Finn's SolarEdge Panels Review & Verdict
Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO
I haven't been a fan of SolarEdge's corporate vibe given some behaviour in the past, such as the firm threatening to sue a well-respected Australian installer one Christmas Eve a few years back after he criticised them.
However, I think the company's attitude and technical service has been better in the last couple of years, although there is still some room for improvement. But as a long-established brand in Australia offering quality hardware and decent software, I’m therefore happy to recommend SolarEdge Smart solar panels.
SolarEdge Panels: Pros & Cons
- Well-established company.
- Integrated SolarEdge optimizer maximises energy harvesting.
- Good warranty for both panel and optimizer.
- Redundancy - if one (or multiple) smart panels fail, it doesn't affect the entire string
- Panel level monitoring
- Requires SolarEdge inverter.
- Integrated optimizer a potential point of failure.
- Added cost.
- Tech support response times could do with improvement.
- Additional complexity for repairs and maintenance.
About SolarEdge
Best known for its DC optimised inverter solutions, SolarEdge also offers solar panels with an integrated SolarEdge power optimizer.
SolarEdge Australian Office
Address: Level 13/ 222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, 3000
Phone: 1800 465 567
Australian website
Company Info
Established in 2006, Israel-headquartered SolarEdge started out manufacturing DC optimised inverter solutions in 2010.
SolarEdge was the first company to produce optimizers, which are small boxes of electronics installed on the back of a solar panel, or the racking underneath. An optimizer helps to maximise energy harvesting, enhances system safety and design flexibility, and allows for panel level monitoring. However, unlike a microinverter setup, an optimiser- based system also requires a string inverter.
These days, SolarEdge offers an ecosystem of devices - inverters, optimizers, a battery, a home EV charger - and solar panels. This can be a double-edged sword, locking you into the company's products.
SolarEdge Smart Solar Panel
In 2019, SolarEdge launched its “Smart” solar panel product that has an integrated SolarEdge power optimizer on the back. One of the advantages of having the optimizer integrated is that it results in a significant reduction in system installation time (the company says up to 2 hours).
The SolarEdge Smart Module, based on monocrystalline PERC half-cut cells, has continued to evolve since and at the time of updating this page (October 2024) is available in capacities from 355W to 440W.
Looking at the 415W panel as an example, it has a module conversion efficiency of 21.25%, weighs 21.4kg and measures 1722 x 1134 x 30mm. It has a temperature coefficient of -0.34%, which is around average for decent quality panels available today.
From a safety perspective, SolarEdge Smart Panels offer SafeDC, Automatic Rapid Shutdown, temperature control, and alerts. SafeDC minimizes risk of electrocution from high DC voltage by reducing it to touch-safe levels when the inverter is shut down.
In terms of managing heat, a rooftop isn't the friendliest place for electronics, but SolarEdge says its panels are designed to withstand temperatures of up to 85?C degrees
Note: In order to use SolarEdge Smart Modules, you also need to have a SolarEdge inverter.
SolarEdge doesn't manufacture its solar panels - that's left to one of its partners. Who that is isn't clear, but the manufacturing location is noted as China.
You can find further information on SolarEdge Smart Modules on SQ's solar panel comparison page.
Warranty Info
Originally the SolarEdge Smart Module only had a 12-year product warranty in Australia, but these days it's 25 years - that covers the panel and the optimizer. There's also a 25 linear power warranty, with 84.8% power output warranted at year 25.
Conclusion
With SolarEdge no doubt keeping a very close eye on quality and backing the modules with a generous product warranty, their Smart Panels should be a safe bet for Australian rooftops.
If you have these Smart Panels installed at your place, please leave a review.
SolarEdge has 1 solar panel in our database
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29 May 2020
24 June 2024
18 March 2024
04 February 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
29 January 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
We were also very impressed with Solar Edge's panel cleaning - competitively priced (we checked) and provided evidence of their work.
20 October 2023
It's already on the roof and producing. We were not expecting it until after Christmas. Rang Monday and said all the gear turned up and were to install on the Wednesday. Done.
21 January 2022
16 March 2021
26 June 2020
22 April 2020
So far no problems as i have received average 20 + kw solar energy during summer months .
Price is getting cheaper so don't hesitate to bargain.
13 March 2020
12 February 2020
06 January 2020
However after a month delay and then trying to substitute the panels for others it was installed as to the contract.
They then gave me discount of $300 for loss of power production and inconvenience. Mind you I did need to argue that out of them.
At the time I thought Regan power were useless now I have changed my mind on that. I would use then again.
09 December 2019
15 August 2019
05 August 2019
I had only 5.1 kw of panels installed due to limitations in suitable roof space due to existing system.
11 September 2024
15 July 2024
26 June 2024
08 June 2024
17 March 2024
10 February 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
01 February 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
30 January 2024
28 January 2024
28 January 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
28 January 2024
An incentive was offered by Stored Solar for this review. Learn more here.
28 January 2024
They only downside is that you can't use any other brand inverter as their optimisers only talk to the SolarEdge inverter.