California’s Most Popular Solar Panels in 2011

Data released by the California Solar Initiative (CSI) reveals some surprising trends. Namely, there are a handful of top dogs in solar manufacturing — the brands that over half of California homeowners seek out when they get solar estimates, compare specs and ultimately install. But not all of these brands are who you might expect.

To find out how much it costs to go solar in your area, click here.

First, we see that BP Solar, a once-major player that captured a sizable chunk of installations for years, has fallen from grace. This is probably due to the oil spill disaster and internal complications (it’s hard to watch solar suffer in any form, but BP had it coming).

That decline, however, paved the way for SunPower, Sharp and Kyocera Solar to reign king in 2010 and 2011. These three claimed 46% of all California installations thus far.

So what makes these solar panels the most sought-after in all of California? For starters, SunPower, Sharp and Kyocera are industry veterans. Having been founded in 1985, 1959 and 1963, respectively, each dove into solar innovation and continued to perfect their processes.

What’s more, SunPower and Kyocera have both achieved world records for solar panel efficiencies. That, plus their established reputations in solar (solar panels as we know them are still fairly new, after all), have built trust in the eyes of even the most discerning homeowners.

What else can we glean from CSI’s data?

Chinese manufacturers are slowly gaining market share. Yingli Green Energy rose from ninth place (tracked since 2006) to fifth in 2010. Suntech Power is also sitting pretty at fourth.

CSI measured the data based on the number of applications they received for solar rebates. It’s a close analysis, considering that virtually all solar homeowners want to cash in on rebates and incentives (or rather, must cash in on them to make the costs affordable).

Personally, I’m proud to see that California is still our country’s solar superstar. With 83,477 solar projects and 838 megawatts installed to date, the Golden State leads the nation in solar installations and manufacturing.

Posted on April 30th in Solar News by Brittany.