Tindo signs five-year deal to export Australian made solar panels to Vietnam

Australian solar panel manufacturer Tindo Solar says it has secured a five-year deal to export its solar panels to Vietnam.

Tindo announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement worth $8.4 million with Thanh Do Australia, the local subsidiary of Vietnam’s Thanh Do Construction Group.

The agreement will see Tindo supply 15MW worth of high-quality solar panels to large projects in Vietnam through Thanh Do, which is involved in infrastructure, real estate development, and clean energy projects across Vietnam.

A first shipment of Tindo 430W rooftop solar panels, made at the company’s Mawson Lakes facility in South Australia, is expected to be shipped to Vietnam this month.

To put that into perspective, the 15MW Sunshine Coast solar farm, which has been operating since 2017, consists of 57,960 315W solar panels, while the 15MW solar farm at the Kennedy Energy Park in Queensland is made up of 55,680 345W and 350W solar panels.

This latest deal is the longest export agreement that Tindo has signed and will run for five years. All solar panels shipped come with a 25-year product warranty and cyclone rated.

“This five-year agreement is a vote of confidence in Tindo’s employees, and in Australian manufacturing’s ability to succeed at the premium end of a very competitive market,” said Richard Petterson, CEO of Tindo.

“Tindo internally invests in R&D and engineering to ensure we produce a solar panel that always outperforms the market. Australians are prepared to pay slightly more for a high-quality panel, and we’ve identified the same premium market in other territories such as Vietnam.”

A further “vote of confidence” for Tindo was announced last month when Choice, the Australian Consumers’ Association, ranked Tindo solar panels as the best-performing module in Australia, and the only solar panel tested that matched or exceeded its specified power output.

Of the 15 rooftop solar panels Choice tested, only Tindo’s 410W Karra scored an ‘Excellent measured power output’ rating, achieving an overall 92% ‘Choice Expert Rating’ in front of the 80% Choice Expert Rating scored by the second-placed panel.

“With a workforce of sixty people, we design and build a solar panel that competes with the best in the world,” said Richard Petterson.

“Choice’s recognition of our panel is a great outcome for the company and for the customers who invest in an Australian-made, premium product.

“Tindo makes a significant investment in its R&D program, and we run an in-house engineering team that is constantly working on product improvements and upgrades. The panel that gained the Choice accolade is the eighth generation of solar panel produced by Tindo since the company made its first solar panel in 2011.”

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