AIKO vs Hanersun - solar panel manufacturer comparison

AIKO, formally Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd., was founded in 2009 and operates a manufacturing network spanning several Chinese hubs including Yiwu, Foshan, Zhuhai and Jinan, supported by an R&D center, Solarlab AIKO Europe, in Freiburg, Germany. The company holds Tier 1 status confirmed by BloombergNEF, and its annual production capacity has grown rapidly, from roughly 20 GW in early 2025 to more than 35 GW by 2026, placing it among the larger global cell and module manufacturers. Hanersun, by contrast, is a considerably younger and smaller company headquartered in Nanjing, most commonly dated to 2015, with annual capacity around 5 GW and cumulative shipments exceeding 16 GW by the end of 2025; it also appears on BloombergNEF's Tier 1 list and has received a Top Performer award from Kiwa PVEL. In terms of institutional footprint and manufacturing scale, AIKO is clearly the more established and larger player.

AIKO's defining product is its proprietary ABC (All Back Contact) cell technology, which removes visible front-side busbars, delivers module efficiencies approaching 24 percent, and gives panels a distinctive uniform black appearance - making them especially popular for residential rooftop installations, though AIKO also serves commercial and utility-scale segments. Hanersun instead relies on more conventional but proven TOPCon and PERC cell technology, mixed roughly 56/44 percent across its lineup, in large-format 600 W+ and even 700 W+ modules aimed primarily at commercial and ground-mount utility projects, with average module efficiency around 21.5 percent.

For a typical international buyer, AIKO is generally the safer default choice given its larger production base, longer European market presence, and differentiated ABC technology that appeals to homeowners prioritizing both efficiency and aesthetics. Hanersun remains a credible Tier 1 alternative, particularly for commercial buyers chasing high-wattage modules on a tighter budget, but it carries a shorter track record and a noticeably smaller institutional footprint than AIKO.

Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-08-18