Altius | Solar Panels Review

Finn's Altius Panels Review & Verdict

Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO

We're spoiled for choice in Australia for solar panels and here's another new kid on the block - Altius. They are included in Aldi's (yes, the supermarket chain) solar packages although I couldn’t find them in the centre aisle at my local branch. These budget rebadged modules are manufactured by a Chinese company and the 380W panels currently being offered are low powered for 2025 where modern panels are generally well over 400W. Let's see how they go in Australian conditions.

Altius Panels: Pros & Cons

At the budget end of the spectrum

Temperature coefficient isn't great
Warranty could do with some clarifications
No track record in Australia

About Altius

Altius is another newish player in the Australian home solar market, and offers re-badged panels. Altius solar modules are offered as part of Aldi solar packages.

Contact Details

Altius solar panels are distributed in Australia by Tempo, and their contact details are:

Address: Level 15, 177 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060
Telephone: 1800 886 649
Website

Company Info

There's very little information about Altius on their web site, other than to draw attention to being Aldi's retail partner. But the company behind it is Tempo, which describes itself as a leader in consumer goods sourcing and distribution, and develops private brands in conjunction with its retail partners.

Altius (Aldi) Solar Panels

Altius panels are made by Chinese manufacturer Horay Solar, which was founded in 2010 and claims 2.5GW cell and module manufacturing capacity.

There are dozens of Altius solar panel modules that have been CEC approved, but we'll focus on the panels that form part of the Aldi solar offers. These are listed on the Aldi datasheet as:

AS-PV380S-60M-H6
AS-PV380B-60M-H6
AS-PV410S-54M-H8
AS-PV410B-54M-H8
AS-PV450S-72M-H6
AS-PV450B-72M-H6

... and these model numbers don't quite match up with what is in the CEC's approved list for Tempo.

The panels listed above have output capacities of 380 Watts, 410 Watts and 450 Watts, and come with silver or black frames. These panels feature half-cut monocrystalline PERC cells, and module efficiencies are are 20.54%, 21.00% and 20.37% respectively. According to Aldi's website at the time of writing, it's the 380 Watt panels that are currently supplied in their packages.

Temperature Coefficient

This specification refers to the percentage of power lost per degree Celsius when cell temperature (not ambient temperature) is above 25 °C.

The 380 Watt and 450 Watt panels have a temperature co-efficient of Pmax of -0.36%/ °C, while the 410 Watt model is -0.35%/ °C. As a comparison, -0.36%/ °C is higher than any other panels we currently have listed on SQ's solar panel comparison table; so they perform slightly worse in hot (and even warmish) weather.

Dimensions/Weight

Panel dimensions and weights are:

380W: 1765 x 1048 x 30 mm / 20.5 kg
410W: 1722 x 1134 x 35 / 22 kg
450W: 2108 x 1048 x 35 mm / 24.5 kg

... so, the 450W panel is a little larger than what we would generally consider suitable for a residential rooftop (2m²).

Warranty Information

The Aldi datasheet mentions a 25 year performance guarantee but not a product warranty. The Altius warranty provides a 10-year product warranty, but not a performance warranty. Usually panels are accompanied by both - the product warranty is in relation to defects and workmanship and the performance warranty (as the name suggests) relates to performance over a time period. So, some clarification is needed there.

Have you had an Aldi solar package installed or sourced Altius panels elsewhere? Leave your review by clicking the button towards the top of this page. For advice on choosing solar panels, see this guide.

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Altius - Solar Panel Reviews