When purchasing an electronic device, you want to ensure that it is well-made, has a strong reputation for dependability, and, most essential, will provide long-term high performance.

Solar panels are the same way. Just in this case, you would really like to ensure that the modules installed on your roof continue to generate electricity for the expected lifespan (25 to 30 years) and also that the business that manufactures them provides a sufficient warranty in the event that they stop functioning or are destroyed down the road.

Picking a solar panel ten years ago was straightforward. There were brands from the United States and Europe, as well as several from China. While the latter were less expensive, they frequently came with lesser warranties and no brand awareness.

However, in today’s renewable world, as firms have fallen by the wayside, mergers have occurred, and technology has advanced both at domestically and overseas, determining what is a quality solar panel from another has become increasingly more difficult.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Solar Panels: What’s the Difference?

To address this issue and ensure that purchasers understand exactly what they’re getting, the photovoltaic industry created a three-tiered system: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.Manufacturers of Tier 1 solar panels are often those who:

• Have been manufacturing solar panels for at least 5 years
• They produce their own screens in-house
• Have a robust and stable financial statement or are publicly traded on a stock exchange
• Invest extensively in development and research have completely automated production
• Invest a considerable amount of money in promoting their brand
• Produce a significant number of panels each year.

A Tier 2 producer is a small to medium-sized company that started less than 5 years ago and doesn’t undertake any research and innovation and instead buys wafers (solar cells) out of a Tier 1 company. In a Tier 2 firm, not all procedures are automated; some are still performed by people, resulting in a higher chance of failure.

Finally, Tier 3 refers to a company that primarily serve as assemblers, which accounts for roughly 90% of new solar businesses. These companies don’t make solar cells; instead, they employ human manufacturing lines to manually solder those they acquire from other companies, exposing them to a larger risk of difficulties in the future.

Hanwha, Canadian Solar, and LG are some of the Tier 1 photovoltaic producers. Fortune Energy carries a wide range of these and other manufacturers of solar panels that are of the finest quality and come with the greatest warranties.

The efficiency of a solar panels is not always reflected in the Tier 1 grading scale. Bloomberg New Energy Finance Corporation organizes it, which is used to rank solar panel producers based on their financial stability or bank ability

The list, meanwhile, is still a fair indicator of companies that may manufacture better quality products and could still be in business if the panels fail. Tier 1 solar panels are typically 10-30% more costly than tier 2 and tier 3 solar panels for this reason.