Most “best solar panel brands” lists are opinions: a writer picks ten brands and ranks them by efficiency or warranty. This one counts what went on roofs. We looked at the panel brand recorded for 897,817 home solar systems installed in 2021–2023, from the public installation records utilities and state agencies send to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Tracking the Sun), plus New York’s own program records. They are the same records behind our city rankings of solar installers.
One caveat up front: the records cover 15 states, and 77% of the systems are in California. Where the rest of the country differs, we show it separately.
The short answer
| # | Panel brand | Share, 2021–2023 | Share, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qcells | 25.9% | 25.8% |
| 2 | SunPower / Maxeon | 11.5% | 8.9% |
| 3 | LONGi | 9.5% | 4.4% |
| 4 | REC | 7.3% | 6.9% |
| 5 | LG | 5.4% | 1.0% |
| 6 | JA Solar | 5.2% | 9.5% |
| 7 | Silfab | 4.2% | 3.3% |
| 8 | Canadian Solar | 4.0% | 5.1% |
| 9 | Tesla | 3.2% | 3.1% |
| 10 | JinkoSolar | 2.8% | — |
| 11 | Panasonic | 2.6% | 2.7% |
| 12 | Enphase | 2.0% | 4.9% |
Share of home systems with a recorded panel brand. A dash means the brand fell out of the 2023 top 12.
Qcells is the clear leader: one in four home systems, more than twice the next brand, and first in most states. After that the market is split among a dozen brands, and the order changes a lot from year to year.
Outside California the ranking looks a little different: Qcells still leads (27%), but REC is second (12%), followed by Silfab (8%), LG (7%), SunPower (6%) and LONGi (6%).
How the market changed since 2015
| Brand | 2015 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qcells | 6.2% | 23.9% | 23.1% | 25.8% |
| SunPower / Maxeon | 10.2% | 10.8% | 13.4% | 8.9% |
| REC | 15.2% | 6.6% | 7.4% | 6.9% |
| LG | 6.8% | 13.1% | 11.6% | 1.0% |
| LONGi | 0.0% | 4.5% | 15.6% | 4.4% |
Three stories stand out:
- Qcells went from 6% to about a quarter of the market between 2015 and 2019 and has held that share since.
- LG disappeared. It was on 13% of home systems in 2019 and 2020, then LG Electronics left the solar panel business in 2022. By 2023 it was down to 1%. If you own LG panels, the warranty now depends on LG’s commitment to honor it after leaving the market.
- SunPower shrank before it went bankrupt. SunPower (panels made by Maxeon since the 2020 spin-off) peaked at 13% in 2021 and fell to 9% in 2023. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2024; our guide on what SunPower owners can do now covers warranties and service.
LONGi jumped to 16% in 2021 and fell back to 4% by 2023, while JA Solar went the other way, to 9.5%. Both follow the purchases of a few large leasing companies more than homeowner demand (see below).
What homeowners paid by panel brand
Median price for systems the homeowner bought outright, before incentives, 2021–2023. Only brands with at least 1,000 priced systems.
| Panel brand | Median price per watt | Typical system | With a battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panasonic | $3.42 | 7.2 kW | 11% |
| Tesla | $3.74 | 8.5 kW | 36% |
| REC | $3.75 | 7.8 kW | 7% |
| Solaria | $3.75 | 7.6 kW | 11% |
| LG | $3.80 | 7.3 kW | 10% |
| JinkoSolar | $3.97 | 5.8 kW | 3% |
| Qcells | $4.00 | 7.4 kW | 8% |
| Enphase | $4.07 | 6.7 kW | 8% |
| LONGi | $4.08 | 5.9 kW | 11% |
| All brands | $4.14 | ||
| Silfab | $4.17 | 7.0 kW | 8% |
| SunPower / Maxeon | $4.25 | 5.6 kW | 6% |
| Aptos Solar | $4.38 | 7.0 kW | 2% |
| JA Solar | $4.46 | 6.3 kW | 10% |
| Canadian Solar | $4.60 | 7.1 kW | 4% |
Don’t read this as “Panasonic panels are cheap.” A panel is only a small part of a home system’s price; the rest is labor, permits, sales and the installer’s margin. The gaps mostly reflect who installs each brand and where. Tesla, for example, sells its own panels at low prices per watt on large systems, and SunPower’s median is pulled up by small systems, which cost more per watt.
The useful comparison is the one in your own quotes: two installers offering similar-quality panels should land within a few cents per watt of your city’s median. Our city rankings show that median for 129 cities, and our solar cost guide explains what drives it.
The brand often depends on how you pay
| Panel brand | Leased or on a PPA |
|---|---|
| JA Solar | 68% |
| JinkoSolar | 67% |
| LONGi | 51% |
| Qcells | 29% |
| Canadian Solar | 24% |
| LG | 21% |
| SunPower / Maxeon | 12% |
| Silfab | 10% |
| REC | 8% |
| Tesla | 3% |
If you lease or sign a power purchase agreement, the leasing company chooses the equipment, and it buys in bulk. Sunrun, the largest, used LONGi on 29% of its systems in 2021–2023, JA Solar on 24% and Qcells on 17%. Buyers who pay cash or take a loan are far more likely to end up with REC, Silfab or Qcells. More on the trade-off in solar lease vs. buy.
What the biggest installers put on roofs
| Installer | Main panel brands | Main inverter |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrun | LONGi 29%, JA Solar 24%, Qcells 17% | SolarEdge 74% |
| SunPower | SunPower / Maxeon 85% | SunPower 83% |
| Tesla Energy | Tesla 52%, Qcells 44% | Tesla 80% |
| Semper Solaris | Silfab 53%, Qcells 21% | Enphase 72% |
| Trinity Solar | Qcells 99% | SolarEdge 97% |
| ESP (Energy Service Partners) | Aptos Solar 57%, LONGi 15% | SolarEdge 91% |
Share of each installer’s home systems in 2021–2023 with a recorded brand.
Most installers stick to one or two brands, so choosing an installer largely chooses the panel. If you want a specific brand, ask for it before you sign and check the model on the contract; some installers will switch brands depending on stock.
The top brand in each state
| State | Years | Top panel brand | Top inverter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 2021–2023 | Qcells (28%) | SolarEdge (49%) |
| California | 2021–2023 | Qcells (26%) | Enphase (43%) |
| Colorado | 2021–2023 | Qcells (28%) | SolarEdge (67%) |
| Connecticut | 2019–2021 | Qcells (39%) | SolarEdge (63%) |
| Maine | 2021–2023 | REC (27%) | — |
| Massachusetts | 2020–2022 | Qcells (29%) | SolarEdge (67%) |
| Minnesota | 2021–2023 | Qcells (21%) | SolarEdge (62%) |
| New Hampshire | 2021–2023 | Qcells (41%) | — |
| New Mexico | 2021–2023 | REC (14%) | — |
| New York | 2023–2025 | Qcells (41%) | Enphase (58%) |
| Texas | 2021–2023 | Mission Solar (21%) | Enphase (53%) |
| Vermont | 2021–2023 | LG (26%) | Enphase (47%) |
| Wisconsin | 2021–2023 | Qcells (20%) | — |
The latest three complete years of records in each state. A dash means too few systems recorded the inverter. Texas is the exception worth noting: its records, mostly from San Antonio and Austin, favor Mission Solar, a panel maker based in San Antonio.
Inverters: Enphase overtook SolarEdge
The inverter matters as much as the panel for how a system behaves when something fails, and two companies make most of them. In 2015 they were even, with about a quarter of home systems each (26.0% for Enphase, 26.6% for SolarEdge). SolarEdge then pulled ahead, to 58.4% in 2019, and Enphase passed it in 2022.
| Inverter | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enphase | 20.9% | 37.3% | 40.2% | 50.2% |
| SolarEdge | 58.4% | 42.2% | 39.4% | 32.8% |
| SunPower | 9.2% | 11.7% | 11.5% | 8.0% |
| Tesla | 0.0% | 3.2% | 4.0% | 3.9% |
Enphase puts a microinverter under each panel: if one fails, you lose one panel, and the monitoring app shows which. SolarEdge uses one inverter on the wall plus an optimizer on each panel: if the inverter fails, the whole system stops. SunPower’s own-brand microinverters were made by Enphase under a supply deal signed in 2018.
Owned systems with Enphase microinverters had a median price of $3.91 per watt, against $4.21 for SolarEdge. SolarEdge dominates leasing: 45% of SolarEdge systems were leased or on a PPA, against 16% of Enphase systems. Tesla systems were the most likely to include a home battery (35%).
If your system has stopped producing, our troubleshooting guide walks through the checks for both types before you call anyone.
How to use this when you choose
- Brand share is not a quality score. It shows what installers could buy at a good price and trust enough to put on thousands of roofs. A brand on 20% of systems is at least a proven, available product.
- Look at the warranty holder, not just the warranty length. Panel and inverter warranties come from the manufacturer and survive an installer bankruptcy, which has happened a lot lately: see our list of solar companies that went out of business. A 25-year warranty is only as good as the company behind it.
- Compare price per watt, then brand. Two quotes with different panels are comparable if you divide each total by the system size in watts. Your city’s page shows what local homeowners paid.
- If you lease, ask which panels and inverter you will get. The leasing company decides, and the contract should name the models.
Where these numbers come from
Tracking the Sun, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2024 edition), licensed CC BY 4.0, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s installation records for recent New York years. We counted home systems on existing houses, excluding self-installed systems and new construction, and grouped a brand’s variant names together (for example, “Hanwha Q CELLS” and “Qcells”). Shares are of systems with a recorded brand; prices are medians for owned systems with a plausible price per watt.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular solar panel brand in the U.S.?
Qcells. In the public installation records for 2021–2023, Qcells panels went on 25.9% of home solar systems with a recorded brand, more than twice the next brand, SunPower/Maxeon (11.5%). Qcells also led in 2023 alone (25.8%) and was the top brand in most states with records.
Which solar panel brand is the cheapest to install?
Among brands with at least 1,000 priced systems in 2021–2023, homes with Panasonic panels paid the lowest median price, $3.42 per watt, followed by Tesla ($3.74), REC and Solaria ($3.75). Canadian Solar systems had the highest median, $4.60 per watt. The installer and the market explain most of the gap, not the panel itself.
Which panel brands do solar leasing companies use?
Mostly LONGi and JA Solar. 68% of the systems with JA Solar panels and 51% of those with LONGi panels were leased or on a power purchase agreement, against 8% for REC and 3% for Tesla. Sunrun, the largest leasing company, used LONGi on 29% of its systems and JA Solar on 24%.
Is Enphase or SolarEdge more common?
Enphase, since 2022. Enphase microinverters were on 50% of the home systems with a recorded inverter in 2023, up from 21% in 2019. SolarEdge fell from 58% to 33% over the same years.
Does the panel brand matter if my installer goes out of business?
Yes. The panel warranty comes from the manufacturer, not the installer, so it survives an installer bankruptcy as long as the manufacturer is still in business. That is one reason to prefer a brand with a long track record in the U.S. market.