Sunpower solar panels reviews

SunPower is an American firm that lends its name to high quality solar panels; with most models now being produced through its spinoff Maxeon Solar Technologies. The company's products are widely considered among the best available. 

Sunpower Maxeon solar panels have the highest efficiency currently on the market, are likely to be the best at tolerating partial shade -  and they have a 40 year product warranty in Australia (see further notes on warranty below). In addition, SunPower panels are corrosion resistant, which makes them suitable for installation anywhere in Australia.

Maxeon have an Australian office in Melbourne..

Production Capacity And Output

At the start of 2018 SunPower had 1.2 gigawatts of solar cell manufacturing capacity and 1.9 gigawatts of solar panel manufacturing capacity. In 2019, the company shipped  2.5 GW of modules, representing 80% growth over 2018. Fast forward to 2022, and 2 GW was shipped.

Current production capacity is noted as: Interdigitated Back Contact (“IBC”) technology modules: 1 GW, P-Series: 1.8 GW, and 12 GW through a joint venture with Huansheng Photovoltaic (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.

Manufacturing Locations

SunPower is as American as apple pie and so is majority owned by a French oil company. This makes sense because the French were eating apple pies long before Americans ever did.

SunPower's headquarters are in San Jose in California.  They abandoned manufacturing in the United States for a long time but then resumed at a plant they bought from SolarWorld Americas in order to avoid Trump's solar panel tariffs. But in January 2021, SunPower announced it was closing its Hillsboro plant. Other subsequent changes means Maxeon is now manufacturing all SunPower panel models.

Maxeon has manufacturing capacity in Malaysia, the Philippines and Mexico.  SunPower entered into a joint venture to produce their P series panels in China.

Company History

SunPower was founded in 1985 by Richard Swanson, who was responsible for Swanson's Law. It states that for every doubling of production capability, the cost of solar panels falls by 20%. Despite ups and downs in prices, it has proven to be roughly accurate and I hope the effect will continue into the future.

As it has managed to stick around for 38 years so far, SunPower is one of the oldest solar panel brands in existence.

However, in November 2019, SunPower announced it would spin off much of its solar panel manufacturing into a new company – Maxeon Solar Technologies. That process was completed in August 2020 and now the company's panels aside from the P Series are marketed under the name "SunPower Maxeon".

SunPower Maxeon's 40 Year Replacement Product Warranty

In February 2022, Maxeon Solar Technologies announced the product and performance warranty on panels sold under SunPower Maxeon brand in Australia had been extended from 25 years to 40 years. In terms of the Sunpower Maxeon 5  and 6 AC, the 40 years only covers the panel, while the integrated microinverter is covered under Enphase’s 25 year warranty.

It should be noted the product warranty for SunPower P series panels (i.e. non-Maxeon branded) is still 25 years.

Maxeon's product warranty (and that of the SunPower P Series) undertakes to either repair, replace, or refund the purchase price of the defective PV modules. It used to be that all SunPower panels were covered by a full replacement warranty, rather than the company also having repair/refund options.

Panel Reliability

While this figure is now out of date, SunPower has  previously said their panel failure rate is only 1 in 37,000. Hopefully it's even better now, although I know some panels have been replaced under warranty.  Because the large majority of their panels were well under 25 years old at the time, this doesn't mean there is only a 1 in 37,000 chance of a panel failing during its 25 year warranty period, but it still suggests they are very reliable.

SunPower Maxeon Solar Panels Resist The Effects Of Heat

SunPower panels suffer considerably less decrease in efficiency due to the effects of heat than the average panels.  Their coefficiency of Pmax ranges is as little as -0.29% depending on the model, while the industry average is around -0.35%.  This is how much their output is decreased by for each degree celcisus the panel temperature is above 25 degrees.  Note that the temperature of panels in the sun can be much higher than the air temperature and can reach 65 degrees on hot days. 

SunPower Panels Tolerate Partial Shade Well

Partial shade can cause a major reduction in the performance of solar cells as one badly performing solar cell can drag down the performance of others, so just one bird poop can have a major effect. But SunPower used various technologies to minimise its impact, and that has continued under Maxeon manufacturing.

SunPower Had Financial Difficulties

SunPower had been experiencing financial difficulties, posting significant losses in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

For the fiscal year 2019, SunPower's assets and liabilities were almost equal, which is not a good situation to be in.  Their financial position was hurt by falling solar panel prices and also President Trump's US solar tariffs -- despite SunPower winning an exemption. 

There was speculation that SunPower would go bankrupt, but the recent move to shift all solar panel manufacturing to Maxeon may play out well.

But even if I was certain SunPower wouldn't be around in the future to honour their warranties, I would still be fine with installing them on my roof because their high reliability means the chance of me needing their warranty should be extremely small.

Warranty claim procedure for orphaned SunPower customers

If you have purchased Sunpower panels from a solar installer that has gone out of business, the responsibility for warranty claims falls to Sunpower or Maxeon, depending on the type of solar panel installed. They can be contacted on 1800 786 769, and will arrange for an installer in their network to diagnose and rectify any problems with the panels - with labor costs involved covered by the warranty.

My Recommendation

I would have no problem installing SunPower Maxeon panels on my roof, and this would be the case even if I expected SunPower or Maxeon to go bust and not be around to honour their warranties.

But while SunPower panels are very high quality, they do carry a hefty premium and so it will be necessary to decide if they are worth the extra expense.

SunPower is also very popular with Australian installers. In the SolarQuotes Installers' Choice Awards, SunPower was voted second in the best solar panels in 2023 category, and also achieved second place for best after-sales support.