Solplanet vs ARTsolar - 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
Solplanet, a brand of AISWEI, manufactures user-friendly and reliable solar inverters, EV chargers and monitoring solutions. AISWEI, formerly SMA's Chinese subsidiary, has been manufacturing high-quality products since 2007. The company is driven by the idea of 'solar for everybody', making solar energy accessible...
- Founded
- 2007
- Headquarters
- Shanghai, China
- Annual capacity
- 10 GW/year
- Employees
- 127
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
Solplanet is the consumer-facing brand of AISWEI Technology, a Chinese manufacturer established in 2007 as a spinoff from SMA's Chinese operations. The company is primarily known as a solar inverter specialist - not a panel manufacturer - and has grown into a top-10 global inverter supplier according to Wood Mackenzie's H1 2025 rankings, with inverter production capacity reportedly around 25 GW per year. DNV has reviewed AISWEI's manufacturing processes and confirmed compliance with international standards, providing a degree of third-party bankability validation. ARTsolar, by contrast, is a dedicated solar module manufacturer founded in 2011 and headquartered in Pinetown, South Africa. It holds TUV SUD and ISO certifications and in 2025 signed an agreement with Tier 1 manufacturer JA Solar to upgrade its facility to a 340 MW annual assembly capacity, reinforcing its position as the leading domestically rooted module maker on the African continent. In terms of institutional scale, AISWEI/Solplanet carries the larger global footprint, though in entirely different product territory.
Because Solplanet's core business is inverters and energy storage rather than PV modules, any solar panels sold under the Solplanet label occupy a secondary position in the company's lineup. ARTsolar, on the other hand, is a pure-play module business offering monocrystalline panels for residential and commercial applications, with confirmed products ranging from smaller rooftop units to 500 W-class commercial modules. Its JA Solar partnership suggests the modules now incorporate cell supply and technology from one of the world's largest cell producers, which meaningfully raises confidence in the bill of materials.
For a buyer whose primary need is a solar module, ARTsolar is the more relevant choice - especially for projects in South Africa or sub-Saharan Africa where local content requirements or supply-chain proximity matter. Solplanet is the natural selection when the priority is the inverter side of a system, and comparing the two as panel competitors is largely an apples-to-oranges exercise given their different core competencies.
- JA Solar and ARTsolar agree to expand PV module manufacturing in South Africa
- ARTsolar and JA Solar - driving South Africa's renewable energy revolution
- Solplanet launches new inverters for rooftop installations - pv magazine
- ARTsolar Solar Panels Review 2026 - ComparePV
- Solplanet Solar Panels Review 2026 - ComparePV
Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-05-13
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.