LG Solar Panels Cost, Pros & Cons – The Ultimate Guide

LG is a well-known brand around the world, and you probably have some of their appliances and electronic gadgets at home. However, LG has also become a leading solar manufacturer, and they focus on high quality and performance. Their solar panels have some of the highest efficiency ratings in the industry, and they come with long-term warranties.

via LG Solar

Currently, LG offers a solar panel efficiency of up to 22.3%, the second highest in the industry and only surpassed by SunPower (22.8%). The brand is characterized by offering high performance at a competitive cost.

According to the price data from EnergySage, you can expect to pay around $2.75 per watt of installed capacity when using LG.

For comparison, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has reported an average price of $3.06 per watt for home solar systems in the US. In other words, LG solar panels offer above-average performance at below-average prices.

Thanks to their high efficiency, LG solar panels can convert a large portion of incoming sunlight into electricity. This makes them a great choice when your roof space is limited, and you want to generate as much electricity as possible with the area available.

LG Solar Panels: Main Product Lines

LG focuses on monocrystalline solar panels, which are characterized by their superior efficiency. You will notice that their products have black solar cells, and most have a rated efficiency above 20%. As you can see in the LG website, they have four main product lines for the residential market in the US.

The NeON R ACe panel has its own microinverter, which means it generates AC power directly, instead of the standard DC output. This design makes it suitable for roofs with complex geometries or uneven shading, since each solar panel operates independently from the rest.

LG solar panels are available in multiple sizes: most of their residential products come in 60-cell or larger 66-cell designs. They also offer 144 half-cell panels for commercial and industrial applications, and their product selection includes bifacial modules.

LG also offers home battery systems to complement their high-efficiency solar panels. The LG Chem RESU series is considered one of the best storage solutions in the industry, often compared with the Tesla Powerwall in terms of performance and features.

LG also offers hybrid inverters, which you can use to connect their solar panels and batteries. They can achieve up to 14 kW of power output and 32 kWh of storage capacity.

Do LG Solar Panels Have a Good Warranty?

LG combines some of the highest efficiency ratings in the solar industry with a long warranty. However, when it comes to solar panels, there are actually two warranties you must consider:

• Product warranty: Replaces your solar panels if they have material or workmanship defects. However, the warranty will get voided when solar panels are used or installed incorrectly.
• Power production warranty: Replaces your solar panels if their productivity starts to decline rapidly. The manufacturer will specify a maximum productivity loss over time, and the warranty applies if your solar panels degrade at a faster rate.

LG offers a 25-year product warranty and a 25-year power production warranty, which means you get a reliable source of clean electricity for a long time. In the case of the power product warranty, LG offers the following performance conditions:

• At least 95% of rated output after 5 years of use.
• At least 87% of rated output after 25 years of use.

Solar panels can achieve a payback period of less than five years in many parts of the US, and even with less favorable site conditions, you can expect a payback period below 10 years. Having a 25-year warranty is great, since replacements are assured in case you need them. In other words, you have a guaranteed return on investment.

However, getting a professional installation is very important, and especially when dealing with high-quality solar panels.

Even the best products can cause a short circuit or fire if they are wired incorrectly, or if they are installed without electrical protections. You also need to make sure your solar panels are firmly anchored to the roof, using a suitable racking system.

How do LG Solar Panels Perform with Hot Weather?

The nameplate watts and efficiency of solar panels tell you how they perform under the Standard Test Conditions (STC) used by manufacturers.

However, the actual conditions can be very different on a residential or commercial rooftop. For example, solar panels are tested with a surface temperature of 25°C, but they can get much hotter when operating, especially during summer.

To get an idea of how your solar panels will be affected by heat, you can check their temperature coefficient. This value describes the percentage of productivity lost for each Celsius degree of temperature rise.

For example, a solar panel with a temperature coefficient of -0.40% per °C will lose 4% of its productivity with a temperature rise of 10°C (18°F). But, don’t be alarmed: this is a temporary effect caused by heating, and not a permanent loss. Once your solar panels are cooled down, their productivity returns to normal.

The temperature coefficient of LG solar panels depends on the specific product you pick, but you will find coefficients that range from -0.40% to -0.29% per °C.

• LG solar panels are very efficient, but products with a temperature coefficient close to -0.40% per °C will suffer a significant loss when used in places with hot weather.
• In these cases, you should look for solar panels on the lower end of this range, closer to -0.29% per °C.
• A difference of 0.11% per °C may not seem like much, but it adds up when you consider a 25-year service life in a place with sunny weather.

What Are Some Alternatives for LG Solar Panels?

The best features of LG solar panels are their high efficiency and their 25-year warranty. However, there are many solar brands that offer similar specifications. In this section, we will compare LG with other leading manufacturers in the solar industry.

If the efficiency of solar panels is an important performance metric for you, LG offers some of the best specifications in this area. However, the current industry leader is SunPower, offering up to 22.8% efficiency on some of their panels.

The downside is having to pay a higher price: EnergySage reports a typical cost of $3.35/watt when using SunPower panels, which is almost 22% higher than the $2.75 per watt cost reported for LG.

The following are some other solar brands that offer high efficiency:

• REC: Up to 21.7% efficient
• CSUN: Up to 21.2% efficient
• Panasonic: Up to 21.2% efficient

The main benefit of high efficiency is getting more kilowatt-hours per solar panel, which means each square foot of roof area becomes more productive. However, this only becomes a critical issue when roof space is limited.

You can also achieve a quick payback period and a high ROI with solar panels with lower efficiency ratings, as long as you look for quality brands and professional installers.

The warranty conditions offered by solar manufacturers are also important since they protect your system from an early demise. With a 25-year product warranty and power production warranty, LG has some of the best terms in the solar industry. The following brands also offer 25-year warranty coverage:

• SunPower
• REC
• Panasonic
• Silfab
• Solaria
• Q CELLS

Warranty conditions depend on the brand and the specific product, and you will find that some manufacturers offer different terms for different products.

Although there is no official statement or industry standard, a 10-year product warranty is often viewed as the shortest acceptable term in the solar power industry. This is enough to cover the typical payback period of most home solar systems, but a longer warranty means your power bill savings are guaranteed for more time.

When you look at the performance of solar panels at high temperature, there are few brands with a coefficient below -0.30% per °C. Some LG panels have a coefficient of -0.29% per °C, but others reach up to -0.40% per °C, which means the effect of temperature is greater. In this area, LG is evenly matched with SunPower, also offering -0.29% per °C on some products. However, there are solar brands with even smaller temperature coefficients:

• Sunspark: -0.28% per °C.
• Solartech, REC and Panasonic: -0.26% per °C.

Based on solar panel specifications, LG can be compared with brands like SunPower, REC, and Panasonic. All four brands offer high efficiency, 25-year warranties, and they tolerate high temperatures without a drastic loss of performance.

Conclusion

LG can be considered a high-quality solar panel brand, offering excellent specifications without being overpriced. In fact, the typical cost of a home solar system with LG panels ($2.75/W) is below the US average value reported by the SEIA ($3.06/W).

LG also offers home batteries and hybrid inverters, which means you can assemble into an all-in-one solar solution.

Depending on where you live in the US, you can end up paying much less for your LG solar panel system. Don’t forget there is a 26% federal tax credit that will remain available until the end of 2022, and you will still be able to claim 22% during 2023. Additional incentives may be available from your local government or utility company, which can be combined with the federal tax credit.