Australia’s only solar module manufacturer is now exporting PV panels to Vietnam

Australia’s only solar module manufacturer Tindo Solar is exporting its high quality Adelaide-made panels to Vietnam, with an initial order for residential and commercial rooftop panels finalised this week for shipment to Ho Chi Minh City.

Tindo says the order for the 410W panels, produced at its Mawson Lakes factory, signals that Vietnam – like other markets – is prioritising high-quality hardware in its energy system.

The panels headed for the south-east Asia nation are powered by the M10 solar cell, the world’s latest and most efficient solar technology, offering module efficiency of 20.6% and 23.1% cell efficiency.

Tindo chief Richard Petterson says it’s not the first time the company has exported to Vietnam, but the current orders are the first in the post-COVID era and offer a further validation of the quality of the product.

“We produce a solar panel that performs at the top end of the market, and it is made to endure the extremes of the Australian climate so we can sell it with a 25-year product warranty,” Petterson said in a statement this week.

“Vietnam’s climate has some similarities to Australia, with high humidity causing delamination and equipment failure in low-quality panels.

“The renewables market started by aiming for the lowest-cost hardware, but the focus has been shifting to quality and sustainability,” said Petterson.

“Australia doesn’t have to compete in the low-cost mass market – we can make a premium product that’s suited to our climate, and that creates jobs and drives innovation,” he added.

According to an IEEFA report from January 2021, Vietnam had at that time a total of 9.3GW of rooftop solar capacity connected to the national power system – more than 101,000 rooftop solar systems.

According to IEEFA, this was a 25-fold increase in installed capacity compared to just a year earlier, the extraordinary growth spurred by the 2020 introduction of a 8c/kWh (US$) feed-in tariff locked in for 20 years.