Solar Panels

Most consumers will judge a solar panel based on 4 major factors:

  • Long term degradation: This is measured by the guaranteed output of the panel over 25 years. All tier one panels will produce at least 80% of the power in 25 years as they did on day 1. Gold Rush Energy only uses tier 1 panels.
  • Cost: Premium panels are the most expensive with Sunpower being the highest cost. Mid range panels will offer a strong return on your investment or “bang for the buck”. Economy panels are not recommended and shown below for comparison purposes only.
  • Country of Origin: Many companies claim to manufacture in the U.S., but typically this is assembly of parts only and not manufacturing. Additionally, many companies are based in one country but manufacture in another.
  • Warranties/Guarantees: All panels have a 25 year production guarantee as mentioned above. However, the manufacturer’s warranty against defects is typically 10 to 15 years. All premium panels extend this to 25 years. If a panel is defective however, it often will be apparent in a much shorter time frame making the production guarantee a more powerful gauge of quality.
As a Panasonic Authorized Installer, Gold Rush Energy proudly offers a 25 year warranty on parts, shipping and labor on any Panasonic panel and optional integrated microinverter. All backed by Panasonic!

Premium Panels

Below are comparisons for some of the more common brands on the market:

Brand Watts Efficiency
Panasonic 330 19.7%
Panasonic 340 20.3%
Solaria XT 360 19.9%
Solaria 350 19.4%
LG 350 Q1C-A5 350 20.3%
LG 360 Q1C-A5 360 20.8%
Sunpower SPR-X21-335-BLK-D-AC 335 21%
Sunpower X21-350-BLK-D-AC 350 21.5%

Mid Range Panels

Brand Watts Efficiency
Hanwha Q Cell Peak Duo-G5 315 18.7%
REC 315TP2M 315 18.9%
Mission Solar PERC 60 310 18.65%

Economy Panels

Brand Watts Efficiency
Grape Solar GS-P60-265 265 16.21%
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