Hyundai vs SolarWorld - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Hyundai has the broader catalog (65 vs 0 models). Hyundai leans bifacial (66% 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
HD Hyundai Energy Solutions is a global provider of solar cells and modules, offering solutions for residential, commercial, and utility-scale projects. They provide monofacial, bifacial, and shingled PV modules, along with inverters and various PV solutions. The company is committed to developing next-generation...
- Founded
- 2004
- Headquarters
- Seongnam-si, South Korea
- Annual capacity
- 1.35 GW/year
- Employees
- 206
- Tier 1 bankable
- Yes
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
Hyundai skews to higher efficiency: 6% of lineup is 23%+
Hyundai offers more 600W+ panels (5% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>HJT</strong> (38%)
The flagships
Written summary
Hyundai Energy Solutions is a South Korean manufacturer operating as a subsidiary of HD Hyundai, a Fortune 500 industrial conglomerate. The company has been producing solar modules since the 1980s and markets itself as a Tier 1 bankable brand with certified automated manufacturing. PV ModuleTech's Q2 2024 bankability ratings placed it in the lower CCC+ tier band, which reflects its relatively modest global scale - its trailing 12-month revenue as of late 2025 was approximately $320 million, a fraction of leading Chinese producers. SolarWorld AG was once Germany's flagship solar manufacturer, founded by Frank Asbeck, with a high-profile facility in Hillsboro, Oregon and a flagship factory in Freiberg, Germany. The company filed for insolvency in May 2017, a reconstituted entity called SolarWorld Industries GmbH filed again in March 2018, and after Meyer Burger acquired the Freiberg site in 2020-2021, Meyer Burger's German subsidiaries themselves entered insolvency in May 2024. Asbeck then reacquired the SolarWorld brand name from the insolvent estate. In terms of active institutional footprint, Hyundai is categorically the stronger entity today.
Hyundai's current lineup includes the XG, YH, and newer NF series, with efficiency ratings reaching up to 22.53% on the NF(BK) black-frame panels, and cell technology spanning N-type TOPCon and shingled configurations - both confirmed by recent reviews. Typical use cases are premium residential rooftops and small commercial installations. SolarWorld's historical Sunmodule series, including the widely installed SW 300 monocrystalline panel rated around 17.89% efficiency, earned strong loyalty among European and US residential installers through the mid-2010s. However, no current active product catalog exists under the SolarWorld name as a going-concern manufacturer.
For any buyer evaluating panels in 2025, Hyundai Energy Solutions is the only viable active choice between these two brands. SolarWorld panels found in secondary markets carry real warranty-support risk given the chain of insolvencies, and the brand name currently has no confirmed production activity behind it. Hyundai, while not a market-leader at the scale of Jinko or LONGi, offers a genuine 25-year product and performance warranty backed by an active parent corporation.
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-06-08
Other brand comparisons
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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.