The tiered solar panel classification was first developed to show banks which panel manufacturers were legitimate and trustworthy but it s evolved since.
Tier 1 solar panels definition.
Tier 1 is simply an investigation by bloomberg new energy finance that entails the solar panel manufacturer needing to show that 6 different finance houses have backed projects of over 1 5mwp of solar a fairly large solar farm within the last 2 years.
Is vertically integrated meaning they make their own cells and wafers.
It s also important to note that bnef s tiered system ranks manufacturers and not specific panel lines.
You can read the full methodology on bloomberg new energy finance s website here.
Tier 1 solar panels are the best and tier 3 the worst although alarmingly some industry analysts now go lower than tier 3.
What are tier 1 solar panels.
One may quite rightly make an assumption that a tier 1 ranking has more to do with financial stability rather than product quality and the answer is yes.
Each year solar review publishes the latest tier 1 solar panels list in a bid to assist end user education understand the term tier 1 was not created as a quality guideline.
Learn what tier 1 solar panels actually mean in this solar basics video based on the story.
Have been producing solar panels for 5 years or more.
Based on bnef s criteria tier 1 modules are just those that are used in a lot of projects and almost all established solar companies are considered tier 1.
Are either publicly listed on a stock exchange or have a strong and stable balance sheet.
The tier 1 ranking scale is orchestrated by bloomberg new energy finance corporation and is used to rank solar panel manufacturers in terms of their bank ability or financial stability.
Bnef does not publish tier 2 or tier 3 lists so any sub tiered lists out there are just made up marketing terms.
Generally speaking tier 1 solar panel manufacturers are defined as those that.
All tier 1 solar panels must be produced through highly automated manufacturing techniques.
Comprised of existing sources already made publicly available on the internet this latest tier 1 solar panels list 2020 is available in an easily indexable fashion for.
Tier 1 solar panel manufacturer characteristics uses the best grade of silicon to produce solar cells higher the silicon grade the longer the solar cell will last and the better it will perform produces some of the best performing solar panels at reasonable price.
Tier 1 doesn t mean the panels are the best performing modules on the market.
Have fully automated production and a high degree of vertical integration.
