ARTsolar vs LinkSol - solar panel manufacturer comparison
LinkSol has the broader catalog (26 vs 0 models).
Both catalogues are read from the manufacturers' own datasheets. A brand is not scored against the market here, only against the other brand on this page.
The two companies
Shanghai LinkSol New Energy Co., Ltd. manufactures and supplies solar cells, PV ribbons, and off-grid solar modules. The company endeavors to supply high-efficiency solar cells, including Topcon, HJT, BC, and P-type mono series. LinkSol continuously strives to produce cost-effective, green power solutions, empowering...
- Headquarters
- Shanghai, China
- Employees
- 500
Catalogue against catalogue
An average over a catalogue describes the range a manufacturer publishes, not the module you would buy. A brand with two flagship panels and eighty older ones averages worse than one that has retired its back catalogue.
What each of them builds
The flagships
Written summary
LinkSol, trading as Link Solar Electric Group Co., Ltd. and based in China, occupies a narrow but distinct niche in the solar market: small-format, portable, and flexible photovoltaic products aimed at engineers, integrators, and off-grid hobbyists rather than mainstream rooftop or utility-scale buyers. It is not listed among Tier 1 or BloombergNEF-rated module manufacturers and does not compete in the gigawatt-scale production leagues dominated by the likes of LONGi or JinkoSolar. ARTsolar, by contrast, was founded in 2010 in Durban, South Africa, and is the country's only fully locally owned solar module manufacturer. The company operates an assembly facility with a reported capacity of up to 250 MW per year and has a formal technology partnership with LONGi - one of the world's largest solar producers - which gives its assembled products a credible path to bankability with project lenders. ARTsolar carries the stronger institutional footprint by a substantial margin.
In terms of product scope, LinkSol's catalog runs from sub-watt miniature cells suitable for IoT sensors and security cameras up to small flexible panels for RVs, boats, and portable charging systems. Its value proposition is customization and compact form factor, not high-volume module supply. ARTsolar, on the other hand, produces standard-format PV modules targeted at commercial rooftops and utility-scale ground-mount projects within the South African grid, and its panels are certified to meet local grid requirements and international quality standards. The company has faced well-documented legal and commercial headwinds around government localisation procurement policies, a dispute that underlines both its strategic importance to South African manufacturing and the competitive pressure it faces from imported Chinese modules.
For any buyer considering a conventional solar installation - residential, commercial, or utility-scale - these two brands are not interchangeable; they address fundamentally different problems. ARTsolar is the relevant choice for South African project developers seeking a locally manufactured, bankable module. LinkSol is the appropriate consideration only for embedded systems, portable power, or custom small-scale applications where panel size and form factor matter more than grid-tied performance.
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-05-13
Other brand comparisons
Comparisons are computed from manufacturer datasheets held in the ComparePV database and may not reflect a brand's complete current lineup. Nothing on this page is paid placement.