The 9 most powerful solar panels

The more electricity your solar panel system produces, the more money you can save on your energy bills – so it’s crucial to get a powerful system.

However, a high power rating is only one of the key attributes to look out for when you’re going solar. You should also consider a panel’s affordability, durability, and efficiency. 

In this guide, we’ll explain why all of these factors should influence your decision, and count down the most powerful panels available to households at the moment.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a powerful solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll generate a quick estimate.

What are the most powerful solar panels?

The most powerful solar panels can produce more electricity than any other panels on the market, and therefore have the highest power ratings.

Manufacturers measure their panels’ power levels by using standard test conditions (STC), a globally uniform environment used in solar labs across the world.

To achieve this state, scientists must keep the panel’s temperature at 25°C, expose it to a light source that’s precisely 1,000 watts (W) per m², and maintain the air mass at 1.5, which simulates the way sunlight travels to Earth.

Powerful panels are usually larger than the average model, but if you have the space and it makes sense financially, it could be worth it. After all, the more electricity your system generates, the more you’ll save on your energy bills.

There are other factors to consider though, including the panel’s price, durability, and warranties. The most powerful panel isn’t always the best option.

We go into more detail on these elements lower down, or you can read about them now.

Find out more about our methodology further down the page – or click here to go through it now.

9. Vertex N TSM-NEG19RC.20, 630W

Manufactured by: Trina

This sleekly designed bifacial solar panel is the joint-smallest on this list, at 2.7m², and has a better W/m² rating than this list’s winning model.

So if your roof space is limited, this Trina panel is a decent option, especially considering that 630W is still a highly impressive power rating.

The main drawback of getting this model is that it comes with a 12-year product warranty – which isn’t much, when the average monocrystalline solar panel lasts 30 to 40 years.

It’s also low for the industry as a whole, and particularly in the top tier. You should expect your product warranty to last 15 years at a minimum, and preferably at least 25 years.

On the plus side, Trina offers a performance warranty that’s worthy of its place among the top solar panel manufacturers: 87.4% of the panel’s original efficiency after 30 years. This displays the faith in its product that you’d hope to see.

8. Tiger Neo 66HL4M-(V), 635W

Manufactured by: JinkoSolar

This Tiger Neo model offers many of the same qualities as Trina’s panel: it comes with identical product and performance warranties, the same heat resistance rating, and an extremely similar build.

What sets JinkoSolar’s model apart is that it’s 5mm thicker, has a power rating that’s 5W higher, and weighs a whopping 15% less.

In fact, it’s the lightest panel on the list, at 28.2kg. This is roughly the same weight as a six-month-old female tiger, meaning the Tiger Neo is relatively easy for the best solar panel installers to put on your roof.

7. JAM72D42 LB, 650W

Manufactured by: JA Solar

We jump up to 650W for JA Solar’s panel, with its name that’s just a string of letters and numbers.

Some manufacturers are able to create more powerful panels without raising their size and weight, but this Beijing-based company isn’t one of them.

Its product is slightly larger than most, at 2.8m², and weighs in at a hefty 34.6kg.

Its W/m² rating is therefore a little inferior to those of the panels we’ve already mentioned, though it’s slap-bang in the middle of the overall efficiency rankings in this list.

This panel – like the two before it – also comes with a 12-year product warranty, a performance warranty that guarantees it’ll work at 87.4% of its initial efficiency after 30 years, and a heat resistance that means it’ll lose 0.29% for every degree over 25°C.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a powerful solar panel system and storage battery, enter a few details below and we’ll generate a quick estimate.

6. Hi-MO X10 Scientist, 670W

Manufactured by: LONGi

The Hi-MO X10 Scientist currently holds top spot on our page tracking the most efficient solar panels.

Its 24.8% efficiency allows it to take up less space than other, similarly powerful panels, with a 2.7m² size that’s closer to what you’d expect from panels with 550W ratings.

It’s also the second-lightest panel on this page, at 28.5kg, and has one of the best heat resistance ratings: -0.26% per °C.

LONGi also provides a 15-year product warranty with this product, as well as a performance warranty that stretches to 88.85% after 30 years.

Durability and longevity are crucial attributes of a solar panel system, as they can enable you to increase your savings – and the Chinese firm has guaranteed both to a good level.

5. Neostar 1U+78 Dual-Glass, 680W

Manufactured by: AIKO

This solar panel is home to 156 cells, which is by far the most of any panel on this list, and way more than the average panel, which usually has 60 or 72.

Due to this fact, AIKO’s product is a sizable 2.8m² and 34.7kg.

However, considering the Neostar is also 24.3% efficient – the second-highest on this page, behind the Hi-MO X10 Scientist – it’s actually impressive it’s not larger.

It’s also considerably lighter than the panels above it in this list, has an excellent heat resistance of -0.26% per °C, comes with a 15-year product warranty, and is guaranteed to work 88.85% of its original effectiveness after 30 years.

AIKO is also helping the Austrian state of Burgenland to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, by supplying the area with its technology. This may seem minor, but it’s good to see a solar panel manufacturer actively fighting climate change.

4. OR12H700MNDB, 700W

Manufactured by: Peimar

In some ways, this panel from Italian manufacturer Peimar is inferior to its rivals.

The boringly named OR12H700MNDB has an efficiency rating of 22.5% and heat resistance of -0.30% per °C, both of which are the worst of any model on this page.

Its 38.6kg also makes it the heaviest panel in this list, and at 3.1m², it’s also the joint-largest.

However, it comes with the longest product warranty on the list – 25 years – and is made by the only European company in these rankings.

This means your solar panel system’s carbon footprint would be relatively low, since Italy’s electricity is much less carbon-intensive than China’s, and there’s less distance to cover between the UK and the northern Italian city of Brescia, where Peimar’s panels are made.

And if you prefer a splash of colour over high-performing technology, Peimar also makes green- and red-tinged panels. They’re 360W and less than 20% efficient, but they do have personality.

3. Panda 3.0 Plus 1, 720W

Manufactured by: Yingli

The top three most powerful solar panels are all bifacial 720W models with efficiency ratings of 23.2% – but they all have their own distinctive characteristics.

Despite living up to its bear namesake with a weight of 37.3kg, the Panda 3.0 Plus 1 is the lightest of the three.

Unfortunately, it only comes with a 12-year product warranty, though Yingli does at least guarantee 87.4% of its original efficiency after 30 years, which is the standard top-tier performance warranty.

Other than those attributes, this panel is excellent in an unremarkable way.

2. TOPBiHiKu7, 720W

Manufactured by: Canadian Solar

This is the only entry on our list to be designed in North America, even if the panel itself is manufactured in China.

And Canadian Solar represents its country well, by holding itself accountable.

The company produces an annual sustainability report that both publicises its good work – including how many homes it’s served and tonnes of CO2 it’s displaced – and also tracks the carbon footprint and payback period of its panels.

The TOPBiHiKu7 is also an excellent solar panel. It deals well with high temperatures – like Yingli’s panel, it has a heat resistance rating of -0.29% per °C – but it’s also built for the cold.

Like all top-tier models, it can withstand up to 5,400 Pascals of pressure from snow, but it can also deal with hailstones that are up to 3.5cm in diameter – which is perhaps a little more relevant to northern Canada than the UK.

1. Hydra, 720W

Manufactured by: Seraphim

The solar panel with the best name on our list also has the top performance warranty here.

Seraphim guarantees that its Hydra panels will function at 90.3% of their original efficiency after 30 years, which is at least three percentage points more than most of the best warranties offer.

The Hydra has the best heat resistance on this page, as it loses just 0.258% for every degree over 25°C.

And Seraphim will give you a 15-year product warranty – more than either Canadian Solar or Yingli offers with its powerful panels.

Our methodology

To create our rankings, we made a database of the best solar panels produced by the 21 largest domestic solar manufacturers.

We regularly update this bank of information with the newest solar panels, with all the details drawn from datasheets found on manufacturers’ sites and attached to their press releases.

As well as each panel’s power rating, we also note down its efficiency, performance and product warranties, watts per m², heat resistance, size, weight, and appearance, plus where the solar panel is made and its manufacturer’s green credentials.

Companies generally use the same technology in all their best products, so we’ve opted to only include a maximum of one panel from each manufacturer in our rankings.

What’s the most powerful type of solar panel?

The most powerful type of solar panel that’s available for residential usage is the monocrystalline panel.

These black solar panels make up the entirety of our list, and over recent years have become far and away the most popular type of solar panel in the world.

‘Tandem’ solar panels made of silicon and a synthetic material called perovskite, like the ones produced by UK manufacturer Oxford PV, have the potential to one day overtake monocrystalline panels.

The company produced a record-breaking 26.9% efficient panel in June 2024, but its small 1.6m² frame meant its power rating was only 430W.

If Oxford PV is able to increase the panel’s size to a pretty standard 2.7m² while maintaining its efficiency, its power rating could top our rankings.

However, that moment likely won’t happen for several years, and the panel would probably be off-puttingly expensive, at least at first.

Has solar panel power increased?

Solar panel power ratings have increased massively over the past decade or so.

In 2010, the average solar panel would’ve been made with polycrystalline and capable of reaching 290W under standard test conditions, according to Wood Mackenzie.

These days, customers have a wide range of options above 500W, 600W, or even 700W – as shown by our list.

Every major domestic manufacturer sells panels with power ratings of at least 400W, and at least a dozen have released models that are 500W or higher.

A 3.46 kilowatt-peak (kWp) system installed at Germany’s Oldenburg University in 1976 – and still functioning today – is composed of 336 solar panels, each with a power rating of just 10.3W.

To create a similar system now, you’d usually need just five to eight panels.

Is power the most important solar panel factor?

Power is certainly among the most important solar panel factors, but it’s not the only one worth considering.

If a panel is powerful but massive, you may not be able to fit many of them on your roof – and therefore your system may end up producing less electricity than if you’d chosen a smaller model.

So it’s worth weighing a panel’s power rating against its size, as well as its durability and price, since going solar is a major, long-term investment.

The top panel on this page is just 90W more powerful than the bottom panel, which is a decent gap, but not one you should pay over odds for – especially if you could get a better system by opting for a less powerful panel.

Solar panel affordability

The amount of solar electricity your panels produce plays a large part in determining your system’s break-even point, but so does the amount you pay in the first place.

The first step is being able to afford your system, but even after you’ve negotiated that hurdle, choosing more costly panels can extend your payback period by years if you pay upfront.

It’s not usually worth paying significantly more for gear that’s only slightly more powerful than cheaper versions – and as we’ve already pointed out, the difference in output among the best panels is minimal.

To learn more, check out our guide to solar panel costs.

Solar panel efficiency

Solar panel efficiency refers to the amount of naturally occurring light that your panels can turn into electricity.

Manufacturers refer to this attribute in percentage terms, so a solar panel that’s 20% efficient can convert 20% of the daylight it receives into electricity for your home or the grid.

You can also work out a panel’s efficiency by comparing its power rating with its size, or as it’s commonly known, watts per m².

The better your panel’s efficiency, the more you can fit on your roof, and the higher your output – and savings – should be.

You should always check how efficient a panel is, since a higher power rating is only a true positive if it comes without a large increase in size.

However, it’s also not worth overpaying for a small rise in your system’s efficiency. Most top-tier monocrystalline solar panels are extremely efficient, with little difference between them.

If a panel is more than 20% efficient, you should be set to make significant savings on your energy bills – and these days, most panels are.

Solar panel durability

Durability should be a crucial aspect of your buying decision, seeing as modern panels come with such a high upfront cost.

If your system functions well for its expected lifespan, you can recoup your costs – but if your panels often need to be repaired or even replaced, it could be costly.

Your payback period could grow, and in the worst cases the break-even point may disappear completely.

You should stick to monocrystalline panels, which are the most durable type of solar panel available to households right now – but no system is a sure bet.

That’s why you should think about signing up for Sunsave Plus, and taking advantage of the Sunsave Guarantee.

You’ll receive 24/7 monitoring and maintenance, plus a free replacement battery and inverter once they decline below a certain level.

The Sunsave Guarantee includes downtime protection – which means you can get reimbursed if your panels underperform for an extended period of time – and your system will also be insured by Aviva against damage, fire and theft.

If you want to make any warranty claims, we’ll also manage those.

Next steps

Households can choose between lots of incredibly powerful solar panels at the moment – though there’s not much difference between them.

Even beneath the top tier of panels on this page, there are plenty of panels with high power ratings that may also come with more reasonable price tags.

As well as affordability, you should also balance a panel’s power rating against its size and durability. After all, there’s no use having a set of large panels that take up too much space or don’t last very long.

If you’re wondering how much you could save by getting a powerful solar & battery system, click the button below. Just answer a few quick questions, and we’ll provide an estimate.

Most powerful solar panels: FAQs