Panasonic (from Motley Fool)

Dave Angelini

Panasonic's solar panel play in North America

The product announcement says Panasonic will pair its N Series HIT Modules N325 and N330 with Enphase's 320 watt IQ 7X micro-inverter. The N330 module carries an efficiency of 19.7%, above the efficiency of commodity-type solar panels, while Ephase's micro-inverter has a CEC efficiency of 97.5%.

The partnership is clearly aimed at taking some of the market share SunPower(NASDAQ:SPWR) has gained with its X-Series AC modules, which carry an efficiency of 22.2% and a CEC efficiency of 96%. Panasonic is also catching up to AC products LG, JinkoSolar(NYSE:JKS), and SolarWorld have made with Enphase. 

Where is Tesla?

What was missing from the announcement is arguably more important than what was in it. Panasonic is producing solar cells and modules in Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, New York, potentially the largest solar manufacturing facility in the U.S. -- but the facility wasn't mentioned in the announcement. It's worth noting that it's a facility that will be tariff-free, given the Trump Administration's tariffs on solar imports. The absence of any commentare about the facility is notable.

This isn't to say that Tesla and Panasonic won't be producing AC modules in Buffalo, but I would think they would want to play up the deal if that's what was happening. Maybe they're still pursuing a strategy of staying tight-lipped about what's going on at Gigafactory 2? 

softdown

SunPower panels are 11% more efficient? Seems like a lot from here.

Wheelman55

justjoy said:

Would you mind telling me the difference between the two? 

Here is a review that mentions both. Panasonic wins in this particular review. 

https://www.hesolarllc.com/panasonic-vs-sunpower-vs-lg/

Dave Angelini

The  Panasonic are half the price because a dealer has to pay $10,000 for the privilege of selling you a Sunpower solar panel.
Until the last few years, only Sunpower had a 25 year product warranty along with the usual power warranty that many people find out is not as important as a product warranty. 

The product warranty also is an indicator of the quality, engineering, and confidence that the panel can thermal cycle, take hail, and the elements for a very long time.

It is a beautiful thing! 

Estragon

... a beautiful thing (if, and to the extent the warrator is still around and the warranty can be enforced).

Dave Angelini

BP paid off! I would think Panasonic will be "around" 

Estragon

Hope so.

Personally, I'd love to see more emphasis on quality as a competitive advantage (in which warranties would be a big part). Maybe then we could buy less cheap, disposable crap.

Dave Angelini

Then you have to stop buying the low quality equipment. I am not personalizing here BTW .
Look into how a Sunpower panel is made. It really is amazing the amount of redundancy in the connections, the copper backplate, the mono cell itself, the drainage, the frame, the amazing output in high temperature. I have been running both the Sunpower and Panasonic's here and they are what I specify for a reason. I am just glad I do not have to pay a king's ransom for Sunpower anymore 

They are a beautiful thing!