Tesla, SunPower, or LG solar panels. Which one is the best? In this video, I'm going to show you a side-by-side comparison so you can see the most important specs and make the best decision for you. Now, there are a lot of different things we can look at when it comes to the specifications of a solar panel. So to make it simple, we're just going to look at the main things that you need to be aware of when it comes to comparing the specifications.

That means in this video, we're going to talk about costs, efficiency, temperature coefficient, and whether or not the company offers a complete solution. We'll also be looking at these specific models from these companies because at the time of this recording, these are considered the premium models and it gives us the best apples-to-apples comparison. Also, to be clear, we're talking about Tesla's solar panels, not their solar roof. The solar roof is really different than anything else on the market, and it's going to be hard for us to compare that to other panels. So to keep things simple, we're just going to look at the Tesla panels.

First, let's talk about the efficiency rating. Now, this is really just to show you how efficient the panels are at converting sunlight into electricity. The higher the efficiency rating, the more power you can get out of a panel, which means fewer panels to buy and maintain over time. As you can see here, all three of these manufacturers are fairly close. All these panels, it looks like are in the ballpark.

But at the same time, Tesla is the worst-rated at 19.6% efficiency, and SunPower takes the win with 22.8%. Next, let's take a look at these panels' temperature coefficient. Now, while this sounds really complicated, it's really not. This is just a simple way to understand how much efficiency these panels lose as they get hotter. And yes, it is a little bit counterintuitive to think that as a panel, as a solar panel gets hotter, it loses its ability to convert that sunlight into electricity.

But that's simply the way that these things work. So in this case, the closer the number is to zero, the better. Zero, meaning it has no loss of energy when it comes to getting hotter. As you can see here, these numbers are really close together, but the Tesla panels do loose a little bit more energy as the panels get hotter. Now, this isn't going to be a huge deal unless you live in a warmer climate, such as a desert or Arizona or someplace that isn't seasonal. As you get further north or as you go to the Midwest, this is going to be less of an important factor, but it is still one that you need to be aware of.

Another critical thing you need to understand is the warranty. Now, the warranty is going to give you that peace of mind that after you make your investment into a solar panel system, that if you have any problems down the road, years down the road, that you're not going to have to worry about incurring any additional expenses to get new components, to get new panels or what have you. As you can see here, all these companies offer 25 year limited warranties on their panels. But it's important to understand that these are the warranties on the panels themselves. So with your installation, you're going to have other components as well.

Like Inverters, you're going to have things like battery banks, and those can have different warranties and different terms for the warranties as it compared to the panels. So it's important to understand that these warranties can be different. And it's also important to know that when it comes to companies like Tesla or SunPower, that their components are all through those companies. But with LG, for example, they don't make all the components, they make the panels. But if you have something like a battery bank, it's going to be from a different manufacturer. So it's important to understand that there's a difference here and to really understand what the different warranties cover when it comes to purchasing a system.

Speaking of, that brings us to our next point of whether or not these manufacturers provide a complete solution. So in the case of Tesla and SunPower, they provide all the components and you would coordinate with them to do the installation as well. With LG, they don't manufacture everything. So you'll have components from different manufacturers in your installation, and you'll have to work with an independent installer to be able to understand what the differences are and what different manufacturers they use with their specific installs.

Last but not least, is the cost. Now, this is something that everybody wants to know. How much does this cost? And honestly, I try to figure out an easy way of being able to show you cost to cost and what each of these different manufacturers are going to run. But there are so many differences, it's really hard to put everything together.

So what I will say is the cost between the different manufacturers are going to be very similar when it comes to the panels because all these panels are considered to be the premium panels for these manufacturers. Your cost differences are really going to come down to what size of system you need, like the different kilowatt hours you need for your house to be able to produce the amount of energy you're looking for. Also, what location you're in in the country. This is going to change how much energy you're going to get out from these panels. If you live in different types of climates, like if you live again in a hot area versus a cooler climate, it's going to affect how much energy you can expect to get out and also what incentives are available in your specific location.

So really the only way to do this and to really understand what your costs are going to be is going to be to talk to one of these manufacturers or to an independent installer depending on which way you go so they can put together a comprehensive plan for you so you can understand total costs.

The really cool thing I found with SunPower is that they have an online estimator and you can go in and you can even set up a virtual appointment with someone so if you're interested you don't have to have someone come out to your house to give you a quote. You can actually just do everything online they can even pull up a satellite image of your house. It can do a virtual diagram a virtual plan and lay out the different solar panels on your roof so you can see exactly what it would look like, how many panels you would need and what your total cost would be. So if you're interested in that, I'll have a link in the description below this video where you can go to SunPower's website and request a free quote.

Now while everything we talked about in this video is important, it's still not everything you need to know before you make a decision to purchase a complete home solar solution for your house. So to make this process a little bit easier I've put together a list of links that you can click on to go to different resources. Those links will be in the description of this video as well, so you just have to go down there and check those out. Hopefully this video was helpful, if it was be sure sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Otherwise, I will see you in the next video.