The state of solar panels, by the numbers
Every figure on this page is computed from the 14,133 panels in the database, read from manufacturer datasheets rather than press releases. Nothing is modelled, estimated or weighted by brand - a module from a 654-panel catalogue counts exactly as much as one from a catalogue of four.
Where a manufacturer has not published a figure, that panel is left out of the average rather than filled in: 14,126 of the 14,133 panels declare an efficiency, 14,047 a temperature coefficient, 11,670 an annual degradation rate. The deep dives below carry the full distributions.
What the data says right now
Four shifts visible across the whole catalogue. Each one links to the deep dive that carries its full distribution.
44.3% of the 12,998 panels that declare a cell technology now ship TOPCon cells. PERC, the default of the last decade, is being retired catalogue by catalogue, and back-contact still reads as a premium niche rather than a successor.
Half the market sits within a point of 21.82%. Above 23% the field thins to 2,286 panels, and the record holder at 25.20% is far enough ahead that it says more about one product line than about where the market is.
More than half of tracked modules are now dual-sided. Worth reading carefully: the median rear face produces 80% of what the front does under equal light, and it only sees that light on a bright surface with clearance behind the array.
A roof runs 20 to 50 °C above the air, and the spread between the best and worst temperature coefficient is worth more over a summer than most price differences. 8,068 panels hold a coefficient of -0.30 %/°C or better.
Who is in the catalogue
The largest catalogue and the highest-efficiency panel belong to different companies, and neither leads on temperature behaviour. Breadth and peak performance are separate achievements, and a market average made of many cheap variants is not a verdict on a brand.
Deep dives
Each carries the full distribution, the per-manufacturer breakdown and the panels behind every figure.
How these numbers are built
Every figure comes from a manufacturer datasheet ingested into the panel database. Nothing is modelled, estimated, or supplied by a brand outside its own published specification.
Aggregates recompute as new panels arrive. A panel that does not declare a value is left out of that average rather than filled in, so every figure here is backed by modules that actually publish it.
No paid placements, and no figure here reads which shops pay us a commission. Each power rating counts as the module it is. Bifacial datasheets that quote one module at several assumed rear-side gains are counted once, on their front-side rating.