Panasonic’s decision to exit the residential solar and storage sectors brings an official close to a legacy that once helped shape modern photovoltaic technology.
In a letter dated April 28, 2025, the company informed installation partners that it would discontinue all residential solar and battery products, citing a strategic shift toward other clean energy technologies. The move effectively ends Panasonic’s long-standing presence in distributed solar—an industry it entered through its acquisition of Sanyo in 2009.
Despite assurances that warranties will be honored and installation support maintained, the market implications are clear: one of the last remaining Japanese players in residential PV is retreating amid continued consolidation and price compression in the global solar supply chain.
Panasonic’s solar journey began in earnest with its integration of Sanyo, a pioneer in heterojunction (HJT) technology. The company’s HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer) modules were the first commercially available HJT solar panels when launched in 1997. They were widely regarded for their high-temperature performance and robust efficiency in real-world conditions. At their peak, Panasonic’s all-black HIT modules reached conversion efficiencies exceeding 22%, well ahead of mainstream crystalline silicon technologies of the time.
Yet despite technological strengths, Panasonic increasingly outsourced module production to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in recent years. The transition away from in-house manufacturing accelerated after the company exited solar panel production in 2021, retaining only its brand and intellectual property for a final product release.
By then, HIT’s edge had been eroded. Mono PERC and more recently TOPCon cells surpassed HIT in cost-to-performance ratios, while Chinese manufacturers scaled production and drove module prices down across global markets. Even with HJT regaining attention for its tandem-cell potential, the commercial space had moved on, and Panasonic’s leverage—absent large-scale vertical integration—was limited.
The company’s exit underscores the intense cost pressure reshaping the residential solar value chain. Residential system pricing in the U.S., for example, remains stubbornly high—averaging $2.95 per watt (DC) installed, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Tracking the Sun report—despite dramatic declines in module prices globally. With fierce competition from Chinese OEMs, even brands with premium positioning face an uphill climb if they lack downstream scale or proprietary ecosystem advantages.
Panasonic’s Evervolt battery systems also failed to capture significant market share amid fierce competition from Tesla Powerwall, LG Chem, Enphase, and newer players. Coupled with rising customer acquisition costs and fragmented regional markets, Panasonic’s strategic calculus appears focused on higher-growth, higher-scale segments.
Indeed, the company is doubling down on electric vehicle (EV) battery production. A $4 billion lithium-ion battery plant in Kansas is scheduled to open in early 2025 and will support Panasonic’s role as a key supplier for major automakers, including Tesla. In parallel, Panasonic has remained active in clean heating with heat pump technologies—an area aligned with regional decarbonization mandates in Japan, Europe, and parts of North America.
Panasonic’s withdrawal from residential solar parallels exits from other legacy conglomerates in recent years, such as Sharp and Kyocera. The message is clear: without manufacturing scale, vertical integration, or a dominant downstream footprint, premium brand equity alone is no longer sufficient to survive in residential solar.
Even as HJT sees renewed interest among high-efficiency module manufacturers—particularly as a base layer for perovskite tandem cells—Panasonic’s departure signals that innovation pedigree does not guarantee long-term relevance. For industry observers, it is a reminder of the volatility in solar’s competitive landscape, where market survival increasingly hinges on scale, speed, and system-level value—not legacy.
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