Are you looking for the most efficient solar panel available in 2014 to put on your roof? Here are the top 20 most efficient solar panels actually available for sale (on the market) – not just tested in a lab. All of these modules (solar panels) are eligible for incentives in California, which means they’ve been tested and have a minimum 10 year warranty against defects and undue degradation.
The first thing you might notice is that 17 out of 20 of the most efficient modules are all made by one company, SunPower. There’s a bit of a caveat to this. These 17 modules can actually be categorized into 7 sets of panels based on their ratings and efficiencies (color-coded):
Groupings of SunPower Panels
- X21-255
- X21-345/Com
- 343J-WHT-D/NJ-WHT-D/NX-BLK-D/NX-WHT-D
- 445J-WHT-D/NJ-WHT-D/NX-WHT-D/X20-445-COM
- 335NX-BLK-D/X21-335/X21-335-BLK
- X20-255
- 440NE-WHT-D/E20-440-COM
These modules are all basically apart of SunPower’s X-series line of panels which use their own patented technology to produce the highest efficiency panels available on the common market. The “WHT” just means that it’s the “white” version of the module. “BLK” means black. So, we can group each set with the same rating and efficiency as one.
If we do that with all the brands, the following would be the top 20 most efficient solar panels.
SunPower still has 14 of the top 20. The next most common brand in the top 20 is MEMC Singapore. They manufacture the panels for SunEdison. So, if you’re getting a quote for SunEdison modules, you can look up your panels in the solar panel comparison table as “MEMC”.
The only other brand in the top 20 is Andalay solar, which used to be Akeena Solar, but is now Westinghouse Solar. They’re listed on the NASDAQ as WEST, and as of Aug 11, 2014, the price is about $0.02/share. Call me a speculator, but I’d say that’s reason enough to be skeptical of having this company’s modules installed on your roof.
So, SunPower and SunEdison are the two most efficient solar panel brands in 2014. If you want to see where your panels stack up against the rest, head on over to the solar panel comparison table.