SunLink vs AIKO - solar panel manufacturer comparison

AIKO is a Chinese manufacturer headquartered in Guangzhou that has built its identity around proprietary N-type ABC (All Back Contact) cell architecture. The company earned BloombergNEF Tier 1 bankability status in Q3 2024 and reported manufacturing capacity of roughly 20 GW by early 2025, a figure that has continued to climb. SunLink PV is also a Chinese manufacturer, founded in 2004, making it one of the more tenured mid-tier producers in the industry. SunLink achieved BloombergNEF Tier 1 recognition in Q1 2025 and reported annual production of approximately 5 GW in 2024, alongside a cumulative installed base of more than 10 GW across over 60 countries. By current production scale, AIKO carries the larger and faster-growing institutional footprint, though SunLink's two-decade operating history is a meaningful differentiator for risk-averse lenders.

AIKO's flagship Neostar series for residential rooftops uses ABC technology to move all electrical contacts to the rear of the cell, eliminating front-shading losses and enabling verified module efficiency of up to 24.3 percent - among the highest available from any mass-market manufacturer. Larger Comet and Stellar formats extend the same architecture to commercial and utility-scale deployments. SunLink PV builds its lineup around N-type TOPCon and PERC bifacial modules offered across residential, commercial, and utility-scale segments. TOPCon is a well-established and widely financed cell technology, which gives SunLink panels a practical advantage in conventional procurement processes where lenders are already comfortable with the architecture.

For space-constrained rooftop installations where maximum output per square meter is the priority, AIKO's ABC modules are genuinely differentiated and command a justifiable premium. For utility-scale or budget-conscious commercial projects where bankable TOPCon performance is sufficient, SunLink PV is a credible and lower-cost alternative. These two brands serve partly overlapping but not identical buyer profiles, so the better choice depends primarily on project type and price sensitivity.

Generated by Claude Sonnet · 2026-06-11