Sonali Solar panels review 2023: Hiding from the sun

There are over 350 companies worldwide that make solar panels. Some always stay in the spotlight and let the world know what they are up to. Not Sonali Solar though. The Indian brand has been living under a rock for quite some time, but it won’t keep us from analyzing their product. Here comes our Sonali Solar panels review.

Dead or alive?

The company is headquartered in Surat, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. It owns and operates a manufacturing facility in Surat with a fully automated 100 MW production line. The American office is located in New Jersey.

On its website, Sonali Solar offers polycrystalline panels and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs). It seems that at some point the company transitioned to monocrystalline modules production. You can find them for sale online but not on their website.

We would love to tell you about how the company is doing but at this point, it’s not even clear if Sonali Solar is dead or alive. The website seemingly hasn’t been updated since 2015. Social media accounts have been silent since 2017. The latest customer reviews on Google are dated to 2021.

Sonali Solar: Poly, mono, BIPV

Sonali Solar polycrystalline PV modules are rated from 3W to 335W. There are small monocrystalline panels for mobile installations, and there is at least one monocrystalline 440-460 W model for modern home systems. It doesn’t seem like Sonali Solar has any panels for projects of a large scale.

Strangely, Sonali Solar doesn’t mention efficiency in the datasheets of their panels. Quick math shows that the most powerful polycrystalline panel rated at 360 W has an efficiency of 18.7%. Honestly, for polycrystalline panels, this is a good number. However, we would recommend using polycrystalline panels only if you have a lot of free space and your energy needs are low. The most advanced monocrystalline panels reach a 21% conversion rate which is just fine. 

There aren’t any prices mentioned on the Sonali Solar website. However, their monocrystalline panels go for sale for around $0.7-0.8 per watt which puts them among cheaper panels on the market. Small monopanels for mobile installations reach $1 per watt in price. Polycrystalline panels usually tend to be at least 20% cheaper than monocrystalline ones but it doesn’t appear as if Sonali Solar currently has any for sale at the moment.

Sonali Solar offers a 12-year product warranty for their panels. Each model gets a 25-year performance guarantee. The panels retain at least 90% of their output after 10 years and at least 80% after the next 15 years. However, getting customer support can be hard, given the unknown state company and poor service reviews. 

Sonali Solar: pros

Let’s list down the advantages of Sonali Solar panels. Honestly, there aren’t many:
• Panels get positive reviews. Customers on Amazon and other websites report that Sonali Solar panels do alright in the field. Some note that their RV panels are a little overpriced though.
• Diverse product line? It’s impressive if Sonali Solar indeed offers BIPVs, polypanels and monocrystalline panels all at the same time. Unfortunately, there is no way to check it. 

Sonali Solar: cons

What are the disadvantages? There are a lot of things that would make you hesitate about choosing Sonali Solar:
• Service gets negative reviews. As of 2023, Sonali Solar has a 2.8-star rating on Google. Customers complain about line disconnects, miscommunications and low competency of the staff.
• Unclear state of a company. Is it active? Did it go out of business? Hard to tell. This may possibly lead to problems with getting warranty support.
• Availability. The products on Sonali Solar website are outdated at this point. Monocrystalline panels from the brand are hard to find. 

Sonali Solar panels overview: For home and mobile installations

Let’s take a look at a few panels from Sonali Solar that you can find scattered across the Internet. Sonali Solar doesn’t seem to have high-output modules for big installations. Instead, their panels can be used for building home and RV or boat systems.

SS M 360 Series — Best among polypanels from Sonali Solar

This is the most powerful polycrystalline panel from Sonali Solar website. It provides 360 W output with 18.7% efficiency. Some customers report that polycrystalline panels tend to perform better in low-light conditions in comparison to monocrystalline panels. The model comes with a 12-year warranty for the product and a 25-year warranty for performance.

Sonali Solar 200 W monocrystalline panel — Good choice for RV

A 200-watt monocrystalline panel from Sonali Solar can be a good choice for a mobile installation, such as an RV or a boat system. The efficiency of a panel is quite low — only 15.6%. The panel received favorable reviews on Amazon though. It comes with a 5-year material and workmanship warranty and a 25-year output warranty.

SS-M-440 440 W monocrystalline panel — Hidden treat

SS-M-440 looks like the most modern panel made by Sonali Solar. It provides up to 440 W output with 21% efficiency. Half-cut cells reduce shading losses, and it’s the first panel from this manufacturer where we see this kind of design. It’s a solid choice for a simple home installation.

A1SolarStore verdict: Get yourself together, Sonali Solar

Our Sonali solar panel review 2023 comes to an end. We’ve looked at the specifications of Sonali Solar panels, listed down the pros and cons of their product, and looked at a few models that the brand offers. Let’s make a list of the most important points about Sonali Solar:

• Sonali Solar is an Indian brand with representation in the US, Asia-Pacific, and European markets.
• The panels are manufactured in Surat, India.
• The company specializes in polycrystalline panels and building-integrated photovoltaics. There are monocrystalline panels from Sonali Solar on the market as well.
• The state of the company is unclear. It appears that the website hasn’t been since 2015 and their social media accounts are inactive since 2017.
• Sonali Solar panels are designed for home systems and mobile installations. There aren’t any high-output modules for large solar projects.
• The maximum efficiency for polycrystalline panels is 18.7%. Monocrystalline panels’ maximum conversion rate is 21%.
• Sonali Solar panels prices range from $0.7 to $1 per watt.
• The panels come with a 12-year product warranty and 25-year output coverage. They retain at least 90% of their output after 10 years and at least 80% after 25 years. The unclear state of the company can make getting warranty support troublesome.
• Sonali Solar gets negative reviews for their service, but the panels are received favorably.

We can’t help being critical of Sonali Solar. At a first glance, the company looks like something you should probably avoid doing business with. Once you start studying the reviews and the specs of their panels, it turns out that their PV modules aren’t all that bad. With so many good alternatives available, we would be hard-pressed to recommend dealing with Sonali Solar to anyone. Still, some of their panels are alright, and if you stumble across them, they can be an okay choice. With that, we wrap up our Sonali Solar panels review for 2023 but we’ll be back with more.

Andrey Gorichenski

Senior Editor

Andrey had been a news editor and freelance writer for a number of medias before joining A1SolarStore team. Climate change and its impact on people's lives has always been among his interests and it partially explains his degree in Philosophy and Ethics.

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