ARTsolar vs SolarWorld - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Both brands are closely matched on catalog size, efficiency and bifacial share - the choice comes down to local availability, price and specific model features.
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
SolarWorld AG was a German photovoltaic manufacturer and one of the largest solar panel producers in the Western world, covering the full value chain from polysilicon feedstock to finished modules. The company operated major manufacturing plants in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, and was once a leading...
- Founded
- 1998
- Headquarters
- Bonn, Germany
- Annual capacity
- 1-2 GW/year
- Employees
- 3000-5000
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
Written summary
SolarWorld was founded in 1988 in Germany by Frank Asbeck, going public as SolarWorld AG in 1999 and growing into one of the world's three largest solar manufacturers with a long-standing Tier 1 bankability reputation and a premium for crystalline silicon panels built to German engineering standards. Relentless price pressure from Chinese competitors forced the group into insolvency in May 2017; a brief restructuring as SolarWorld Industries GmbH - co-backed by Asbeck and Qatar Solar Technologies - collapsed again in March 2018, ending in full liquidation by late 2018. The brand is no longer an active manufacturer. ARTsolar, founded in 2010 and based in Durban, South Africa, is the country's only locally owned solar PV module assembler; it does not independently appear on BloombergNEF's global Tier 1 list, but a 2025 partnership with global Tier 1 supplier JA Solar underpins a 340 MW production line and provides credible quality backing within the African market. By any current measure, ARTsolar carries the only active institutional presence of the two.
SolarWorld's historical product range centered on its Sunmodule series of monocrystalline 60-cell panels in roughly the 280-300 W range with efficiencies around 17-18%, backed by a then-industry-leading 20-year product warranty. Those panels remain in service on existing installations worldwide but are unavailable new. ARTsolar's current lineup consists of large-format, high-efficiency modules produced in alignment with JA Solar's cell technology, aimed primarily at utility-scale ground mounts and large commercial rooftops - segments where South Africa's domestic content requirements under its renewable energy procurement programs create a regulatory preference for locally assembled product.
For any buyer evaluating these two brands for a new installation in 2025, the comparison is effectively one-sided: SolarWorld no longer manufactures panels. Within South Africa, ARTsolar benefits from local warranty support and domestic content compliance, though it has faced headwinds including workforce reductions tied to delayed project pipelines and an ongoing legal dispute with the government over localisation rules. For buyers outside South Africa, ARTsolar's distribution remains regionally limited, making it a niche rather than a global alternative.
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-06-09
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.