---
title: "Q-Cells vs SunKean - Brand Comparison | ComparePV"
description: "Compare Q-Cells vs SunKean solar panels: full portfolio, efficiency, cell technology breakdown, warranty terms and company background."
source: "https://comparepv.com/q-cells-vs-sunkean"
---

# Q-Cells vs SunKean

Q-Cells has the broader catalog (89 vs 57 models). SunKean leads on peak efficiency at 23.52%. SunKean leans bifacial (77% of lineup).


## The two companies


| Attribute | Q-Cells | SunKean |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Country | South Korea | China |
| Headquarters | Seoul | Wuxi, Jiangsu |
| Founded | 1999 | 2013 |
| Employees | 2000+ | 200+ |
| Annual capacity | 11.2 GW/year |  |
| Tier 1 | yes |  |
| Listed | NASDAQ: HQCL |  |
| Website | [https://www.qcells.com](https://www.qcells.com) | [https://www.sunkean.com](https://www.sunkean.com) |

Qcells is a renowned global provider of complete energy solutions, specializing in solar cells and modules, energy storage solutions, downstream project business, and energy retail. The company has a strong heritage dating back to its foundation in Germany and has become a leader in technology innovations. As an...

SUNKEAN specializes in providing sustainable energy connection solutions to global customers. They offer a range of products including solar cables, wire harnesses, and related connectors for photovoltaic, energy storage, and charging sectors. As of 2025, SUNKEAN employs over 200 people and operates a production...


## Catalog & Power


| Measure | Q-Cells | SunKean | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Panel Models | 89 | 57 | +32 |
| Max Power | 675 W | 700 W | +25 W |
| Avg Power | 468 W | 447 W | +22 W |


## Efficiency


| Measure | Q-Cells | SunKean | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Max Efficiency | 23.20% | 23.52% | +0.32 pp |
| Avg Efficiency | 21.21% | 21.25% | +0.03 pp |


## Reliability & Warranty


| Measure | Q-Cells | SunKean | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avg Temp Coefficient | -0.325%/°C | -0.300%/°C | +0.025 |
| Bifacial Share | 35 (39%) | 44 (77%) | +38 pp |
| Avg Warranty | 27.0 yrs | 28.9 yrs | +2.0 yr |


## Efficiency distribution

SunKean skews to higher efficiency: 9% of lineup is 23%+


| Efficiency band | Q-Cells | SunKean |
| --- | --- | --- |
| \<20% | 7 (7.9%) | 9 (15.8%) |
| 20-21% | 29 (32.6%) | 7 (12.3%) |
| 21-22% | 30 (33.7%) | 16 (28.1%) |
| 22-23% | 21 (23.6%) | 20 (35.1%) |
| 23%+ | 2 (2.2%) | 5 (8.8%) |


## Power distribution

Q-Cells offers more 600W+ panels (19% of lineup)


| Power band | Q-Cells | SunKean |
| --- | --- | --- |
| \<400W | 20 (22.5%) | 11 (19.3%) |
| 400-499W | 41 (46.1%) | 35 (61.4%) |
| 500-599W | 11 (12.4%) | 6 (10.5%) |
| 600-699W | 17 (19.1%) | 4 (7.0%) |
| 700W+ | 0 | 1 (1.8%) |


## Cell technology

Dominant cell tech: **PERC** (43%)

Dominant cell tech: **TOPCon** (39%)


| Technology | Q-Cells | SunKean |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PERC | 38 (42.7%) | 13 (22.8%) |
| N-type | 23 (25.8%) | 8 (14.0%) |
| Unknown | 20 (22.5%) | 0 |
| TOPCon | 8 (9.0%) | 22 (38.6%) |
| HJT | 0 | 14 (24.6%) |


## Top panels, Q-Cells


| # | Model | Power | Efficiency | Temp. coefficient | Technology |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 675](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-675) | 675 | 21.7 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 2 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 670](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-670) | 670 | 21.6 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 3 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 665](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-665) | 665 | 21.4 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 4 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 660](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-660) | 660 | 21.2 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 5 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 655](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-655) | 655 | 21.1 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 6 | [Q.PEAK DUO ML-G12S.3 / BFG 650](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-peak-duo-ml-g12s-3-bfg-650) | 650 | 20.9 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |
| 7 | [Q.TRON XL-G2.3 / BFG 645](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-tron-xl-g2-3-bfg-645) | 645 | 23.1 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 8 | [Q.TRON XL-G2.3 / BFG 640](https://comparepv.com/panel/q-cells-q-tron-xl-g2-3-bfg-640) | 640 | 22.9 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 9 | [Q.TRON XL-G2.3 / BFG 635](https://comparepv.com/panel/hanwha-q-cells-america-inc-q-tron-xl-g2-3-bfg-635) | 635 | 22.7 | -0.300 | Monocrystalline |
| 10 | [Q.TRON XL-G2.3 / BFG 630](https://comparepv.com/panel/hanwha-q-cells-america-inc-q-tron-xl-g2-3-bfg-630) | 630 | 22.6 | -0.300 | Monocrystalline |


## Top panels, SunKean


| # | Model | Power | Efficiency | Temp. coefficient | Technology |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [SKT700M12-132D5](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt700m12-132d5) | 700 | 22.5 | -0.260 | Monocrystalline |
| 2 | [SKT695M12-132D5](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt695m12-132d5) | 695 | 22.4 | -0.260 | Monocrystalline |
| 3 | [SKT690M12-132D5](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt690m12-132d5) | 690 | 22.2 | -0.260 | Monocrystalline |
| 4 | [SKT685M12-132D5](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt685m12-132d5) | 685 | 22.1 | -0.260 | Monocrystalline |
| 5 | [SKT680M12-132D5](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt680m12-132d5) | 680 | 21.9 | -0.260 | Monocrystalline |
| 6 | [SKT555M10](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt555m10) | 555 | 21.5 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 7 | [SKT550M10](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt550m10) | 550 | 21.3 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 8 | [SKT545M10](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt545m10) | 545 | 21.1 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 9 | [SKT540M10](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt540m10) | 540 | 20.9 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 10 | [SKT535M10](https://comparepv.com/panel/sunkean-skt535m10) | 535 | 20.7 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |


## Summary

Q-Cells (Hanwha Qcells) is a German-founded, now Seoul-headquartered manufacturer with a well-documented history and formal Tier 1 and BloombergNEF bankability status. SunKean, by contrast, turns out to be primarily a solar cable, wire-harness and connector manufacturer based in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, founded in 2013, not a dedicated PV module producer with a comparable public track record. I'll note this asymmetry explicitly in the comparison rather than inventing panel specs for SunKean.

Q-Cells is a solar manufacturer with roots in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany, where it was founded in 1999 and began producing solar cells in 2001. After filing for bankruptcy in 2012, it was acquired by South Korea's Hanwha Group and now operates as Hanwha Qcells, headquartered in Seoul with a German engineering office still active and manufacturing plants in the US, Malaysia and South Korea. The company holds a top tier bankability score from BloombergNEF and was named a 2025 Tier 1 Cleantech Company by S&P Global, and its US footprint alone, anchored by the Cartersville and Dalton, Georgia facilities, is on track for roughly 8.6 GW of annual module output, part of a group-wide annual capacity cited around 11.2 GW. SunKean, founded in 2013 and based in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, is a much smaller and differently positioned company: available sourcing shows it is primarily known as a manufacturer of solar cables, wire harnesses and connectors for PV, energy storage and EV-charging applications, with around 240 employees and roughly 80,000 square meters of facilities, rather than a vertically integrated panel maker with a public Tier 1 or BNEF bankability listing. On institutional footprint, Q-Cells is unambiguously the stronger and more thoroughly documented player.

Q-Cells' product range spans premium residential and commercial rooftop modules as well as utility-scale offerings, generally built around high-efficiency cell architectures that the company has progressively moved toward advanced technologies such as TOPCon in its newer product lines, and its US-made panels are frequently cited for domestic-content incentive eligibility under the Inflation Reduction Act. SunKean's catalog, based on available listings, centers on solar cable and connector systems and custom solar panel system integration rather than a flagship line of high-efficiency cells, so it functions more as a components and system-integration supplier than a direct competitor to Q-Cells in core module technology or performance tier.

Given this asymmetry, Q-Cells is the clearer default choice for a typical 2025 buyer seeking a panel with established bankability, financing eligibility and a long independent review history, while SunKean appears better understood as a complementary components supplier rather than a like-for-like alternative in panel selection; buyers should verify SunKean's specific product scope directly before treating it as a module brand comparable to Q-Cells.

\---LINKS---

\- https://www.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/q-cells-achieves-top-tier-class-bankability-score-in-latest-bloombergnef-report/ \| Q Cells achieves top tier bankability score in BloombergNEF report \| article

\- https://www.hanwha.com/newsroom/news/press-releases/hanwha-qcells-named-an-s-p-global-2025-tier-1-cleantech-company.do \| Hanwha Qcells named 2025 S&P Global Tier 1 Cleantech Company \| article

\- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qcells \| Qcells corporate history, founding and Hanwha acquisition \| article

\- https://www.enfsolar.com/sunkean \| Sunkean Cable Co., Ltd. company profile \| article

\- https://www.solarreviews.com/solar-panels/top-20-solar-panels-in-2025 \| Top 20 Solar Panels in 2025 (industry context, Q-Cells featured) \| review

Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the figures above.


## Other comparisons

- [Q-Cells vs A.B. Energy](https://comparepv.com/q-cells-vs-a-b-energy)
- [AE Solar vs SunKean](https://comparepv.com/ae-solar-vs-sunkean)
- [Q-Cells vs AEET](https://comparepv.com/q-cells-vs-aeet)
- [AIKO vs SunKean](https://comparepv.com/aiko-vs-sunkean)
- [Q-Cells vs AKCOME](https://comparepv.com/q-cells-vs-akcome)
- [ARTsolar vs SunKean](https://comparepv.com/artsolar-vs-sunkean)


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Source: https://comparepv.com/q-cells-vs-sunkean

Not in this file, on the page: the distributions above drawn as charts.