Flex solar panels reviews

Flex is an American company based in Singapore that, as a very small part of its total business, produces tier-one solar panels. At the time of writing they only have two panels available in Australia, and they are almost identical. One is 290 watts and the other 295 watts. These Flex solar panels have a 12 year product warranty and a 25 year performance warranty. 

In Australia, Flex has offices in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Flex Is A Giant Original Equipment Manufacturer

Flex (also known as Flextronics) is a giant engineering company with 200,000 employees at 100 locations in over 30 different countries. They manufacture a vast array of different products as an Original Equipment Manufacturer, or OEM. This means they produce goods for other companies to their specifications. They have produced items ranging from utility scale concentrating solar power equipment, to plastic molds, stupid looking smart glasses, components for robots on Mars, and devices to help people put drugs in their bodies.

In addition, Flex also manufactures solar panels and have done so for other companies for at least 8 years. In 2017, the company began producing solar panels under their own name and called them Flex PowerPlay solar panels. 

The name makes me wonder if they realise, despite having the word “play” in it that “powerplay” generally has a negative connotation here. But I have to admit I can’t really think of anything better. ElectroGame? ShockHappy? WattFun? 

Because they have manufactured high quality panels for other companies, I expect Flex to be able to produce good quality solar panels of their own. 

While Flex is not a large manufacturer of PV modules by today’s standards, they claim to have produced over 8 million solar panels. The large majority of these will have been made for other companies. 

PowerPlay Solar Panels

Flex’s PowerPlay solar panels are standard sized 60 cell panels with 290 and 295 watt versions. PowerPlay efficiencies are 17.8% and 18.1%. 

Warranties 

The 12 year product warranty on Flex solar panels is better than the minimum tier one warranty of 10 years, but not especially impressive compared to the much longer warranties premium solar modules can have. 

PowerPlay's 25 year performance warranty promises they will still generate at least 82% of their original output at the end of that period and this is slightly better than some tier one panels.

PID Free?

Their datasheet states Flex solar panels are “PID free”. This means PowerPlay modules should not suffer from Potential Induced Deterioration, which is damage caused to solar panels by unwanted stray currents. This problem is more likely to occur in very humid, hot environments. While it is possible to make panels that are extremely PID resistant, it may not be possible to completely eliminate it. Provided it’s kept to an extremely low level I would not be cranky if Flex solar panels are technically not entirely PID free. 

Recommendation

Flex has had a lot of experience in producing high quality solar panels for other companies and so I expect their PowerPlay panels to be reliable. As a result, I would have no problem with installing them on my roof. However, I would ensure that I pay a fair price for them and not be overcharged.