Are JA Solar Panels Any Good?

JA Solar Panel Review (In Summary)

JA Solar is considered a good brand, similar in quality to the likes of LONGi and REA.

However, due to them not being massively popular in the UK, finding an installer, replacement panels and even getting after-sales support can be more difficult in comparison to other popular brands. 

The most popular range for residential properties is the DeepBlue 4.0 Series. In the DeepSeries 4.0 line up, there are 400W-650W units available. 

Cost wise, you'll be looking at prices similar to LONGi. For a typical household, this is going to mean having a 5kW system installed at a total cost of just under £6,000.

This price does not include a solar storage battery. If you choose to add on a solar storage battery, expect to pay an additional £2,495-£4,995.

Warranty is up there with industry leaders. You'll get a product warranty of 12-years; this covers manufacturing faults with your panels. 

Alongside this you'll get a performance warranty that covers efficiency degradation. This will cover your solar panels for up to 30 years. 

Year 1 degradation covered under warranty is 1% and 0.4% for subsequent years. So even after 30 years, your panels should be operating at 87.4% efficiency or higher.

Overall, JA Solar panels are great value for money. However, due to LONGi being much more readily available from UK suppliers, that’s generally a more popular choice for small-medium residential installations.

Get quotes on solar panel systems with a long warranty using our quotation tool here. 

Is JA Solar A Good Brand?

JA Solar is considered to be a top-tier brand in the UK, offering a range of PV and storage solutions, all coming with the likes of ISO 9001 certification. They rival brands such as Panasonic, LONGi, Jinko and REA. 

In late 2024, they were awarded the title of "Top PV Brand" in Europe by EUPD Research, a data research company. 

Whilst they're considered to be well priced, they don't offer the absolute best warranty on the market. 

For example, their base product warranty is just 12-years, this covers major faults you might have with any panels. However, their performance warranty is up there with the best in the industry at 25-30 years (unit dependant). 

Another issue with JA solar as a brand in the UK is stock levels. As it's not the most popular brand in the UK, sometimes it can be hard to find replacement panels (if one fails). This also means that getting support from local installers can be much more difficult than if you had the likes of LONGi solar panels fitted.

JA Solar DeepBlue 4.0 Series

The JA Solar panels we’ll focus on below all fall under the DeepBlue 4.0 Series product range. These are the most popular units that JA Solar offers.

Specifications, warranty and features do vary slightly from panel to panel. But below, we’ll focus on a popular PV module for UK residential properties; the 460W (JAM54D40 LB 460W).

Cost

JA Solar panel prices are inline with other leading brands such as LONGi. 

Solar panels alone (not including installation), sit at around £70-80 plus delivery per panel. With most residential systems sitting in the 4kW-5kW range, you’ll need 10-12 panels to build a system suitable for your home; £700-£960 in total.

But the panels themselves are only a small portion of the overall cost of a system. Like LONGi, by the time you’ve paid for scaffolding, fittings, inverters, bird guard, labour for installers and more, the total cost of installation comes to around £6,000 for a JA solar panel system.

On top of this, you’ll need to decide if you want to add a storage battery to your system. 

These aren’t essential, but advised (even if it’s a small 5kW storage battery). For those that choose not to install a storage battery alongside their JA Solar panels, they’ll be able to export excess electricity produced to the grid, and receive a small payment.

The larger the battery you have, the better your electricity self-sufficiency; you will rely less on the grid and their fluctuating electricity prices. 

However, solar storage batteries aren't exactly cheap. You'll have 3 options from most installers:

• Small 5kW battery (£2,495)
• Medium 10kW battery (£3,745)
• Large 16kW battery (£4,995)

Use our solar panel tool here. Our clickable tool allows you to build your system and see a fixed price on-screen. You can easily toggle between different battery sizes to determine how they affect the overall cost, as well as your electricity self-sufficiency.

For a more detailed guide to batteries, check out our guide to solar battery costs here. 

Efficiency & Warranty

JA Solar suggests you'll get up to 26% cell conversion efficiency. By comparison, a mid-high end solar panel would, on average, work at about 20-24% efficiency.

However, one important thing to check here is their performance warranty. This gives a better indication of the efficiency you would expect over time.

A performance warranty on solar panels covers something called degradation rate. Essentially, if a panel drops below a certain efficiency level in a given year it will be replaced, even if it's not completely faulty.

This is coupled with a product warranty. For a JA Solar n-type Bifacial panel, most models come with a 12-year product warranty which covers any technical issues you have with your panels. The performance warranty covers any abnormal drops in efficiency.

Here is what you should expect from standard panels and n-type Bifacial panels, in terms of performance warranty:

1% degradation rate on year 1 and subsequent years being covered by a 0.4% annual degradation rate is fairly typical from solar panel manufacturers. 

Using an n-type Bifacial DeepBlue 4.0 Series solar panel you’d therefore expect: 

• 99% or more efficiency by the end of year 1
• 87.4% or more efficiency by the end of year 30

Durability

You'll get plenty of durability from your JA solar panels, thanks to their aluminium frames and 2mm thickened glass (front and back for bifacial panels).

And regardless of what the UK weather throws at them, they'll still operate. That's because JA Solar has tested the DeepBlue 4.0 Series in conditions from –40 °C to +85 °C. 

Believe it or not, the hotter the temperature, the less efficient solar panels become. Whilst they might produce more electricity, heat affects efficiency negatively. Generally, this rating on a specification sheet is referred to as Temperature Coefficient.

Efficiency loss due to high temperatures is minimised with the DeepBlue 4.0 Series. The loss here is only 0.30%-0.35% for every degree above 25 °C.

You can read the full specification of the 460W panel from JA Solar here.

Bifacial Design

Many models in the JA Solar DeepBlue 4.0 Series have a bifacial design. 

One problem many households face is roof suitability. A roof only has so much space and can only hold so much weight. So, on some roof spaces, homeowners are limited to how many panels they can install.

A standard panel will only capture sunlight from one side (the top). However, a bifacial panel can capture sunlight from both sides. Naturally, this increases electricity production dramatically, even when utilising the same amount of roof space. 

Put simply, you can install the same amount of panels whilst producing more electricity by using bifacial panels over standard ones; perfect for those that have limited roof space. 

And that’s the end of our JA Solar review. To get a quote on your solar panel system, jump over to our solar panel tool here.