LONGi Solar Panels Review

What You Need To Know About LONGi Solar Panels

Our review of LONGi solar panels is a 10-minute read. Feel free to bookmark this review for a later date, and read this quick summary instead…

LONGi is a manufacturer of solar technology, and a big one at that; their company is worth over £10bn!

They're one of the best solar panel manufacturers that operate in the UK, with a huge range of panels for commercial and residential properties.

For residential, the Hi-MO 6 is the most popular unit. Using the Hi-MO 6, your solar panel installation is likely to cost £7,000, or £12,000 with a suitable storage battery.

The typical warranty (which varies depending on the exact model you choose) for LONGi solar panels is 15 years, but you’ll get 25 years for performance. Basically, if the panel sees power degradation of more than 0.4% from year 2-25, you'll be covered under warranty.

Overall, LONGi offers one of the most efficient solar panels in the UK. And you can get fixed prices on a system that uses their panels by clicking here.

LONGi Solar Panels

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LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LONGi) was founded back in 2000 and is committed to being one of the largest solar technology development companies in the world.

But just how big?

Putting solar panels aside for a second, we can check their stock price on Google:

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A screenshot showing the market capitalisation of Longi and the share price

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This isn’t a fly-by-night company; currently worth nearing ¥100 billion. When accounting for today’s exchange rate, that’s over £10 billion.

To put that into perspective, a few UK companies below this market cap / value include:

Severn Trent
Auto Trader
Marks & Spencer
Sainsbury's
Rightmove

Put simply, the LONGi brand is well known and even more well respected. Their products are used in thousands of solar panel installations every year in the UK.

Check prices for installation incorporating LONGi solar panels here.

LONGi’s Solar Panel Range

The current range of LONGi solar panels looks like this:

Hi-MO 9
Hi-MO 7
Hi-MO 6
Hi-MO 5

Across their range there are suitable options for both commercial and residential properties.

The most common panel used for residential solar panel installations is the Hi-MO 6. If you’re looking for a solar panel system to power the average UK property, the Hi-MO 6 is likely to be suitable.

Hi-MO 6

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LONGi solar panels use a Hybrid Passivated Back Contact (HPBC) design. This design aims to maximise efficiency. Evidently this has worked, with all of their panels producing above-par efficiency; over 20%.

Within the range of Hi-MO X6 panels there are a few options to choose from including:

Explorer
Artist
Max Scientist
Guardian

Each model has unique features from design (Artist) to super-low degradation rates (Max Scientist).

Choosing the right solar panel isn’t a one size fits all approach and is incredibly confusing.

Remove the confusion by using our solar panel tool here. This tool will figure out the exact system (and type of panel from LONGi) that’s most suitable for your property.

Installation Costs

Solar panel installation costs using LONGi products are competitive, sitting in the mid-range in terms of price point.

A typical 3-bedroom property in the UK is going to consume somewhere in the region of 2,700kWh of electricity per year, meaning they'll need a 3.5-4kW solar panel system.

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A 3.5kW system using LONGi solar panels is likely to cost in the region of £7,000-£8,000. This is a standalone system (no storage battery included), so would only be suitable for households where electricity is consumed as it is produced.

For households where the majority of occupants aren’t in during daylight hours, a storage battery is going to be needed. If you can get away with a small 5kWh battery (low electricity consumption households), this is likely to add on £5,000 to your overall installation cost.

The bigger the storage battery you need? The higher the overall installation cost.

Jump over to our solar panel page here, you’ll be able to get prices on your system that incorporates LONGi solar panels and a suitable storage battery (where applicable).

Or, if you want some further reading, we have a couple of guides including this one on solar panel installation costs, and this, covering solar battery storage costs.

Warranty

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The warranty that comes with all LONGi solar panels is up there with the best. With most of the panels in their range you’ll get a 15 year product warranty.

On top of this you’ll also get a 25 year performance warranty. The performance warranty mainly relates to the degradation rate.

For year 1, LONGi expects no less than 98.5% efficiency. Thereafter, they expect the degradation rate to be no more than 0.4%.

Put simply, once the 25 year warranty period is up, they expect their solar panels to still be working at 88.9% efficiency. If they’re not, they’ll be covered under warranty.

In comparison to some of the best solar brands in the world, this warranty is one of the best on offer.

You can see the warranty offered by LONGi solar by clicking here. And, you can get quotes for LONGi solar panel installation by clicking over to our page here.

Efficiency

Average solar panel efficiency probably isn't as high as you think. For example, a cheap DIY solar panel kit is likely to be converting approximately 15% of energy it absorbs into electricity.

And with degradation rates of 0.4%-1% per annum, this productivity doesn't last for long.

High quality panels will generally be approximately 20% efficient (much better than DIY kits). LONGi solar panels tend to sit in the 23%-25% range, meaning they offer some of the most efficient solar panels on the market.

As an example, we have the LONGi Hi-MO X6 Guardian, operating at a massive 23.2% efficiency.

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A picture showing statistics for the Longi Hi-Mo X6 Guardian — (Source: LONGi)

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But this isn’t the only figure you should be focusing on when buying solar panels. Just as important as the initial efficiency rating, is the power degradation rate.

LONGi’s Hi-MO 6 is covered by warranty if it degrades by any more than 0.4% per year. This means that at the end of the warranty period, your panels will still be operating at 88.9% of their original efficiency!

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A picture of a graph showing how the efficiency of the panels changes over a 25year period

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If you compare this with sub-par panels with a degradation rate of 1%, you’d be looking at panels that are working at 78% of their original output after 25 years.

That’s going to relate to you needing to buy much more electricity from the grid than if you’d installed solar panels manufactured by LONGi. Or, you’d be looking at replacing your panels for new and efficient ones, which is a huge expense.

Data Sheet

If you’re interested in specifications for any LONGi solar panels, the company publishes the likes of data sheets, warranty information and more on their website.

Further details on their panels including the LONGi Hi-MO 5, Hi-MO 6 and Hi-MO 7 can be found here.

FAQ

How much do LONGi solar panels cost?

LONGi panels on an individual basis cost £75-150. For a 10 panel system expect to pay £750-£1,500 plus delivery. This equates to a total price including all necessary components (inverter etc) as well as installation cost of approximately £7,000.

Are LONGi a good solar panel?

LONGi produces some of the best solar panels in the world. Not only do they come with a high efficiency rating (23.2% for the Hi-MO 6), they have a 15 year product warranty and 25 year performance warranty.

How long do LONGi solar panels last?

LONGi solar panels are covered by a 15 year product warranty, alongside a 25 year performance warranty. If any of your panels degrade at a rate higher than 0.4% per year from year 2-25, they’ll be covered by LONGi’s manufacturer warranty.

However, this is simply the warranty period. Expect panels to last 30-40 years, although efficiency over this period will drop considerably, even with a low 0.4% degradation rate.