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Manufacturer's Profile
JA Solar is a Chinese company that was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, China. JA Solar designs, develops, manufactures and sells solar wafers, cells and other solar module products. JA Solar is a leading manufacturer and innovator of high-efficiency solar panels and renewable energy technology. In 2018, JA Solar completed a merger with JASO Acquisition Limited a wholly-owned subsidiary of JASO Holdings.
As of 2019, JA Solar has 22,000 employees working across 32 factories and branches around the world. With 9 manufacturing facilities in China and one in Malaysia and Vietnam and a total annual production capacity of 13.5 GW, JA Solar is the world's third largest manufacturer of solar panel modules as at September 2020.The brand enjoys a high reputation in Nigeria for their quality, durability and aesthetics.
Technology
JA Solar utilizes two primary solar cell technologies in their solar panels, PERC (P-Type) and N-Type. PERC stands for Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell or Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact. PERC that adds a dielectric passivation layer on the rear of the cell. The extra layer is to allow more sunlight to be captured and turned into electricity with the goal of increasing the efficiency of PERC cells over traditional solar cells.
First invented by a Canadian scientist, Martin Green, PERC technology has been around since 1989, but with steady improvements in the technology over the years, PERC modules now have an efficiency that is at least 1 percentage point higher than that of standard modules. Given that a standard module typically has an average efficiency of 16%, a system using PERC modules will generate about 5% more energy than a system using standard modules, all else being equal.
PERC solar modules share fairly similar structure as other silicon modules on the market. PERC modules cost about the same, per watt, to manufacture as traditional silicon panels. PERC modules may cost slightly more than traditional ones, but they have a slightly higher efficiency and power rating. Monocrystalline PERC modules production was a little over 1 GW in 2014, in 2018, it reached up to 64 GW. They are expected to reach up to 168 GW by 2022. Read full report here.
Range
JA offers a sizeable range of mono PERC cell solar module, bifacial, half-cell modules and polycrystalline modules of varying specifications and design. Like most manufacturers, JA Solar is however transitioning to making only monocrystalline panels.
Specifications
Some consider JA Solar modules alongside Trina Solar, Canadian Solar and Hanwha Q Cells to be high-value mid-range solar modules, that is panels that are priced a little over normal-value modules but under premium modules. In terms of efficiency, JA Solar competes very favourably with premium brands like LG, Panasonic and Sunpower and outperforms the majority of its mid-range competitors and is regarded by some as a premium brand.
Even though JA Solar modules use many of the same technologies seen with other solar panel manufacturers, they stand out in their efficiency rating, which is on average 1-1.5% more than the majority of their mid-range competitors. For instance, JA Solar's Cypress line is rated at 19.6% efficiency in comparison to LG NeON 2 which is rated at 21.7% efficiency.
Warranty
JA Solar modules come with a standard warranty of 12-year product and 25-year linear performance. The product warranty is 2 years longer than most other mid-range panels (10 years), but less than LG and Panasonic, which come with 25 year product and performance warranties.
JA Solar guarantees a minimum of 81.4% output production after 25 years. This figure is lower than LONGi at 83.8% and Panasonic at 90.76%. It is however, slightly below the industry average of 82%, but above Trina Solar's 80.7% guaranteed output.
As always, SolarKobo helps its clients make the best possible choice of solar panels in Lagos and anywhere in Nigeria.