Most Efficient Solar Panels for 2024: New Record-Setting Panel Tops the List

    A new residential solar panel is nearly 25% efficient. But should you really care about efficiency?  

Best overall: Maxeon 7

The most efficient residential solar panel is the Maxeon 7, which unseated older Maxeon and Canadian Solar panels. Maxeon has led the industry in solar panel efficiency for some time and its newest offering had its record-setting efficiency mark confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Its 24.9% efficiency in the lab translates to about 24.1% in rooftop settings. There's one catch for American solar shoppers: It won't be available outside of Europe until later this year.

While nearly 25% is an eye-catching number, experts have told us that fixating on efficiency isn't always the way to go. You'll want to consider the whole output of a solar panel system and its total cost, not just the specs of an individual panel. And you may not want to wait for better or cheaper options, although solar tech keeps improving and installation costs are trending down. Still, if you have limited space -- such as a small roof or a lot of shading -- highly efficient panels could make sense. Here are those that perform the best.

What is solar panel efficiency?

Solar panels may all seem basically the same, but they're different in at least a few ways. One of those ways, efficiency rating, measures how much of the sun's energy a panel's solar cells turn into usable electricity. More efficient solar panels will generate more electricity than less efficient ones given the same amount of sunlight.

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"If something is 20% efficient, that means that 20% of the energy in that sunlight reaching the solar panel gets turned into moving electrons," Daniel Ciolkosz, professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Pennsylvania State University, told CNET.

Choosing the best solar panels for your home is a game of balancing solar panel cost, function (like efficiency) and perhaps even aesthetics. Your choice is also limited by what your chosen solar installer actually offers.