Hyundai Solar Panels: An Independent Review by Solar Choice

Note: Solar Choice is not a solar installer and has no financial or other incentive to promote any product brand over another. 

Overview of Hyundai Solar – Company History

Hyundai, well known by most for the car manufacturing business, entered the solar industry in 2005. Hyundai Solar Panels are made by Hyundai Heavy Industries Green Energy which is a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). HHI has revenue over $30billion and their core business is shipbuilding, offshore oil & gas construction and industrial engineering.

The solar panel manufacturing activities are predominantly based in South Korea and according to Bloomberg’s module tiering list, Hyundai Solar’s manufacturing capacity is small compared to their tier 1 counterparts at 600MW per year.

Hyundai Solar made an initial entry to the Australian market in 2009 before exiting again a few years later. In 2018, Hyundai Solar are back and have signed up distribution agreements with Supply Partners and Solar Juice. Hyundai’s Australian website features a single scroll page and their datasheets are hosted in Dropbox and Google Drive – so it seems Hyundai Solar’s investment into their Australian operation is focused on distribution agreements.

Read below our in-depth Hyundai solar panels review.

Key Indicators

What is a Bloomberg Tier 1 Solar Panel?

Bloomberg’s infamous tier 1 ranking is NOT a measure of Solar Panel quality in any way. It is simply an indication of the bankability of the manufacturer based on publicly released information on the financial health of the company. This should give you an idea if the company is a large, well-known manufacturer.

Hyundai Solar Panels are in the Bloomberg Tier 1.

See full list of Bloomberg Tier 1 Solar Panels

What is PV Evolution Labs Top Performer?

PV Evolution Labs with support from DNV GL independently test solar panel reliability. The tests are voluntary, with solar panel manufacturers paying to participate in the testing. This testing process is internationally renowned and is an accurate reflection of the solar panel’s performance.

Hyundai Solar Panels was listed as a top performer for the thermal cycling, Damp Heat and LID+LETID in the latest report.

See full list of PV Evolution Labs Top Performing Solar Panels

Why is office location in Australia Important?

Most solar panel manufacturers entering the Australian market first set up their distribution channels and worry about customer service later. This has led to many unhappy customers who are left trying to contact Chinese head offices to claim on their 10-year product warranty.

Relying on your solar installer is not always an option as since 2011 we’ve seen over 700 residential solar installers (including the large ones) go out of business well within the lifetime of the systems they are installing. 

Hyundai Solar has an office on Martin Place in Sydney under the name of Hyundai Energy Solution Co. Ltd.

How Much Do Hyundai Solar Panels Cost?

Based on Solar Choice’s database we have provided the below-average costs as an indicative guide. These prices include:

• Full turnkey Solar System with Hyundai Solar Panels
• Installation from a pre-vetted reputable installer from Solar Choice’s network
• The STC rebate and GST

 Important Note: Prices will vary depending on location, inverter brand and which installer is used

Hyundai Solar Panels – Points of Difference

There are many solar panels out there, what makes Hyundai solar panels stand out?

Shingled Technology Panels

Hyundai’s PERC shingled panels are some of the few ‘shingled’ panels currently on the solar market.

Conventional solar modules consist of 60 or 72 full solar cells electrically connected via metallic busbars. Visually you can see that solar cells have gaps around them and effectively busbars cross over the cells to link them together.

Shingled solar modules have layers of solar cells which link each other and are electrically connected using an ECA (electrically conductive adhesive). All the Hyundai’s series of solar panels sold in Australia are shingled modules. The shingled solar panels eliminate the need for metallic busbars, meaning the silicon cells can take up a higher percentage of the surface area of the panel. The absence of busbars also reduces the light on the solar cells and improves the efficiency of the modules. PERC Shingled Technology provides over 20% efficiency with better performance in low irradiation and maximises installation capacity in limited space.

The standard half-cut solar modules are split into 2 pieces while the Shingled solar modules are split 5 times, which means that if shading is on 1/5th of both the panels, the standard half-cut will only operate at 50% whereas the Hyundai Shingled solar modules might still be performing as high as 80% of its expected output.

Source: Hyundai’s website

Hyundai Solar Panel Technologies

All the panels they currently sell in Australia are salt mist corrosion-resistant and suitable for installation in any location.

Currently, Hyundai offers three series of panels on the Australian market for residential solutions — SG series, VG series and UF series. 

The majority of Hyundai solar panels are approved by the Clean Energy Council (listed under the name of Hyundai Energy Solutions Co Ltd) for the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme – Australia’s home solar rebate program.

SG series

The SG series comes in 340W to 350W options with the maximum efficiency extending up to 20.2%. The panel utilises their trademark shingled PERC mono-crystalline solar cells.

The solar panels are tested under harsh salt-mist environments and are suitable for installations in coastal areas. The smaller dimensioned solar panel (1622mm x 1068mm x 35mm) is most commonly used in residential applications. 

VG series

The Hyundai VG series solar panels utilise slight larger 166mm shingled solar cells. The power range for the VG series is 410 Wp. Similar to the SG series, the shingled solar panels have a higher efficiency than the conventional solar modules with the HiE-S410 VG’s efficiency reaching 20.9%. 

Both the SG series and the VG series are suitable for residential projects with a visually pleasing finish.

UF Series

The UF series are aimed for larger-scale applications. These solar panels are rated up to 400W offering the greatest maximum efficiency of Hyundai’s offering reaching up to 21.3%. 

Because of the shingled technology, the panel size is smaller than most other 400W panels, with the panel dimensions coming in at just 1646 x 1140 mm.

Hyundai’s Warranty Offer for Australian Customers

Solar panels come with a product and performance warranty. The product warranty is designed to cover manufacturing faults in the panel that leads to damage or malfunction, while the performance warranty guarantees a minimum amount of output from the solar panel, which typically declines annually in line with the natural degradation of the silicon in the panel.

Most solar panels on the market have 10 to 15-year product warranty and 25-year performance warranty. However, in 2019, Hyundai increased their product warranty to 25-years along with 25-year performance warranty for all ranges (30-year performance warranty for RG series). This is definitely above the average warranty offer in the market.

It should be noted that, while the future of parent company Hyundai Heavy Industries seems fairly certain, their renewables offshoot is a comparatively small non-core subsidiary and no guarantees are made that HHI will back Hyundai Solar’s warranty claims should the subsidiary go out of business.

Please read more on the latest warranty policy.

Hyundai Solar Panels Pros and Cons

Hyundai Solar Panel Specifications (common modules)

So, Should I Buy Hyundai Solar Panels?

Hyundai have re-positioned themselves towards the premium end of the market by extending the product warranty to 25 years matching the likes of LG, Sunpower and REC. This makes sense given their brand awareness from their similarly named, but legally and finally separate, car manufacturing business.

If you are weighing up a decision between different premium solar panels, the only downside of Hyundai Solar is that they are a smaller business (considering the solar subsidiary in its own right) with a shorter track record and a lower footprint in the Australian market. When examining their products all signs point towards high quality and great performance.

If you’re a fan of the shingled-cell solar panel technology, Hyundai is currently one of your only options in Australia.

Example of an Hyundai Solar Project –the Timber Yard, Falls Creek NSW

• Year: 2019
• Type of Application: Commercial
• System Size: 40kW
• 134 Hyundai RG-Series panels were installed generating the power for the machinery-heavy business operation, reducing the power bills by 93% and the carbon emissions by around 51 tonnes yearly

Read more product reviews from Solar Choice