Hyundai Solar Panels Overview

Hyundai Energy Solutions is known for making affordable, high-quality solar panels that are backed by a 25-year warranty on the product and its performance. Hyundai panels are made with a unique shingled cell design, which gives them a unique and aesthetically pleasing look. There are several benefits to shingled cell panels, and their performance is better when they are partially shaded. They are also less likely to get tiny cracks when they are stressed, which makes them some of the most reliable and effective panels.

Company History

Since its founding in 1972, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has become a world leader and innovator in renewable energy. Hyundai Green Energy was the South Korean company’s renewable energy division, but in 2019 it was renamed Hyundai Energy Solutions. Since then, the company has grown and gone back to many places with a new line of high-quality solar PV products and a 25-year warranty on the products and how well they work.

In 2009, at the start of the solar boom, Hyundai Green Energy became a well-known solar brand in Australia and around the world. They left a few years later, to the disappointment of many in the solar industry. Lucky for us, the company lived up to its role as the manufacturer and warranty provider for all Hyundai solar panels and is still doing so.

Hyundai Solar Panel Range

Hyundai makes a variety of solar panels that can be used in homes, businesses, and large-scale power plants. Like most other companies, Hyundai has made all of its new generation panels more efficient by adding Mono PERC cells. Hyundai focused on the high-density shingled cell format to improve performance even more. This format covers more of the panel’s surface area, making it more efficient and giving it other benefits that will be explained in more detail below.

UF series – Residential shingled cell panels from 375W to 400W
VG series – Residential shingled cell panels from 385W to 410W
UH series – Commercial shingled cell panels from 450W to 480W
VI series – Commercial shingled cell panels from 465W to 490W

Size: The shingled cell panel design makes the panels shorter and a little bit wider, which makes them a good fit for residential roofs. Most other companies now make panels that are between 1750mm and 1950mm tall, so the 1650mm Hyundai panels are one of the few options for roofs with limited space.

Hyundai Solar Panels

Hyundai’s most popular panels are the UF and VG series, which usually come in sizes ranging from 375W to 410W. Both are made up of shingled cells, but because the cells are different sizes, they have a different number of cells.

UF Series Panels

Hyundai’s most efficient shingled cell panels are the UF series, which can produce up to 400W and have a maximum efficiency of 21.3%. They are interesting because they are based on the smaller, older M3 or 158.75mm cell size and use 10 strings of 36 cells instead of the larger 166mm and 182mm cells that most other companies use.

UF series features

M3+ shingled cells: 360 cells – 10 strings of 36 (158.75) PERC solar cells
Extremely compact panel – 1646mm high
Efficiency – 20.5% to 21.3%
25-year product warranty on materials and workmanship (Australia & EU Only)
Performance warranty: 0.55% annual degradation, 84.8% guaranteed after 25 years

VG Series Panels

The VG series is also a shingled cell panel like the UF series, but the cells are slightly bigger at 166mm. This means that there are 34 cells per string instead of 36, and the voltage is slightly lower. Depending on the inverter’s voltage range, one benefit of a lower voltage is that more panels can be used per string.

VG series features

M6 shingled cells: 340 cells – 10 strings of 34 (166mm) PERC solar cells
Very compact panel – 1719mm high
Efficiency – 19.9% to 20.7%
25-year product warranty on materials and workmanship (Australia & EU Only)
Performance warranty: 0.55% annual degradation, 84.8% guaranteed after 25 years

Shingled Cell Technology

Shingled cell panels have been around for more than five years. They are a reliable cell format that has been used by a number of well-known companies, including Sunpower, which makes some of the best solar panels in the world. Shingled cells use the same monocrystalline silicon wafers that are used in most solar cells, but they are cut up and put together in a different way that makes them look like they overlap.

Benefits of shingled cells

Increased shade tolerance
Reduced hot spot risk
Reduced risk of micro-cracks
Unique visual appearance

How do shingled cells work?

A full-size cell is cut into five strips, each of which is one-fifth the size of a full cell. This makes shingled cells. Based on the size of the panel, the narrow cell strips are put together into long strings of 34 to 40 cells. This means that the string voltage is the same as a regular panel, but the electrical current is only a fifth as much. When you lower the string current, the resistance and operating temperature go down. This makes it less likely that hot spots will form if there is a bad cell or a small crack.

Instead of soldered ribbons, which are used in traditional solar panels to connect the cells, shingled cell panels use electrically conductive adhesive (ECA), which puts less stress on the cells while they are being made. Also, as panels heat up and expand slightly during the day, traditional solder ribbon expands and can eventually break, while the conductive adhesive used on shingled cells helps reduce the internal stresses caused by thermal expansion.

Improved performance under partial shading

When using the shingled cell format, where strings of cells are put together horizontally across the panel, the ability to handle shade is also improved. Since each string of cells works pretty much on its own, shading one or more strings does not affect the flow of electricity through the other strings.

Hyundai Warranty

Hyundai’s product warranty is the best in the industry at 25 years, which is the same as some of the best solar panel manufacturers like Sunpower, LG, and REC. Most other manufacturers only offer product warranties of 10 to 15 years. But Hyundai’s 25-year warranty on performance isn’t as good as what these other brands offer, which use much more expensive and pure N-type silicon.

All Hyundai shingled cell panels come with a warranty that covers any problems with the materials or the way they were made, including PID (potential induced degradation).

The 25-year limited warranty on linear performance guarantees that the power will be at least 98% of the rated power in the first year. After that, the power output won’t go down by more than 0.55 percent per year. So, after 25 years, the minimum nominal rated power must be at least 84.8%

Note: Concerns about the warranty of older Hyundai solar panels led the company to make a public statement saying that all solar panels sold in Australia are covered. We think this is also true for all other places where Hyundai panels were sold.

Summary

Most people think that Hyundai is one of the best companies that makes solar panels. Their panels are reliable and efficient, and they use tested solar PV technology. Hyundai’s shingled cells have a number of advantages over the more common split cell panels. For example, they can handle shade better and are more reliable because hot spots and small cracks are less likely to happen over the life of the panel.

Hyundai is ahead of many of its competitors because it offers a 25-year warranty on both its products and how well they work. This shows how confident the company is in its manufacturing and quality control. Even though Hyundai’s warranty is one of the best, the panels are much cheaper than high-end brands like LG and Sunpower, which makes them a very good deal.