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Jinko Solar is a Chinese company producing tier 1 panels. All the panels they currently sell in Australia are salt mist corrosion resistant and suitable for installation in any location. They carry a 10 year product warranty that is standard for the industry. JinkoSolar has an Australian office that gives you someone in the country you can call if you have a problem.

Overall, Jinko panels are a cost effective combination of reliability and price.

Jinko May Be The World's Largest Producer Of Solar Panels

GlobalData’s top ten list of solar panel manufacturers for global shipments in 2019 ranked JinkoSolar a number one with 14.2GW of capacity shipped - well ahead of its nearest competitor.

Company History

Jinko was founded as a company in 2006. I don't think they actually made anything that year, but I have to presume they were thinking really hard about making stuff.

In 2007 they produced silicon ingots, which are big solid lumps of silicon.

In 2008 they started slicing them like salamis and became a silicon wafer manufacturer.

In 2009 they took those wafers and started turning them into solar cells and then used them to make solar panels.

In 2010 they raised money by entering the stock market and since then have continued to grow at a ferocious rate.

Manufacturing Locations

Jinko Solar has 5 production facilities in China and one each in Malaysia and the USA.

The company had an integrated annual production capacity by the end of December 2019 of 11.5 GW for mono wafers, 10.6 GW for solar cells, and 16 GW for solar panels - with further expansion on the cards.

Jinko's workforce has remained fairly constant at around 15,000 for the past three years while its production capacity has doubled. That's the way things go these days thanks to automation and robotics.

Jinko Panel Efficiency

Jinko panels sold in Australia have efficiencies ranging from around 17% to 20%.

The higher the panel efficiency, the less roof space a system will take up. For most installations this is not a problem, but some people have a limited about of room to install solar panels.

Unlike some other manufacturers, the efficiencies Jinko gives for their panels are accurate and they don't cheat by not including the panel's frame in the efficiency calculation. That is appreciated.

Jinko Smart Modules Have Built In Optimisers

Jinko produces smart modules that have built in DC optimisers. These are little bundles of electronics that maximise their output by reducing losses from panel mismatch, shading, and soiling.

Jinko’s Eagle SE panels use SolarEdge DC optimisers while their Eagle MX panels use Maxim Integrated ones.

2011 Dead Fish Riot

In 2011 hundreds of people protesting fish killed by a chemical spill in a nearby river stormed the Jinko factory in Haining City. Company cars were overturned, offices were trashed, and riot police were called in to stop the toxic avengers.

SVTC Solar Scorecard

Each year the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, or SVTC, produces a report ranking solar panel manufacturers on environmental and social responsibility.

In 2015 Jinko Solar came 14th out of 40 companies surveyed. They received a score of 53 out of 100. This was not a great result, but it was a huge improvement from 2014 when they were given a score of 7 out of 100.

In 2018-19, the company was ranked no.1 by SVTC, with a perfect score of 100.

So they have come a long way in a short time and if they have a factory in your town I am sure they are far less likely to kill all the fish in the local river than they used to.

Warranty procedure for orphaned Jinko customers

If you have purchased Jinko panels from a solar installer who has since gone out of business, the responsibility for warranty claims shifts to JinkoSolar. Their customer service line in Australia is 1300 326 182 - affected customers should contact this line for warranty assistance. Jinko have advised that customers will be asked to send through photos and serial numbers of affected panels to an email address that they will provide, and they will then arrange for the replacement of the panels. If required, Jinko will be able to recommend installers to carry out the work if a customer is unable to organise one themselves. They will also reimburse customers for labor costs involved with replacing the panels - $200 for the first panel, and $15 for each additional panel.

Jinko Panels Are A Cost Effective Choice

Jinko Solar does not produce premium panels that have warranties in excess of 10 years or have exceptionally high efficiencies, but they do have a combination of good reliability and competitive pricing that can make them a very cost effective choice.

Fronius Customer Service: 03 8340 2900

Fronius is a European company that was established by founder Günter Fronius in Austria in 1945. Mr. Fronius kicked off with a repair shop for radios and electrical equipment and soon started making battery chargers, then welding transformers.

The company grew over time from being a welding and battery charger manufacturer to become one of the most prominent European players in the solar market. Fronius’s solar division has been operating in this field since 1992, so they have decades of experience - and this shows in their inverter products.

In late 2010, Fronius opened its Australian office based in Melbourne where it not only provides customer service and technical assistance, but also offers product demonstrations and training courses.

Fronius make some of the best inverters in the world. They used to be playing catch up with SMA in terms of industry reputation and quality, but I would argue they have well and truly caught up in recent years. I would happily have one of these inverters on my house.

The inverters are easy to 'export limit', if your local network insists on this as part of your solar connection agreement. But you do have to buy the 'Fronius Smart Meter (FSM)' accessory to do this (about $500 extra). The FSM also allows full consumption monitoring (over and above solar monitoring) although I am not a fan of the Fronius SolarWeb monitoring software.

Personally, I prefer Solar Analytics and always recommend adding Solar Analytics to your Fronius inverter and using that for monitoring instead.

Fronius solar inverters usually come with 2 solar inputs (or MPPTs). Their MPPT efficiency is legendary. And if you have a symmetrical east/west facing roof you can often put both the east and the west array into one input - leaving the second inverter input free for a third roof area.

The only downside with the Fronius hardware that I am aware of is their inverters are fan cooled and can be rather noisy. Keep them away from living areas!

Fronius Solar Inverter Warranty Notes

All Fronius string inverters are accompanied by 5 years Fronius Warranty Plus. However, by registering at www.solarweb.com, customers can receive an additional 5 years warranty free of charge.

If you should experience what you believe to be a warranty related issue with your inverter, you should first contact the original installer of the unit. However, if that installer is no longer around, don't panic.

Fronius advise that in this situation they first require the customer to find an qualified solar installer to verify the issue with the inverter - but this needs to be paid for my the customer. Once the issue has been confirmed, the installer will then contact Fronius on your behalf. Fronius will then work with the installer to arrange for replacement of the inverter. If a customer needs help in finding an installer, the company is able to make a recommendation.

Tesla, Inc. was founded in 2003, originally as Tesla Motors. Tesla is headquartered in the USA's San Francisco Bay Area, with office locations around the world (including Australia).

After cutting its teeth on electric vehicle development, Tesla then expanded into commercial and home battery storage. The company arrived on the home energy storage scene accompanied by great fanfare with the Tesla Powerwall battery back in 2015, which was followed by the Powerwall 2 in 2016.

Tesla has grown into a huge company in terms of market capitalisation - a whopping USD $143.6 *billion* as at late January 2020. 

Anyway, back to batteries - the following are some basic specifications of the Powerwall 2:

• Usable Capacity: 13.5 kWh
• Power: 7kW peak / 5kW continuous
• Dimensions: 1150 mm L x 753 mm W x 147 mm D
• Weight: 114 kg
• Warranty 10 years

The Powerwall is produced in the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada USA, which also manufactures Tesla Model 3 electric motoers and the company's commercial/utility storage solution, the Powerpack.

Pricing And Supply

Supply of the Powerwall 2 was an issue for quite a while in Australia, and then there was a major price rise in 2018 - followed by a not so major price decrease in 2019. So, Australians have had it a little rough with the Powerwall, but its high profile through extensive media attention have seen plenty installed here and interest remains strong.

The cost of Powerwall 2 per warranted kilowatt hour (see below for notes on warranty) is around 31 cents - not the cheapest, but far from the most expensive of the systems we have listed on our battery comparison table.

Blackout Capabilities

The Tesla Powerwall 2 is an AC Coupled battery that comes with the necessary hardware (Tesla Gateway) to provide blackout protection, backup and off grid functions.

Powerwall's "Unlimited Cycles" Warranty

Tesla offers a 10 year "unlimited cycles" warranty, but this only applies to solar self-consumption and backup use. Any other application (such as participating in a Virtual Power Plant) or combination of applications sees the warranty cover drop to 3,200 cycles – about eight years’ worth if cycled once a day.

Reliability Testing Results

The Canberra Battery Test Centre has been putting the Powerwall 2 through reliability testing. The test battery arrived with a fault and later developed another that resulted in it being replaced.  Results published in September 2019 indicated capacity estimated at 96% after 640 full cycles.  If  maintained, the Powerwall 2 will stay well within the minimum capacity provided by its warranty.

While not perfect (and Tesla hasn't been overly fond of us pointing out issues), as far as home solar battery storage goes at this point in time the Tesla Powerwall 2 is probably a good choice among what is available.

Telsa is great at marketing, but how is the Powerwall viewed by those who have one installed? What about after sales service and support? We're inviting Australian Powerwall owners (whether they have the original or Powerwall 2 model) to leave their rating and review here.