Not all solar panels are built equal. They may all look the same, but the differences between lower cost brands and higher cost brands is astounding.

In recent years we have seen Australia flooded with low cost solar panels that are often termed as 'rejects' by countries such as the United States. Sadly many of these low cost solar solutions end up in landfill after a few short years due to huge deficiencies in quality. Many of the low cost solar systems you see advertised on TV and the internet feature exactly these products. They're designed to lure in unsuspecting and uneducated consumers who simply don't know the truth. Sadly they either end up disapointed when the panels requires constant manitenance and servicing, or worse the system breaks down entirely and needs to be removed after a few short years.

There are three aspects to quality in a solar panel: the components, quality assurance and warranty. We will cover each here.

Components

Low cost panel manufacturers will typically substitute inferior componentry such as the aluminium frame, junction boxes, solar cells, backing sheets, bus bars and MC4 connectors.

A large trend shift in the industry is toward thinner solar panels (typically 25-28mm). This shift was driven from a financial perspective. The idea being that the thinner the modules are, the more you can pack into a pallet and onto a boat. The downside consequences of this change are that these panels are less rigid and more susecptible to flexing under wind loads. This can result in microcracking which leads to the creation of Hot Spots which inevitably cause the panel to burn out and potentially catch fire!

Tindo Solar Panels are still sporting a 40mm thick frame and have reaffirmed their desire to continue with thicker frames in their objective to deliver the highest quality solar panels on the market.

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Quality Assurance / Testing

The process of quality assurance in solar panel manufacturing involves rigurously inspecting and testing the panel throughout each step of panel assembly to ensure that the panel has no defects that could lead to early panel failure or a reduction in panel performance.

An area of concern in recent years is the neglect of many manufacturers in their quality assurance and testing process.  This is an important step during the manufacturing process that costs time energy and money. When companies want to drive costs down, this can be one of the first areas to suffer.

Tindo Solar are one of the only companies we've seen with a consistent goal of "Zero Defect Manufacturing". This is achieved through seven seperate checks during the assembly of their panel. If at any point the panel doesn't meet the zero defect tolerance, the panel is discarded and recycled.

These important steps are why Tindo Solar Panels consistently perform better in-field versus cheaper imported panels that may not have had such diligent checks performed.

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Warranty

Warranties are the last critical piece of the equation. Many solar panel manufacturers have come and gone from Australia in the last ten years. Due to the nature of importation laws, these companies have dusted their hands clean of their responsibility to honour warranties. This has left many homeowners in a precarious position where they no longer have a warranty should their panels fail.

We've compiled a checklist which guides Virtual Power Co internally on which products we offer and which we do not.

- The manufacter has been in business for more than 10 years

- The manufacter is bankable and has no major redflags with authorities

- The manufacturer has a proven history of fairly honouring warranties and compensating installers for this work

- The manufacturer ideally has a local Australian warranty with an Australian company setup to handle local warranty claims or the importer is a reputable company that is bankable and has a long term strategy to remain solvent.

Many Virtual Power Co clients love installing Tindo Solar panels because they tick every box above. The company is Australian owned and operated, which means a geniuine Australian warranty on all your panels.

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