pure-R solar panels, which is available in capacities ranging from 410W – 430W and with module conversion efficiencies from 21.2% to 22.3%. Production of the Alpha Pure-R commenced in September 2022.

REC Solar Panel Failure Rate

On the REC site the company states:

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

In other words their failure rate is around 1 in 10,000.  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 quite as impressive as if it was over 25 years, but it is still pretty good.

Warranty Claim Procedure For Orphaned REC Customers

If your original installer is no longer operating and you need to make a warranty claim, you should contact REC on 03 9020 2056. The company has a network of REC certified installers they can dispatch to diagnose any issues and handle replacement under warranty. If your original installer was REC certified, labor costs involved with warranty replacement are covered. If they were not - labor costs are not covered.

My Recommendation

REC produce quality solar panels and I would have no problem installing them on my roof (in fact, I already have). The company is currently listed on my recommended solar panel brands chart.

It seems many other Australians share my views based on the number, nature and consistency of REC solar panel reviews and ratings below - feel free to add your own review if you're an Australian owner and have these modules installed.

REC solar panels are also popular among Australian installers. In the SolarQuotes Installers' Choice Awards, REC ranked 3rd in 2021, 2nd in 2022 and 1st in 2023.