Panasonic, a global electronics firm, said on Monday that it would shut down its solar and energy storage division. It made solar panels, inverters and batteries for the residential customer for more than 25 years and was a significant solar supplier to SolarCity/Tesla retailers. Panasonic stated it will stand by its warranties, and customers may email the company for assistance.
“We have made the decision to discontinue our solar and battery storage business line. This change allows us to focus on areas where we can have the greatest strategic impact. We remain confident in the technology and grateful to our partners and customers who have supported this journey,” stated Panasonic on its website.
“We are committed to a smooth transition and will continue to provide customer support to existing customers, as well as future customers who are undergoing installations and commissioning. Please rest assured that all warranties will be honored for both installed products and those not yet installed. Where third-party warranties apply, we will continue to support our customers by providing clear direction and points of contact. Support remains available via our website and our dedicated solar and battery storage email at [email protected].”
Panasonic can trace its experience in solar panel manufacturing back 40 years. SANYO Electric first developed heterojunction technology (HJT) in the 1980s, marketing the advanced solar panels as “HIT” for “Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer technology.” Panasonic acquired SANYO in 2009, and its HIT panels dominated the U.S. solar market in the early 2010s.
Panasonic once produced solar cells in the United States and operated solar panel factories in Malaysia and Japan until 2022, until it outsourced panel production to an OEM. Panasonic also transitioned to panels with larger wafers to follow industry trends.
At the time, Panasonic director of solar Mukesh Sethi exclusively told Solar Power World that the decision to end in-house manufacturing was financial.
“We have been the pioneer in heterojunction technology, making panels for the past 25 years. We have made considerable progress in efficiency and output over time. We have increased our manufacturing capacity so many times by opening new production lines and facilities, but over the past two to three years, the solar industry has changed considerably. The cost of solar panels and cells have dropped, and new technologies have emerged, requiring big upfront investments in bigger cells,” he said. “So instead of focusing on manufacturing the solar panels, which has become a low-margin business category now with the ever-falling prices and changing technologies, making it difficult for manufacturers to keep up with the continuous investment in new machinery, we have decided to outsource the manufacturing so we can just focus on designing and selling the product.”
After going through multiple transitions, Panasonic most recently landed on its EverVolt line of solar panels and batteries. Brand ambassador Michael Phelps installed Panasonic panels, batteries and associated components at his Arizona home last summer and appeared at RE+ to promote the company.
Panasonic also supported a robust installer program, providing benefits and business opportunities to authorized, premium and elite tiers of installers across the country. Certified Panasonic installers had exclusive access to the company’s solar and storage products.
The three main players in residential solar in the 2010s — Panasonic, LG and SunPower — have now all exited the market. LG closed its solar division in 2022, and SunPower sold its panel tech to Maxeon in 2020 before eventually going bankrupt as an installer last year.
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