German solar PV components are renowned for being the highest quality, but should you spend any extra?
Modules
The Germans are renowned for professionalism, efficiency, and producing the best quality products in the world. Their solar PV panels are no exception. Typically using the highest quality of components, the Germans have been a stalwart for retailers and consumers looking for a guarantee of reliability.
But in recent years we’ve seen more and more reliability coming out of Chinese products – so much so that even German manufacturers have shifted production to China, Malaysia and South Korea in the hunt for higher efficiency and profitability.
As it currently stands, there are only a handful of panel manufacturers actively producing PV modules in Germany, and even less who are profitable doing so.
The companies which take advantage of low-cost manufacturing processes found in China or other Asian countries are dominating the market. In 2015, seven out of the top 10 module manufacturers in the world all actively produced modules in Asian countries. Two others used plants in the US, and Hanwha Q CELLS was the sole German-manufacturing representative in that list.
So if everyone believes that German components are always better, why are they losing their market share? Value for money.
The top Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Malaysian manufacturers are all producing PV modules now which provide value for money that the end user deems acceptable. The best companies from each region were hampered originally by smaller, less professional outlets producing cheap and nasty panels which gave the entire country or region a bad name. These days, the quality and performance of panels being produced in these countries by the good manufacturers are rivalling the Germans, but the price remains low. This is a recipe for success.
How do you know which “budget” panels are okay to use? Well, the truth of the matter is, you don’t. While you can specify a minimum “Tier 1” manufacturer, there is still no guarantee that you’ll actually get a quality module. Each company likes to tout the merits of their warranty, reliability and service level agreement, but really the only way to tell if you’re going to be looked after throughout the life of the panel is to check the bankability of the module manufacturer.
In layman’s terms, make sure that they are making enough money that they’re still going to be in business when you need to make a warranty claim, or the warranty is backed by a reputable insurance company.
Naturally, there are still manufacturers producing high quality PV panels in Germany while remaining reasonably competitive and appealing to other senses of value too. Companies like SolarWorld are outstanding when it comes to the sustainability of their production centre and corporate social responsibility.
But the rule of thumb remains: judge a company on its individual merits, not just the place of origin.
Inverters
Inverters are where the Germans have an advantage – at least when it comes to market penetration, which is at least something of a gauge of reliability. SMA, the dominant German inverter manufacturer, commands more than twice the market share of its nearest competitor, Huawei.
While SMA has seen their market share drop by about a third since 2012, they are still the most popular inverter in the world by a long way. Their relatively low rate of failure is probably a very good reason for this. And that’s a pretty important thing when it comes to centralised inverters. With a centralised inverter arrangement (rather than a microinverter setup like the SolarEdge) an inverter failure means a complete shutdown of the entire PV system. The effects of this shutdown for extended periods of time (while a warranty claim is lodged and works completed) can negate all the savings initially gained by choosing the cheaper low-quality inverter.
In medium-to-large scale commercial applications, the downtime and costs associated with an inverter replacement mean that the minor additional cost of using an SMA inverter from the start is typically the smarter choice if you’re opting for a centralised configuration.
That is, of course, no reason to exclude exploring micro-inverters such as the non-German SolarEdge which is highly effective in certain situations. And while brand loyalty can give you peace of mind and reliability, it can also be worth considering competing centralised-type inverters from other credible companies, whether German-made or not.
Framing
This is where some good savings can be made by taking advantage of Asian manufacturing. When there are no moving parts involved, the Asian manufacturing process can provide some significant savings with minimal loss in quality or performance.
While some installers may dislike certain Asian brand framing equipment due to their being more labour intensive, the costs associated with paying a higher installation rate are often minimal when compared to the costs of procuring top-of-the-line German-made framing.
Having seen some German and Chinese racking components in person, the Germans do seem to produce a more “polished” product with a nicer design and finish, however when it comes to framing it really only needs to be structurally sound. Unless you’re located in a cyclone prone area, the framing is likely to be over-engineered for the application it’s used for regardless.
There are of course very poor Asian manufacturers of framing out there, but similar to the modules, don’t let a few bad eggs from a particular region put you off all manufacturers in that region. There are many high-quality framing manufacturers producing equipment which is suitable for long-term use for a low cost. Again, picking the right one is the hard part, but that’s why we are here to help.
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