Solar panel manufacturing going bankrupt

US solar panel brand SunPower declared bankruptcy, how would this affect the SunPower panels being sold in Australia. Luckily the panels in Aus are from a different company with the same name!

Last week, solar energy company SunPower declared bankruptcy in the US.

Operating in Australia since 2008, I wondered what effect a US bankruptcy filing would have on the manufacturers' warranty for SunPower solar panels in Australia.

But before we dig into SunPower, one quick question! Do you have an SMA solar inverter in your home?

We are currently testing out a pilot program for remotely connecting to SMA solar inverters, letting homeowners access their solar generation and consumption history alongside their smart meter grid history. I have more details on how this works at the end of this article. But if you're interested just reply to this email and we can chat!

Now, let's get back to SunPower.

The original SunPower company and SunPower branded panels share nothing but a name, luckily

SunPower the company, and SunPower branded panels are actually two different comapnies in Australia.

During Covid, SunPower decided to spin out their manufacturing business into another company called Maxeon. Since then Maxeon has been operating independently of SunPower both in the US and globally. Manufacturing their panels in Asia and selling them globally but still using the SunPower brand to sell them.

The chart below sums up what we need to know about the Maxeon and SunPower split. We're most interested in the fourth row under the Maxeon column, which shows the customer-facing SunPower branded Maxeon panels outside the US.

I can imagine some executive who thought it was a good idea to keep the SunPower brand is having a rough time right now.

Maxeon is in full damage control mode at the moment, trying to distance itself from the SunPower brand. You can read their blog post outlining their relationship with SunPower.

Maxeon will uphold the manufacturing warranty on SunPower panels in Australia

Maxeon and SunPower ended their working relationships earlier this year and are not connected to each other except through the SunPower name.

This means anyone who has bought or is about to buy SunPower panels can be rest assured its safe to do so. In reality these are really Maxeon panels, and the manufacturing warranty is still in place.

At this point, unless Maxeon goes under, there is no reason to be worried about SunPower panels.

I'm sure this whole debacle will hurt Maxeon's global market sales, but it doesn't seem like it will be a game-ender for them. In a worst-case scenario, they can adopt the Maxeon name for their panels here in Australia, and most people we'll be none the wiser.

SolarQuotes decided to drop SunPower as a recommended panel, a bit harsh

Last week, SolarQuotes announced that they are dropping SunPower panels from their recommended panels list. The exact criteria on how they judge a panel is unknown and generally seems guided by what they are feeling.

Unless SolarQuotes knows something the public doesn't, there doesn't seem to be a reason to panic about SunPower panels. You can read the SolarQuotes article for yourself, they are dropping SunPower panels as a recommended panel.

SunPower declared bankruptcy due to an interest rate crunch on its debts. A few years back, it took on too much debt when interest rates were near zero, a risky move that clearly has been mismanaged. It's hardly a reflection on the quality of panels made by a different company that shares the same name.

Maxeon make great solar panels, SunPower branded panels are widely regarded as a top-tier premium product, up there with REC and other premium brands. It would be a shame for someone to miss out on buying a great premium panel only because the brand name is associated with the failed SunPower corporation in the US.

Using energy consumption patterns with your smart meter and solar inverter

While SolvingZero doesn't recommend specific panels or inverters—we leave that to the professional installers you choose—we can certainly help you use your energy consumption patterns to design the perfect system.

Instead of relying on your energy bills to understand your consumption you can access up to two years of your complete consumption history, broken down by every hour of the year, simply by linking your smart meter to your own SolvingZero energy dashboard in a few clicks.

With your consumption history in hand, we can help you design the perfect solar system for your home, arranged to achieve absolute maximum cost savings.

If that sounds interesting, head over to SolvingZero and try creating your own energy dashboard to see your potential solar savings. It's free!