ASM vs Sonnen - solar panel manufacturer comparison
ASM has the broader catalog (1 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
Australian Solar Manufacturing (ASM) is a small Australian solar panel assembler that produces crystalline monocrystalline modules domestically using components sourced from Germany, Japan, the USA, and China. The company focuses on providing locally assembled PV modules tailored to Australian conditions, supporting...
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- Hallam, Victoria, Australia
- Employees
- 1-10
Sonnen is a German energy storage technology company specializing in intelligent home battery systems, most notably the sonnenBatterie — the world's first all-in-one lithium-ion home battery system commercially available. The company also develops virtual power plant (VPP) solutions and energy community platforms...
- Founded
- 2010
- Headquarters
- Wildpoldsried, Germany
- Employees
- 1000-2000
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
ASM (Australian Solar Manufacturing Pty Ltd) is a small-scale panel assembler based in Australia, producing crystalline monocrystalline modules assembled domestically from imported components such as EVA, glass, junction boxes, and aluminum frames. Its product range sits in the 170-200 W power class, firmly targeting the residential and small-commercial Australian market. ASM does not appear on major Tier 1 or BloombergNEF bankability lists, and its annual production volume is modest by global standards. Sonnen is a German energy company founded in 2010 in Wildpoldsried, Bavaria, originally operating as PROSOL Invest Deutschland GmbH before rebranding around its battery product. Shell acquired Sonnen in 2019 for a reported sum in the hundreds of millions of euros, giving the brand considerably stronger institutional backing than ASM. On overall market footprint, Sonnen is the more widely recognized name globally.
A direct module-to-module comparison is complicated by the fact that these two brands do not occupy the same product category. ASM is a solar panel manufacturer in the conventional sense, selling standalone photovoltaic modules to Australian installers and homeowners. Sonnen, by contrast, is primarily known for its lithium iron phosphate home battery systems, which offer 10-year warranties and more than 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. No independent industry source reviewed for this comparison confirmed that Sonnen manufactures or brands its own photovoltaic cells or modules - any solar panels offered under its name appear to be sourced from third parties and bundled into integrated solar-plus-storage packages.
For a buyer seeking standalone solar panels, ASM is the relevant choice between the two, though the lack of Tier 1 bankability and limited production scale warrant careful scrutiny of warranty backstop risk. For a buyer seeking a smart home energy system with integrated storage, Sonnen is the stronger option, backed by a decade of battery-specific engineering. These two brands are not interchangeable and serve fundamentally different buyer needs.
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-06-08
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.