The Best Solar Panels for 2026

December 23, 2025

Homeowners looking to go solar in 2026 need to know what equipment will serve them best, so here are our picks for the best solar panels for 2026.

2025 brought upon some ups and downs for the solar industry, and 2026 is sure to do the same. After some turmoil due to the federal tax credit expiration, the end of 2025 has been strong as installers rally to finish jobs before the tax credit expiration. SEIA’s market insight report shows 11.7 GWdc installed in Q3 2025, an increase of 20% year-over-year and 49% quarter-over-quarter.

But what about 2026? One thing is for certain: rising utility rates and resiliency concerns mean solar and storage will always make financial sense for consumers.

What Makes a Good Solar Panel?

While it’s easy to think that the best solar panel is simply the one that produces the most energy, there’s actually a lot of different factors that go into what makes a panel “quality”. Panel specs are an important piece of the puzzle, but warranties, reliability, and the health of the manufacturer also play major roles.

In a previous article, Decoding Solar Datasheets, we talked about some of the key metrics homeowners can find about panels. Some of the most important and those considered for the “Best Solar Panel” list include:

Efficiency: measures how well the panel converts sunlight into electricity. The best panels will range from 18%-25%.
Degradation Rate: measures how much a panel’s production could drop in a given time period, and panels are often warrantied for this number. Most of the best panels will have a degradation of 0.25%-0.5% annually.
Warranty: The majority of solar panels are warrantied for 25 years, with some going even higher.

To further assess whether a panel is of top quality, we also evaluate the product and manufacturer on a rigorous 7-step evaluation that includes:

Testing Lab Certifications
Product Track Record & Field Reliability
Manufacturer Financial Health Assessment
RMA/Claims Data Analysis
Warranty Policy Review
Testing & Quality Protocols
Vertical Integration Risk Analysis

Only solar components from manufacturers who meet or exceed Solar Insure’s standards across all criteria can be considered one of the best solar panels and be on Solar Insure’s Approved Vendor List (AVL). This multi-faceted approach leaves no stone unturned.

Our 7 Step Approach

The approval process we utilize to evaluate equipment for the AVL assesses the quality, reliability, and financial stability of a solar panel manufacturer. We utilize this same process for inverters and batteries.

1. Testing Lab Certification

Products must pass rigorous testing to earn a UL certification, and we validate the certificate’s authenticity. We also consider other certifications that enhance or supplement the UL listing. For non-UL-listed products, we compare their safety and reliability standards.

2. Product Track Record & Reliability

Assess the product’s failure rate in real-world conditions.
Review any past recalls and how the company handled them.
Ensure the most recent version of the product has a consistent track record.
Gather feedback from installers and service technicians about product quality.
The product should have a minimum of 3 years of claim history.

3. Financial Health Assessment

Evaluate the company’s financial stability by examining financial reports, potential liabilities, and outstanding debts.
Conduct financial checks to assess credit risk.
Check for any red flags in recent financial news or statements.
Investigate any ongoing lawsuits or significant financial drains that might lead to bankruptcy.

4. RMA/Claims Data Analysis

Track return and claims data to identify patterns of product failures.
For new products or manufacturers, we set a monitoring period before fully endorsing the product.
We aim for a failure rate of 1% or less for inverters and batteries, and 0.01% for panel manufacturers.

5. Warranty Examination

We assess the length and coverage of the warranty and determine if the manufacturer offers reimbursement for defective products.

6. Manufacturing and Testing Protocols

We check if the company has robust in-house testing before releasing products.
For vertically integrated companies, we ensure they have rigorous checks to maintain product quality across the supply chain.

7. Vertical Integration Risks

We analyze the degree of vertical integration within the manufacturer’s operations, noting that vertically integrated companies may present higher risks due to complexities in managing various production stages.

The above criteria are used for determining the Best Solar Panels for 2026 and whether the equipment can be used with a Solar Insure warranty. Only projects using equipment from the Solar Insure AVL can qualify to use one of our warranties.