Solar panels are organised into Tiers. The Tier 1 ranking scale is orchestrated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and is used to rank solar panel manufacturers in terms of their bank-ability or financial stability.

There is no doubt you should choose a Tier 1 solar panel manufacturer. But how to choose between Tier 1 panels as not all Tier 1 solar panels are created equal?

Some panel manufacturers are bigger, more financially stable and more integrated than others. Some have better warranties. We only purchase panels from quality manufacturers who make premium panels with the best warranties and aftersales service.

It is important to distinguish between a manufacturer who ships a large volume and another who ships a smaller quantity of more expensive quality panels, but who is more financially stable. Actually, if a solar panel manufacturer gets too big too quickly, they can fall over. But it is difficult to identify the financial stability of even the largest panel manufacturers. The Altman Z-Score can help indicate solar panel manufacturers who will be around for the long haul to honour their warranties. The ideal solar panel manufacturer is one who invests heavily in research and ships a large volume of cutting edge panels—and who is also financially stable.

The things you need to think about with regard to solar panels are:

1. The quality of the panel. This is indicated by the length of the product warranty. Don't choose a solar panel that only has a 10 year product warranty and don't confuse this with a 25-year performance warranty which all Tier 1 panels have.
2. The stability and size of the company. The manufacturer should ideally have an Altman Z-Score in the green "safe zone."
3. The temperature Coefficient of max power should be around -0.35% or less (less is better). This means more power is generated at higher temperatures.
4. Look for low degradation over time. Better solar panels will still be producing 85% or more of their nameplate power after 25 years.

High Efficiency Solar Panels

McNae Electrical Solutions installs premium LONGi, Sunpower, or REC Solar panels. These are some of the highest quality Tier 1 panels available in the world. Our LONGi monocrystalline PERC panels are available in 370W with a white backing sheet or for superior aesthetics we have the Real Black 350W version. They have very low degradation giving you more power over their lifetime. LONGi is the largest manufacturer of monocrystalline products including ingot, wafer, cell and module and they have the highest market capitalisation (more than 14 Billion USD) of any company in the solar industry. LONGi is also the only panel manufacturer with an AAA bankability rating.¹ This means they will be around to honour their warranty.

McNae Electrical Solutions also offers 365W Solaria panels. Solaria is a USA company and their panels are manufactured in Korea. Solaria PowerXT panels have solderless cell interconnections with fewer gaps between the solar cells; this leads to higher power and superior aesthetics. They come with a full 25 year performance and product warranty.

All our systems are mounted with black anodised racking as standard to give you the best-looking premium roof installation.