Published in January 30, 2019
REC Panels! You know the name, it’s a strong and well-known brand, not just on our brown land, but in the global solar industry as a whole. Just don’t ask me what R.E.C stands for… (Really. Excellent. Cell’s?… I dunno) They have been around since before there really was a solar industry. Founded in Norway in 96’ when music made sense to me. While we were knee deep in the Seattle grunge scene with our Doc Martins and teen angst, those clever Norwegians were hand-washing their first wafer. They have strong European ties and production didn’t leave the grassy hills of Scandinavia until 2010 when they moved to the clean streets of Singapore. Being made in Singapore means they don’t have that ‘Made in China’ stigma that gets bandied about all the time… Like a Nirvana song on the school bus in 96’.
Built on strong reliability they are known for their high quality panels and leading edge split cell technology. Their partnership approach to business means they offer more support. They also won’t sell panels to every man and their dog under the sun. This ultimately means you won’t get left scratching your head when a competitor undercuts you because they have been able to go direct *Cough_ insert name of the panel manufacturer who has burnt you like this before, here _ *Cough.
The partnering doesn’t just stop with the distributors. REC also want you to become a certified member of their team. Offering extra support, after sales help and an additional 5 years on their (already much higher than industry standard) 20 year product warranty! They are able to make you a partner with them, with open communications and training available it’s another added bonus when going with REC.
For a double warm and fuzzy feeling REC are also a multi-award winning company that ranks very highly in terms of manufacturers with high environmental responsibility. So they are not only building a product that helps save the planet, they are doing it with a smaller carbon footprint then most others out there.
I haven’t even touched on the boring technical parts of great efficiency and low degradation compared to the rest of the market. In most poly solar modules, the rate of degradation is approximately 0.5% per degree Celsius for temperatures above 25C. REC have decreased this to around 0.4%/C – ahead of some of the biggest names in the industry. This is great news for people who want them in Australia, where temps are often over that 25C.
Say you had a million REC solar panels put in one big pile, firstly it would be a huge mess, but secondly finding one with a warranty claim form stuck to it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. On average only 60 panels per 1 million sold come back with a warranty claim. That is staggeringly lower than all the other panel manufacturers around today who are well into the 1000’s sometimes 10’s of thousands. This includes all the top tier 1 panel players in the market.
Basically – Higher performance – Same footprint – Less degradation – 20 (+5 if you become a certified partner) Product Warranty – A great price.
Sol are lucky to have been able to partner with REC and we are both excited to get more of these panels on roofs and under the sun all across Australia. With plenty of new and innovative stuff about to be released (very hush hush at the moment) we have joined at a great time. When you buy REC from Sol you might think you are just getting a panel, but we throw in ‘the peace of mind’ for free.
Reliable. Energy. Cells? – No. Relative. Enormous. Cats. – No. Righteous. Extinct. Carnivores? – No. Renewable. Energy. Corporation – Yes… seems so obvious now…