Qcells Solar Review: A Solid Manufacturer Expanding Its Reach

One firm making waves within the photo voltaic trade currently is Qcells, a subsidiary of the big South Korean conglomerate Hanwha. 

In early April, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Qcells manufacturing plant in Georgia whereas selling the Biden administration’s renewable vitality efforts and Investing in America tour. The dedication between Qcells and the Biden administration made historical past with its plans to help manufacturing wants for the enlargement of group photo voltaic tasks throughout the US. 

Vitality costs, and the costs of nearly the whole lot else, are up over the previous couple of years. On the identical time, solar energy keeps getting cheaper as expertise improves and authorities incentives give renewable sources of energy a lift.

Add issues about local weather and carbon emissions into the equation and it is nearly as good a time as ever to assume severely about including a photo voltaic system to your house or small enterprise. It is an funding that may not solely decrease utility payments but additionally improve the worth of no matter construction it is put in on.

A photo voltaic panel buy is a serious buy and a chunk of infrastructure meant to final for many years, making the analysis section crucial step on this monetary choice. There is a shocking variety of firms competing for the fitting to place panels in your property, which is nice information for you, however it additionally means you must make sure you decide one you may be pleased with.

What do I get from Qcells?

Qcells works with a community of distributors and installers all through the nation. This implies buy, lease, financing and energy buy settlement choices will fluctuate relying in your location and particular circumstances. These particulars are fully as much as every particular person distributor.    

In contrast to most of the photo voltaic panel installers CNET has reviewed, Qcells’ main enterprise is in manufacturing the panels and different gear that goes into photo voltaic programs. However the firm has partnered with a community of distributors to supply full photo voltaic installations on your house.

This implies you may get a trusted product in a handy, all-in-one bundle backed by stable warranties, however you may need to do some further analysis on the licensed distributor/installers in your space that Qcells will likely be handing you off to.

As a result of Qcells operates with a special enterprise mannequin than many installers, we won’t charge them on most of the standards we use to charge photo voltaic firms. For that reason, we’ll offer you an outline, however will not rating the corporate. 

If you happen to determine to purchase panels by way of Qcells you may get high quality panels. They’re broadly put in by different firms and are available in close to the highest for guarantee and effectivity. Qcells additionally guarantees 25-year workmanship warranties on installations, regardless of counting on different firms to put in their panels, an organization consultant instructed CNET. That is 15 years longer than a few of its opponents.

Keep in mind, CNET doesn’t take a look at photo voltaic panels instantly and doesn’t undergo the method of working with an organization to design, order, allow and set up a system. We depend on comparisons of the gear, warranties and providers on provide from photo voltaic firms

Throughout your photo voltaic procuring expertise, it’s important to get quotes from as many installers working in your space as you’ll be able to. It would take a while, however needless to say it is a system designed to final a quarter-century or longer, completely mounted to your constructing. It is type of an enormous deal.

Happily, you have discovered an excellent place to begin. 

What gear does Qcells provide?

There’s way more certainty across the gear that you will get whenever you order by way of Qcells. The corporate’s distributors provide Qcells panels together with the Q.Peak Duo Collection with wattages starting from 385 to 595 per panel and efficiencies from 20.9% for smooth black panels to 21.3% on the very best wattage bifacial glass panels, that are usually put in in ground-mounted programs.

Your chosen panels are paired with the Qcells Q.House Core gear bundle, which features a hybrid inverter that may be AC or DC coupled and is appropriate with different main inverters. The inverter is matched with Q.Save lithium batteries with a peak output of 128 amps.

The gear all comes from Qcells’ mum or dad firm, Hanwha, which has been an engineering chief in Korea for many years.

Does Qcells provide system monitoring?

You should use the Q House Q.ommand app to maintain monitor of your system and analyze real-time knowledge from the inverter, panels and batteries as soon as the whole lot is up and working.

What warranties does Qcells provide?

Qcells warranties the workmanship and efficiency of those programs for 25 years, which is fairly customary. Nonetheless, the corporate has a partnership with EnFin to supply loans for photo voltaic installations, and should you finance your system by way of them, Qcells will prolong your efficiency guarantee to 30 years.

When you’re linked with an installer in your space, it is worthwhile to ask them further questions on their course of, whether or not they use in-house worker installers or subcontractors and if they provide any further warranties or choices.

How a lot do Qcells photo voltaic panels price?

Qcells would not share specifics on pricing for panels and Q.House packages, however the firm stated its pricing is aggressive and frequently altering with market circumstances. It additionally notes that, of the residential roofs within the US with photo voltaic panels, a couple of in three incorporates Qcells panels. 

When you consider federal clear vitality credit of 30%, the common price of a photo voltaic system within the US is $22,091, in response to Saveonenergy.com, which is owned by CNET’s mum or dad firm. State, county and municipal governments and generally even banks and credit score unions could provide further incentives to deliver that complete out-of-pocket expense down even additional. One evaluation from Wooden Mackenzie reveals the average cost of installed solar power was $2.99 per watt for an 8-kilowatt system. 

Take note these figures are all simply nationwide averages, and precise gear and set up prices can fluctuate broadly throughout areas and particular person conditions. If you happen to decide to get a quote by way of Qcells, you could be given particulars about a number of licensed installers in your space. Even nonetheless, it is advisable to get a number of quotes from different firms in your space that are not affiliated with Qcells as effectively.

As a result of Qcells works by way of its community of distributors with various prices, it will possibly’t provide a value match, however once more it is a query to ask the licensed installer you are linked with as a substitute.

What financing choices does Qcells provide?

Financing choices, together with whether or not or not you buy, lease or get panels by way of an influence buy settlement, will likely be by way of the installer you signal a cope with. If you happen to get a mortgage by way of Qcells most popular financer, Qcells will tack on 5 years to your panel efficiency guarantee, bringing it to 30 years.

Does Qcells function in my state? How do I order?

Chang instructed me that the community of distributors and installers Qcells works with function in all 50 US states, however to make sure service is definitely provided in your particular location, you may want to finish the “Contact Us” type on the Qcells website to provoke the dialog and obtain information about distributors close to you.

There’s additionally a “calculator” hyperlink on the web site that connects you to the net Qcells market run by an organization referred to as Electrum that operates a community of over 150 licensed installers nationwide. This instrument could assist offer you an concept of what’s obtainable in your space and on your particular deal with earlier than you communicate instantly with somebody from Qcells to confirm.

As soon as a buyer is matched with a distributor/installer, experiences are certain to fluctuate and it is laborious to say rather more about what to anticipate from the method. Qcells affords guarantee help, however perform a little further analysis on the installer you are known as effectively earlier than agreeing on something.

Is Qcells the only option?

Qcells is a serious participant within the US photo voltaic market providing a preferred product and a good portion of its panels are manufactured domestically. They’re additionally below the umbrella of a serious worldwide industrial conglomerate, so it is a protected guess they are not going anyplace quickly.

The Q.House gear bundle can also be a pleasant, standardized set of parts that is streamlined for straightforward, stackable, modular set up. It is virtually a plug-and-play method to house photo voltaic. The wild card is the distributor/installer that places the system in for you. This provides an additional analysis burden to the selection to go together with Qcells and its dependable {hardware}. As a result of Qcells photo voltaic panels are broadly put in, it is not unlikely that different firms will quote you Qcells panels. You probably have an area installer in thoughts that you simply like, there is a first rate likelihood they may pay money for Qcells panels fairly than going with whoever Qcells itself connects you with. 

As soon as once more, needless to say CNET has not gone by way of the ordering or set up course of with Qcells.

Qcells is just not accredited with the Higher Enterprise Bureau, however the distributors in your space could also be, so make sure you examine their rankings.

General, should you’re not too choosy about parts and simply need one thing from a trusted title, it is value testing Qcells to see what they will provide. 

Execs

• Common model of panels again by a serious producer
• Comparatively easy gear set up
• Prolonged guarantee with financing

Cons

• Should undergo community of installers
• No actual choices on inverters or batteries

Learn extra: Your Photo voltaic Panels Can Make You Cash. Discover Out When and How

How we consider photo voltaic firms

Reviewing photo voltaic firms in a hands-on means is troublesome. Accounting for all of the variations to be projected is not possible. To offer a useful overview, we centered on what we are able to measure and meaningfully evaluate amongst firms.

We concentrate on three buckets of standards: gear, warranties and repair. 

Inside the gear class, firms obtain scores for the panels, inverters and batteries they set up. Warranties embody the ensures on the panels, workmanship and weatherization towards leaks. Firms earn factors for service if they provide a value match, a significant stage of value transparency and a well-rated app for monitoring photo voltaic manufacturing. They lose factors if there are main points pertaining to customer support (lawsuits, investigations or clear reputations for shoddy service). These points will all the time be detailed within the overview.

You possibly can learn an in depth have a look at how the scoring breaks down.

We do not take into account the common value of an organization’s installations of their rating. This data is troublesome to search out and laborious to match throughout service areas (and even roof to roof). Firms are sometimes gradual to reveal it, too. We additionally omit simply discovered however not helpful data like what number of states an organization operates in.