SunPower solar panels

SunPower solar panels received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Australian Solar Installers who took part in Solar Calculators’ Inaugural 2026 Solar Installer Survey.

SunPower panels received an average score of 8.4/10. Despite placing just 6th on the list of popular solar panels reviewed by Australian Installers, the more telling information comes from the fact that 40% of installers who reviewed SunPower solar panels rated nothing else, meaning that they were their first (and only) choice when recommending solar panels to Australian consumers.

Find out what installers liked (and didn’t like) about SunPower solar panels and how they stack up against some of Australia’s highest rated solar panel brands including Aiko and Trina.

An overview of SunPower solar panels

SunPower has been a pioneering name in the global solar industry since 1985 when it was founded in San Jose, California by Dr. Richard Swanson. SunPower solar panels have been a stalwart of the Australian solar market since 2009 and have been a popular choice for both consumers and solar installers over the past 15+ years.

Recent company troubles

In recent years, the company has found itself in the midst of some well documented corporate troubles which saw it change hands in 2020 when the businesses were effectively split in two, with the solar panel manufacturing arm being transferred to a new Singapore-based company, Maxeon Solar Technologies. Despite changing names, Maxeon retained the rights to sell SunPower branded solar panels outside of the US market – including in Australia. In 2024, the US arm of SunPower (which focussed primarily on installation) went bankrupt, while Australian operations were unaffected. Chinese manufacturer TCL Zhonghuan became the majority owner of SunPower in March 2025.

TCL SunPower Global, the entity that owns the SunPower Australia business. TCL Zhonghuan is the parent entity of TCL SunPower Global.

A brief timeline of SunPower’s recent company changes

Whilst this all sounds fairly dramatic, it’s important to understand that SunPower Australia is independent from SunPower USA and none of these changes directly impacted Australian consumers.

Through the turbulence, it’s been business as usual in Australia for SunPower. TCL SunPower Australia handles all product and warranty claims for the Australian market with an office in Melbourne and warehouses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.

SunPower solar panels range overview

SunPower Australia sells two key product ranges. The entry level Performance Series uses shingled TOPCon cells, and the premium Maxeon Series solar panels which use SunPower's signature back-contact cell technology. Both the Performance and Maxeon solar panel ranges are manufactured by the same company, but have different designs, efficiency ratings, and warranty periods.

Performance Series (entry level)

The Performance Series is the most affordable range of solar panels offered by SunPower Australia. The current Performance 7 uses N-type TOPCon cells with overlapping shingled cells that leave no centre gap or spacing between the cells which give the panels an aesthetically pleasing all black look.

The current residential Performance 7 from SunPower comes in 440-455 W models with an efficiency rating of up to 22.4%. The Performance 7 comes with a solid 30-year product warranty. The Performance Series from SunPower is a good choice for buyers who want to buy from a well-known brand without stretching into the premium price territory of the Maxeon Series.

Maxeon Series (premium)

The Maxeon Series is SunPower’s premium product offering which uses interdigitated back contact (IBC) cells that effectively removes metal contacts from the front of cells to reduce efficiency loss that occurs through shading and gives the panels a cleaner, more premium look.

The Maxeon Series features cells with copper backing which adds to their durability and reduces the chance of wear occurring through cracking or general corrosion. The latest Maxeon 7 Series which was recently launched to the Australian market boasts 24.2% module efficiency – a significant jump from the 22.8% efficiency rating found in the outgoing Maxeon 6 Series.

Maxeon solar panels come with a 40-year product warranty – the longest of any solar panel on the market in Australia. The Maxeon Series is a premium product and the price reflects that. Pricing means that the Maxeon series won’t be for everyone, but they are ideal for homeowners with limited roof space looking to maximise output and value the peace of mind offered by a 40-year product warranty.

What Australian solar installers say about SunPower

In August 2026, Solar Calculator conducted its first survey of Australian solar installers to learn more about their hands-on experience installing and providing after-sales support for some of the most popular solar panel brands on the market.

The survey is the first of its kind and is intended to gain unbiased insight into how solar installers view different brands and which ones they are recommending to customers based on first-hand experience installing and providing after sales support for the product.

SunPower solar panels ranked #6 on Solar Calculators’ 2026 Solar Installer Survey with an average rating of 8.4/10 from Australian solar installers.

The result placed SunPower below highly rated brands like Aiko (9.4) and Trina (8.9), and roughly the same as Jinko solar panels (8.5) and JA Solar (8.5).

Editor’s note: Quality caveat

It’s worth mentioning here that our Solar Calculator survey asked for a single rating based on quality, performance and value. SunPower are one of the highest quality panels available in Australia. If rated on quality alone, it’s likely SunPower’s score would have been even higher.

An overview of the survey data for SunPower solar panels

• SunPower scored an average of 8.4/10 to place #6 in Solar Calculators’ 2026 Solar Installer Survey.
• 40% of Solar Installers who reported installing SunPower solar panels ranked them a perfect 10/10.
• SunPower divided responders to the survey with the highest deviation of scores ranging from a modest 6/10 to 10/10.
• Those who rated SunPower didn’t just say they liked it, they took the time to leave comments reporting positive experiences with the product.

How SunPower solar panels performed against other brands

*Note: Data taken from Solar Calculator’s August 2026 Solar Installers survey

What Australian installers like about SunPower solar panels

The two things that stood out from respondents of Solar Calculators’ Inaugural 2026 Solar Installer Survey when talking about SunPower solar panels were:

• Those that install them, love them. As a brand, SunPower solar panels elicited the highest level of brand advocacy amongst installers who responded.
• SunPower is one of the most reliable solar panel brands with no one reporting issues with after sales support or warranty claim knock backs. This alone should give would-be buyers a lot of confidence when considering SunPower.

Glen Ashton, SAE Group (rated SunPower 10/10)

"We decided to have SunPower as our primary panel as we remove a lot of old panels from roofs and all the other panels we remove had deteriation and failures, SunPower panels still look like new as they use higher quality materials that can last longer, the reason they have longer warranties, they have been manufacturing panels for 20 years longer than most other brands."

Daniel Overd, Positive Energy Solutions (rated SunPower 10/10)

"I have been working with SunPower products for over a decade with great relationships and no faults. We won’t use any other panel."

What Australian solar installers didn’t like about SunPower

We did not get any direct, negative feedback for SunPower solar panels in our survey. Several installers ranked them at the lower end of the scale; however, we tend to think that has more to do with SunPower’s premium pricing when compared to brands with a similar efficiency rating at a lower price point like Jinko and Trina.

Are SunPower solar panels worth considering?

Based on the feedback that we received, yes SunPower is certainly worthy of being shortlisted if you’re shopping for solar panels in Australia.

The company is in the midst of some administrative woes which could fairly make some consumers a little nervous, however, it’s worth stating that the current parent company for SunPower (TCL Zhonghuan) still retains Tier 1 bankability status from BloombergNEF.