Popular Solar Module Brands in California for Homes, Businesses

Published May 7, 2010

Sharp Solar has been a leading module choice for residential and small-business solar installations this year in California, according to data compiled by the California Solar Initiative.

Equipment from the Japan-based company, which has a manufacturing plant in Memphis, Tenn., has been listed 1,483 times in the "reservation request review" category by the initiative from Jan. 1 to May 3 for residential projects involving systems with peak capacity ratings of 1 to 10 kilowatts. The average residential system in California is sized at about 5 kilowatts.

 "Reservation request review" is a designation for recently pending projects.

The initiative's program covers about three-fourths of the state's electricity users, but excludes the cities of Los Angeles, Sacramento and others with municipally owned electric utilities.  California's solar market is a national bellwether as it leads the rest of the United States by a wide margin.

The second-leading brand choice among typical residential-system applicants in 2010, based on the initiative's data, has been California-based SunPower Corp., which recently celebrated the opening of its first U.S. manufacturing operation, in the San Francisco Bay Area. SunPower was named for reservation reviews in 994 projects, according to statistics from the initiative.

Kyocera Solar, based in Japan, has been third most popular for average-sized residential systems of 1 to 10 kw so far this year, with 817 listings requesting reservation reviews. The company's U.S. operations are based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Kyocera has announced plans to open a module plant in San Diego this year.

The California Solar Initiative's reservation statistics represent applications for incentives available for solar projects and do not represent module sales.

Sharp Solar also has been the leader in 2010 for small commercial projects requesting review at sizes from 1 to 50 kilowatts of rated peak capacity. Sharp was listed in 29 of these applications. SunPower was second in the smaller commercial category with 24 application listings requesting review.

For large residential systems, ranging from 10 to 25 kilowatts of peak capacity, Sharp led with 68 applicants requesting review. Kyocera Solar was second in the large residential category, named on 67 applications, and SunPower was third, listed 64 times.

Suntech Power Holdings, based in China, has been the leader among larger commercial systems, ranging from 50 kilowatts to 1 megawatt of rated production capacity. Installations beyond 1 megawatt of production capacity are rare on California rooftops thus far and Sunpluggers.com has not gathered data for commercial projects over that size.

Among applicants for larger commercial systems, Suntech was listed 61 times. The company this year announced plans to open a factory in Goodyear, Ariz. Yingli Green Energy, also based in China, was listed 31 times among larger commercial applications requesting review.

Suntech also led in the category of government or nonprofit agencies that filed reservations requesting reviews between Jan. 1 and May 3, with 52 listings. Sunpluggers.com checked system applications in this category ranging from very small, 1 kilowatt, up to large systems of 2 megawatts.  Sharp Solar was second with 49 applications and SunPower was third with 39.

Although small residential solar arrays account for the majority of project applications in California, the greatest share of electricity produced by solar photovoltaic equipment is from a relatively small number of very large commercial or utility installations. Some companies specialize in that market segment, such as Arizona-based First Solar, which is the largest U.S.-based solar company.

Nearly 100 module manufacturers are listed in the initiative's statistical database, which provides unusually extensive and detailed brand-specific information not only for modules but for inverters as well.

Many installation companies serving the residential and small commercial markets offer limited brands, meaning a particular brand may command a share relative to the sizes of the companies that install it. Nearly 1,700 solar installers are listed in the initiative's database.

Consumers are advised by experts to seek price quotes from multiple installers before committing to the purchase or lease of a solar PV system. Tips on choosing an installer and signing a contract are available from the solar initiative's website, called Go Solar California, and from the California Solar Energy Industries Association. Links to both, and to resources in other states, are available on our links page. More information also is available from our story, "20 Questions To Ask Your Solar Installer."