ARTsolar vs Yingli - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Yingli has the broader catalog (196 vs 0 models). Yingli leans bifacial (57% of lineup).
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
Yingli Solar, also known as Yingli Green Energy, is a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated PV manufacturers. The company develops, manufactures, and sells PV modules to a wide range of markets. Yingli's mission is to provide affordable green energy for all.
- Founded
- 1998
- Headquarters
- Baoding, Hebei, China
- Annual capacity
- 2.45 GW/year
- Employees
- 9000+
- Listed
- OTC Pink: YGEHY
- Tier 1 bankable
- Yes
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
Yingli skews to higher efficiency: 21% of lineup is 23%+
Yingli offers more 600W+ panels (37% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (32%)
The flagships
Written summary
ARTsolar is South Africa's only 100% locally owned solar PV module manufacturer, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Operating at a capacity of roughly 340 MW per year following its most recent facility upgrade, it is a regional player rather than a global-scale producer and does not appear on BloombergNEF Tier 1 lists. Its bankability rests on partnerships with established global manufacturers - first Talesun Solar and more recently JA Solar - whose technology is assembled locally to satisfy South Africa's domestic content rules. Yingli Solar, by contrast, was founded in 1998 in Baoding, China, and was for a period the world's largest solar module producer before severe financial difficulties threatened its existence between roughly 2015 and 2020. Having restructured, Yingli has since regained Bloomberg Tier 1 status and expanded production capacity into the multi-gigawatt range. On institutional footprint, Yingli carries the broader global reach and the lender confidence that Tier 1 certification signals to project financiers.
In product terms, ARTsolar is focused primarily on utility-scale and commercial projects within South Africa, where its panels satisfy procurement requirements under government independent power producer programs. Its most recently produced modules - assembled in partnership with JA Solar - are large-format n-type panels, including the DeepBlue 4.0 Pro series. Yingli's catalog is broader, spanning residential rooftops, commercial installations, and utility-scale ground mounts in markets worldwide. The company has moved firmly into n-type TOPCon technology with its Panda 3.0 Pro series, which has performed well in independent reliability assessments, and has a 5 GW TOPCon cell capacity expansion under construction.
For a South African buyer who must meet local-content rules, ARTsolar is the logical and often mandatory choice. For buyers elsewhere - or for projects where long-term manufacturer stability and global service networks are priorities - Yingli's Tier 1 standing and wider international footprint make it the more straightforward default, with the caveat that its past financial turbulence warrants due diligence alongside its current recovery.
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-06-08
Other brand comparisons
Shop prices: See 7 Yingli offers
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.