Matrix solar panels reviews

Matrix Australian Solar is an importer of Chinese solar panels. They do not manufacture panels in Australia or anywhere else. Because they import panels and brand them as Matrix Australian Solar, under Australian consumer law, Matrix is responsible for the panel's product and performance warranties and not the Chinese manufacturer.

Matrix Panels Are CSUN Panels

Currently Matrix Solar imports and sells CSUN panels. CSUN is a Chinese manufacturer that used to produce tier one panels, but they ran into financial difficulty and as a result there is now a question mark over their tier one status. But Bloomberg apparently still considered them to be tier one in May 2016.

Matrix also appears to have sold panels from other manufacturers in the past, so older Matrix panels won’t necessarily be CSUN panels.

Matrix Wants You To Know What Their Rim Contains

Matrix is an Australian company and they want you to know that fact as well as what they are full of. Their website specifically states:

“MATRIX is a well-known and credible Aussie brand, topped to the rim with quality, and they know it.”

I wonder who “they” are, because I know I certainly wasn’t aware their rim was topped up with quality.

Matrix Solar Panels And Warranties

Because CSUN Solar is in severe financial trouble, if you brought panels directly from them you could not be confident the company would remain in business and be able to honour their warranties.

But if you purchase Matrix panels then you will be getting CSUN Solar panels, but Matrix Solar would be responsible for their warranties. Whether or not you would consider that to be an improvement depends on whether you prefer the warranty to be held by an Australian company rather than one all the way off in China, and how likely you think it is that Matrix Australian Solar will stay in business and honour warranties.

What’s In A Name?

I presume Matrix Solar is aware of the existence of the Matrix movies. If they were the inspiration for their name it would be an odd choice, as they depict a dystopian future where solar power doesn't work.

The movies star Hugo Weaving playing an evil artificial intelligence and Keanu Reeves playing a piece of building material.

Are matrix panels brilliant, like Hugo Weaving? Or are they more like Keanu Reeves - good looking, stiff, and not very good at their job?

Matrix Australian Solar/CSUN Solar Panels

Matrix Australian Solar sells three three different series of CSUN Solar panels and only two are 60 cell panels that are the size most likely to be used for residential installations. Their efficiencies range from 15.7% to 16.3% and they are certified as corrosion resistant, which makes them suitable for installation in coastal areas.

They have a 12 year product warranty and a 30 year performance warranty.

One drawback of these panels is their tolerance is given as a “plus or minus” rather than the positive tolerance or “plus only” that just about every other tier one manufacturer now gives. This means the panels’ capacity will average around 1% less than other tier one panels of the same wattage.

Strange Claims By Matrix Solar

The very first sentence on Matrix Solar’s website is:

“We are an Australian Owned & Operated Solar company, backed by a NASDAQ listed International Partner manufacturing Tier 1 Solar Panels.”

This is not true. Not unless they have a secret NASDAQ partner they haven’t told anyone about. CSUN Solar was delisted from NASDAQ on the 14 of May 2016 for failing to keep their minimum share balance above $15 million US.

If their delisting had only happened a week ago I could understand the delay in changing the website, but they have had more than enough time to update their site, so they have either forgotten to do that, which is not a good sign, or they have decided not to do it, which is a worse sign.

Maxtrix Solar Claims CSUN’s Work As Their Own

Towards the bottom of their homepage, Matrix Solar gives the following information:

“MegaWatts sold 850”

“Panels sold world-wide 3,315,000”

“Avg. tonnes of CO2 emissions reduced every year 464,843”

That is crazy talk.

There is no way that Matrix Australian Solar has sold over 3 million panels worldwide. Hardly anyone in Australia knows about them and they’re certainly not a major supplier of panels overseas.

If Matrix Solar can show I am wrong about this, I will gladly make a chocolate hat and eat it. But they’re not going to be able to do that.

What these figures appear to refer to is CSUN Solar’s panel production. But no indication is given that it is CSUN’s work and Matrix Solar appears happy to take credit for what other people have done.

My Recommendation

CSUN panels appear to be of decent quality, so if you were to put them on your roof you should be unlikely to have a problem with them. Buying them under the Matrix Australian Solar brand makes that company responsible for their warranties. If you trust Matrix Solar to be around long term and to honour those warranties then you may wish to buy from them. But I do not trust Matrix Australian Solar.