Reviewed – LG Solar Panels

LG is a South Korean electronics and chemicals company. With the help of the South Korean government it recently entered the solar PV market as well as the country increasingly tries to market itself as a ‘green superpower’.

The company has started to produce solar PV products through a number of subsidiary companies, particularly LG Solar Energy (formed in 2007) and LG Electronics. LG Solar Energy was set up to produce polysilicon for solar PV wafers and it is already selling solar modules in South Korea and in Europe. It hopes to expand its production to 1 Gigawatt by 2012. LG Electronics produces solar cells and plans to invest 1 trillion won by 2015 aiming to generate revenue of 3 trillion won. The company’s aim is to expand its business to 1,000 MW by 2013. LG already operates a vertically integrated plant in Korea but hopes to establish more plants in the US.

The company’s products includes both mono and multi-crystalline panels in the 220 to 260 Watts range, available in both blue and black. It already exports to the EU and hopes to expand to other parts of the world. LG panels tend to be quite cheap compared to many other makes but are not particularly distinctive in terms of efficiency and there are some makes which are even cheaper than LG. One website however does mention that LG’s panels are ‘uniquely designed to drain liquid’ which is quite interesting, while the frames are apparently designed for easy handling while at the same time being fairly robust. The company’s warranty seems to be fairly standard with a 5-year quality of workmanship warranty, 12 years output warranty at 90% and 25 years at 80%.

Launched at the Intersolar trade fair this year, the company claims that its Mono X and Multi X solar panels are both more efficient than conventional models by about 8.3% and 4.3% respectively. The Mono X is claimed to run at 260 Watts rather than the normal 240 Watts and is supposed to be easier and less expensive to install. The Multi X has been given LG’s advanced surface treatment which absorbs a greater amount of sunlight and therefore provides greater output than conventional multi-crystalline cells. Both these panels are certified to TUV and UL standards and the company claims they can resist pressures of 5400 Pa as well as the harshest of climate conditions.

Sources:

Greenworld Investor

http://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2011/07/04/lg-solar-review-of-multicrystalline-and-monocrystalline-pv-cell-panels-modules-prices-and-comparision/

Solar Online Australia

http://www.solaronline.com.au/225w-lg-solar-panel.html

LG Blog

http://www.lgblog.co.uk/2011/06/lg-unveil-next-generation-solar-modules-at-intersolar-2011/