Panasonic Quits Making Solar Panels - Price of Discontinued HIT Panels?

[reg]

Panasonic is winding down its business of making solar cells and panels. According to its website (see screen capture*), some HIT panels are already discontinued. The company is replacing the HIT panels with panels made by a contractor. These are called EverVolt panels, and it appears that the first EverVolts have become available in the last couple of weeks. Panasonic has not announced an end date for cell/panel manufacturing, except that it expects to be out of the business by the end of its current fiscal year. Given that Panasonic's current fiscal year ends in March, 2022, that doesn't tell us much.

I'm interested in purchasing HIT panels and I'm wondering what their discontinuance means for price. Some retailers appear to be discounting HIT panels, but it's unclear to me whether this reflects anything more than a standard MSRP/street price discount. In the solar business, does announcing discontinuance mean a significant price reduction in the near term? Or do companies attempt to sell remaining stock at close to ordinary retail prices?

* I don't know when these were discontinued. The 325W and 330W models below have slightly different model numbers than 325W and 330W models that are still shown on Panasonic's website. There are also two HIT panels with non-standard dimensions that are available in Europe but not in the U.S., but it's possible that these were never available in the U.S.

 

[svetz]

Thanks for posting that! Here's a bit from this ref:

Panasonic Corporation will begin to wind down U.S. production of photovoltaic cells and modules at Gigafactory New York in Buffalo, NY, in line with the global solar strategy led by its Life Solutions Company. By the end of May 2020, Panasonic will cease U.S. solar manufacturing operations and is scheduled to exit the facility by the end of September 2020.

 

[svetz]

So, possibly HITs and Buffalo are out and EverVolt is in? ref

NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Corporation of North America today unveiled its new EverVolt™ Solar Modules series with the introduction of four new modules designed to accompany its EverVolt™ Battery Storage system. The EverVolt Solar Modules provide advanced efficiency and performance – even in high temperatures – as well as exceptional degredation rates, and are backed by Panasonic's TripleGuard and AllGuard 25-year warranties. The EverVolt series builds upon Panasonic's legacy in bringing high quality solar energy solutions to market.

Some stats:

• High Efficiency in High Temperatures – With one of the industry's lowest temperature coefficients at 0.26%/°C, even on the hottest days EverVolt modules outperform standard panels with higher temperature coefficients.
• Improved Performance When Shaded – Continuous power production in shaded areas provides greater energy yields and output. More sunlight absorption means more clean power to the home.
• Higher Module Efficiency – Superior module efficiency ranging from 20% to 21.2% allows maximum power production with less roof space. With one of the industry's lowest annual degradation rates, power output of at least 92% is guaranteed after 25 years.

 

[reg]

So, possibly HITs and Buffalo are out and EverVolt is in? ref



Some stats:

• High Efficiency in High Temperatures – With one of the industry's lowest temperature coefficients at 0.26%/°C, even on the hottest days EverVolt modules outperform standard panels with higher temperature coefficients.
• Improved Performance When Shaded – Continuous power production in shaded areas provides greater energy yields and output. More sunlight absorption means more clean power to the home.
• Higher Module Efficiency – Superior module efficiency ranging from 20% to 21.2% allows maximum power production with less roof space. With one of the industry's lowest annual degradation rates, power output of at least 92% is guaranteed after 25 years.

Panasonic ended its deal with Tesla, and announced the end of manufacturing in Buffalo, in early 2020. At the end of January 2021, it announced that it would stop making solar cells and panels altogether. This means an end to production in Malaysia, and a change to different products at the plant that was making cells/panels in Japan.

From here on in, Panasonic will use the brand name EverVolt for its panels. These panels, two of which now appear to be available, are being made by an unnamed contractor. It looks like the HIT brand is history.

 

[reg]

It doesn't look like Panasonic is out of the solar panel business. Probably something soured with Musk or labor prices so they pulled out politely.
The HITs being discontinued just looks like product evolution to a new product... but that's just my two cents.

Nikkei Asia, which is the Asian equivalent of the Financial Times, says that Panasonic is exiting cell and panel manufacture due to Chinese price competition. This analysis is shared by several other credible publications. My impression is that Panasonic acknowledged this in interviews. Nikkei Asia's story: Eclipsed by Chinese rivals, Panasonic quits solar cells and panels: Crowded field and less domestic demand cause market share to plummet

 

[svetz]

Thanks for those links! Wow, that latest announcement isn't even a month after the EverVolt announcement.

I wonder how that's affecting S. Korean and other manufacturers?