South Korea-based PV manufacturer Q Cells has expanded its premium range in Australia amid strong demand from consumers looking for energy security in uncertain times. The latest Q Cells module, the Q.Peak Duo-G6+, comes with a 25-year product and 25-year performance warranty, just as its predecessor the Q.Peak Duo-G5+.
Since Q Cells first announced a 25-year product warranty with the launch of the Q.Peak Duo-G5+, Q Cells remains the only member of the ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (which represents the world’s top nine largest solar manufacturers) to be offering warranties of this length to the Australian market. While well above the industry average, a 25-year warranty deal is not unheard of. It is already offered on the entire range or individual products by the likes of Sun Power, LG Electronics, and REC.
Available in the Australian market from May 1, Q Cell’s latest module with a power class of up to 355 Wp will be targeting the premium residential segment amid growing demand. Despite Covid-19 lockdown, Australia’s rooftop PV juggernaut continues to go from strength to strength.
According to small-scale technology certificate (STC) data, January, February and March saw some 203 MW, 215 MW and 254 MW respectively of sub-100 kWp solar added to Australian rooftops. If the trend had continued, unperturbed by the Covid-19 outbreak, something approaching 3 GW of solar could have been installed on Australian rooftops in 2020. This would have been a big jump on the 2.13 GW installed in 2019.
“Right now, consumers are attracted, more than ever, to quality products to bolster self-sufficiency and energy security in uncertain times,” said Q Cells Australia Key Account Director, Myungsin Shim. “Q.Peak Duo-G6+’s high-performance thanks to Q.antum Duo Technology, means customers can install fewer panels on their roof to maximize generation and help save on those rising costs.”
Fully integrated residential PV system
In addition to Q.Peak Duo-G6+, Q Cells is readying to launch its Q.Home mid-May. A comprehensive fully wrapped solar solution that is covered by a single warranty, Q.Home is designed to provide energy independence, especially useful for households in regional areas with unreliable power, but applicable everywhere.
Q.Home is a complete solar package consisting of modules, a hybrid inverter, accessories providing integrated yield and monitoring data, and a lithium-ion battery scalable from 4 to 12 kWh with an inbuilt natural cooling system for silent operation.
All of Q Cells’ products come with local support based in Sydney. Q Cells has been servicing Australia since 2009, celebrating its 10th-anniversary last year.
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“According to data gathered by Green Energy Markets, Australian rooftops added a record of almost 500 MW of new PV capacity in the March quarter. This was a 45% increase in the installs of 100kW or smaller systems compared with the January-March period a year earlier.”
This is the problem for home or small business solar PV, which might not have the roof square footage for larger arrays that put out more power, but have larger foot prints. The standard panels for residential now are in the 330 watt output and are in the 1.5 to 1.7 square meter size panels. Something like the First Solar series 6 panels are about 2.35 square meters for 445 watts. Sooner or later tandem solar PV with efficiencies of 30 to 35% harvest will become the next killing plunge at the rote utility. Most utilities World wide lose somewhere around 70 to 80% of the heat content to generate the power to end user. Heat losses, transformer step up and step down losses can all be dealt with if one installs micro-grids at the edge of towns, housing tracts, commercial or light industrial complexes.