Tindo Solar solar panels reviews

If you have your heart set on Australian-made solar panels,Tindo Solar is the only local manufacturer we would recommend to a friend.

While not a "tier one" producer of panels, which we normally recommend people buy from, SolarQuotes founder Finn has been to their factory on a couple of occasions and checked out their production. Even in Tindo's earlier days, he was impressed enough to put a bunch of them on his roof, so we think that is a pretty good endorsement of their quality.

Tindo Solar panels have a 12-year (original Karra) or 25 year (Karra G2) product warranty, and a 25 year performance warranty. They are corrosion resistant, and that makes them suitable for installation in coastal areas.  

Company Details

Tindo Solar was founded in 2011. Their original Adelaide factory, situated at Technology Park around 12 km north of Adelaide's CBD, had a manufacturing capacity of 60 megawatts. 

Tindo has always been understandably very pro Australian-made.

In 2014, Tindo Solar instigated an an anti-dumping case against Chinese solar panel manufacturers. It did not succeed. If it had, this could have resulted in punitive tariffs being placed on Chinese panels. This would have helped Tindo Solar and its 25 employees at the time, while harming the rest of Australia’s solar industry by raising the cost of imported panels.

The company was bought by South Australia's Cool or Cozy in March 2017.

In September 2021, the firm started decommissioning the original factory in readiness to commence operations in its new plant, situated adjacent. The new factory is capable of producing more than twice the output of the old plant (150MW annually) and commenced operations in early 2022.

In early 2023, Tindo Solar officially opened the Australian Centre for Excellence in Photovoltaics (ACEPV) within the new factory premises. ACEPV is to bring together industry and research partners; with one of the aims being to further boost Australia's domestic module manufacturing capabilities.

Tindo Solar Panels

Tindo's Karra G2 series panels manufactured for the residential market are based on half-cut cells and currently range up to 410W capacity. The new factory is also producing 540W panels for large-scale applications, such as solar farms.

Tindo Solar assembles solar panels using imported solar cells.

Tindo Solar And Temperature Coefficient

The hotter a solar panel gets, the lower its efficiency. The value that indicates how much a panel's efficiency drops by for each one degree increase in temperature over 25 degrees is called the Max Power Temperature Coefficient, or alternatively  the Temperature Coefficient of Pmax. A typical value these days is around -0.35%. This means if a panel’s temperature is 35 degrees it would produce 3.5% less electricity than if it was at 25 degrees.

Tindo's Temperature Coefficient of Pmax for the Karra G2 is -0.34%/°C, which isn't the best in the industry, but certainly isn't bad either.

Tindo Solar’s Power Tolerance

The majority of tier one panels have positive tolerance. This means their wattage will be the rated amount plus a small amount, for example 0 to 5 watts. Tindo panels' power tolerance used to be plus or minus 3%, which meant its actual wattage could be up to 3% above or 3% below its rating. However, these days it is 0 + ~ 5W.

Warranty Claim Procedure For Orphaned Tindo Customers

If you have purchased a Tindo system from an installer who has since gone under, Tindo become responsible for handling the replacement of panels under warranty. They can be contacted on 1300 846 367, and will handle the process for you using installers in their network.

Note that while Tindo's manufacturer’s warranty provides for replacement or repair, including both parts and labour, this only applies within capital city metropolitan areas of Australia.  Excess charges apply to "remote" sites (> 50km from CBD of Australian capital cities); including on-site labour and transportation.

My Recommendation

If you want Australian made solar panels, then Tindo Solar is a good choice. If you want quality, reliable panels, then you'll also get them with Tindo Solar.

While they are a small producer and will most likely never be a tier one solar panel manufacturer, I am satisfied that if you install their panels you will be very unlikely to have a problem with them.

Tindo Solar panels do carry a premium as Australian made panels, but that’s a small price to pay to support quality Australian manufacturing.

If you've had Tindo Solar panels installed, I encourage you to leave a review to let other Australians know your thoughts on their performance.