REC claims most popular solar-panel brand status for U.S. residential market

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REC Group, a European solar panel manufacturer, shipped 166 MW of its panels to the United States in the third quarter, allowing it to claim to be the most popular solar-panel brand for the United States solar market.

The company reported that it shipped 276 MW of panels worldwide, with 60 percent of those shipments going to the United States. It also claimed to be the No. 1 most popular brand in the California residential market.

Though pv magazine could not immediately  verify REC’s claims independently, a quick look at the overall numbers indicate their claims could be accurate. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 report, the United States installed around 500 MW in residential solar.

Even if only half of REC’s shipments went to the residential market, it would still be in a three-way tie for the top residential supplier according to EnergySage’s panel-manufacturer U.S. marketshare comparison.

In addition, REC has a supply contract with SolarCity, which currently maintains around a 33 percent share of the residential market.

It should be noted that according to a recent EnergySage report, the installers that use its site primarily install LG and SolarWorld panels, although it only represents a self-selected installer group and does not necessarily represent the entire industry.

REC also claims to be the most popular brand for residential installations in California, whose residential marketshare dropped precipitously in Q3. As SEIA reported, the drop could indicate market saturation and customer fatigue across California with solar installations..

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