Recom Solar Panels Review (2026): Are They Any Good?
Recom sells itself as a European solar panel maker, and its specifications are some of the best you’ll see on a UK quote: back-contact panels at up to 24.5% efficiency and warranties of 25 to 30 years. The company behind them is harder to pin down. Its French factory was shut by a court in 2024 and production has moved to Italy. This review covers the Recom range, where the panels are made, the warranty, Tier 1 status, UK prices, and whether Recom is a safe choice.
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Who are Recom Solar?
Recom, now trading as RECOM Technologies, was founded in 2007. Its founder and chief executive is Hamlet Tunyan. It started in Greece, and over the years has had offices in Cyprus, Germany, Italy, France, Singapore, the UAE, the USA and the UK. It’s a private company and doesn’t publish its shareholders.
Recom makes panels, and also inverters, batteries and EV chargers. It says its panels are installed in more than 110 countries and that it can make over 3.2GW a year. Here’s how it got to where it is.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Recom is founded. |
| 2015 | It buys a solar cell factory near Padua in northern Italy. |
| July 2017 | It buys the bankrupt Sillia panel factory in Lannion, Brittany. |
| April 2019 | Recom moves its headquarters to Lannion and announces plans to expand the factory. |
| December 2019 | Recom is named on BloombergNEF’s Tier 1 list for the first time. |
| June 2023 | The Black Tiger back-contact panel is launched. |
| October 2023 | Recom launches in the UK, with a UK managing director and 25MW of stock held in Rotterdam for British orders. |
| 12 April 2024 | The commercial court in Saint-Brieuc places Recom’s French subsidiary, Recom Sillia, in liquidation. Thirty-two staff lose their jobs. Recom blames the French government’s handling of solar tenders. |
| 2024 onwards | Recom says panel production is moving to its Italian site near Padua. The company is now headquartered in Italy. |
Two things stand out. Recom has real engineering ambition, and the Black Tiger is a properly advanced panel. But the business has moved around a great deal, and a factory it invested about €30 million in was closed by a court only seven years after it bought it. The parent company carried on, and it was the subsidiary that was liquidated, not Recom itself. Even so, it’s the kind of history that should make you look hard at who will honour the warranty.
Where are Recom solar panels made?
Recom says its panels are now made in Italy, at its site in San Pietro Viminario near Padua, where it has made solar cells since 2015. Until April 2024, they were also made in Lannion in France. Before it bought its European factories, Recom’s panels were reported to be made in Asia.
That history is why people ask. If “made in Europe” matters to you, don’t rely on the brochure. Ask the installer for the datasheet of the exact panel and check the country of manufacture on it, then check the label on the back of the panels when they arrive. We couldn’t verify for ourselves how much of the current range is built in Italy.
In the UK, Recom supplies from stock held in Rotterdam. For other European-built options, see our reviews of Eurener, SolarWatt and Meyer Burger, and for panels made in Britain, Viridian and Marley.
The Recom range in 2026
| Series | Cells | Home-size power | Efficiency | Size and weight | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Tiger (475–500W) | N-type back contact, 108 half-cells, all black | 475–500W | 23.3–24.5% | 1,800 × 1,134 × 30mm, 21.6kg | 25 years product, 30 years power |
| Black Tiger (440–460W) | N-type back contact, 108 half-cells, all black | 440–460W | 22.5–23.6% | 1,722 × 1,134 × 35mm, 22.2kg | 25 years product, 30 years power |
| Lynx | N-type TOPCon, all black, single or double glass | 445–470W | 22.3–23.5% | 1,762 × 1,134 × 30mm, 21kg | 30 years product, 30 years power |
| Lion | Heterojunction (HJT), bifacial | From 440W | 23.0–24.1% | Varies | 30 years product, 30 years power |
| Puma and Panther | Older PERC cells, shingled or half-cut | Mostly 530W and above | About 21–21.7% | Over 2.2m long | 15–25 years product |
For a house, the two to look at are the Black Tiger and the Lynx.
- Black Tiger is the premium panel. “Back contact” means all the wiring is on the rear of the cell, so nothing shades the front. That lifts efficiency and gives a clean, all-black face with no silver lines. It’s the same idea used by Aiko’s Neostar and the old SunPower panels.
- Lynx is the mainstream panel, using the same N-type TOPCon cells as Jinko, JA and Trina, with a longer product warranty than most.
- Lion uses heterojunction cells, like REC’s Alpha range. You’ll rarely see it on a UK home quote.
- Puma and Panther are older designs, now mainly sold in large commercial sizes.
Recom’s model codes aren’t easy to read. A home-size Black Tiger looks like RCM-490-7RRCG-BW, where 490 is the power in watts. Ask for the full code on your quote so you can match it to a datasheet (types of solar panels, solar panel sizes).
Our scores
Our rating
Recom Black Tiger and Lynx
★★★★☆ Excellent specifications from a company with an unsettled recent history
The bottom line: a very good panel on paper. Don’t pay extra for it, and buy from an installer you’d trust with a warranty claim.
Get my Recom price →Efficiency and real-world UK output
The Black Tiger reaches 24.5% efficiency at 500W, which puts it among the most efficient panels you can buy for a house (most efficient solar panels). Its temperature coefficient is -0.26% per °C, which is excellent. It loses less power on a hot roof than a typical TOPCon panel at around -0.29%. The Lynx sits at 22.3–23.5% and -0.28% per °C, squarely in line with the mainstream.
In practice, one 490W Black Tiger on a south-facing UK roof generates roughly 440–500kWh a year depending on where you live. Eight of them make a 3.9kW system producing about 3,600–4,000kWh a year, worth roughly £690–£770 a year at October 2026 electricity prices if you use half of it at home.
The high efficiency matters most on a small roof. Eight 490W panels give you what would take nine 440W panels, so if you only have room for a few, a Black Tiger gets more from the space. On a roof with plenty of room, a cheaper panel will produce the same total for less money. Note that the 475–500W Black Tiger is 1,800mm long, a little longer than the usual 1,722mm or 1,762mm (how many panels fit your roof, solar panel efficiency, solar panel output).
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Get My Recom Price →Recom solar panel warranty
| Cover | Black Tiger | Lynx | Typical rival (Jinko, JA, Trina) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product warranty | 25 years | 30 years | Usually 25 years |
| Power guarantee | 30 years | 30 years | 30 years |
| Guaranteed output at year 30 | 88.85% | 87.4% | About 87–89% |
| Yearly loss after year one | About 0.37% | About 0.42% | About 0.4% |
These are strong terms. A 30-year product warranty on the Lynx is longer than almost any mainstream brand offers, and the Black Tiger’s power guarantee is one of the better ones available.
The question is whether the warranty will be there when you need it. A warranty is a promise from a company, and this company has moved its base several times and seen a subsidiary liquidated. That doesn’t mean a claim would fail. Recom is still trading, launched a UK operation in 2023 and said then that it holds stock for the UK in Rotterdam. It does mean you should make sure you’re protected whatever happens:
- Choose an installer that has traded for several years and is MCS-certified.
- Get an insurance-backed workmanship guarantee, so it survives if the installer doesn’t.
- Ask which Recom company issues the warranty and keep the document with your handover pack.
- Keep the panel serial numbers and the datasheet.
More in solar panel warranties explained.
Is Recom Solar Tier 1? And what about test results?
Tier 1
Tier 1 is BloombergNEF’s list of panel makers whose products banks are willing to finance on large projects. It measures financial standing, not quality. Recom first made the list in the last quarter of 2019 and has used the “only European Tier 1 manufacturer” line in its marketing ever since.
The published copy of the list for the second quarter of 2026 that we checked had 42 makers on it, and Recom wasn’t one of them. Makers do move on and off from quarter to quarter. If Tier 1 status is part of the sales pitch you’re hearing, ask for evidence that’s dated this year.
Independent testing
The best-known independent test of panel durability is Kiwa PVEL’s PV Module Reliability Scorecard. Recom wasn’t among the Top Performers in the 2026 edition when we checked, and our searches found no earlier listing either. That doesn’t mean the panels failed. Many makers don’t submit panels at all. It does mean Recom’s durability claims rest on its own testing and the standard safety certificates every panel needs, and not on a public third-party result. Recom has won brand awards, including EUPD Research’s Top Brand PV, which is based on installer surveys, not lab tests.
Recom solar panels price in the UK
There’s no published UK price list for Recom, and our searches didn’t turn up a UK wholesaler listing it. One industry guide puts European wholesale prices at about €0.06 to €0.125 per watt across the range, which would be roughly £25–£50 for a 450W panel bought in bulk, with back-contact panels at the top of that range. Mainstream panels from Jinko, JA and Trina typically cost UK installers £70–£120 each in the quantities they buy.
So Recom shouldn’t cost more than a mainstream brand, and a Lynx should cost about the same. If a quote prices Recom as a premium “European” panel well above a Jinko or JA system of the same size, ask why.
Panels are only about a sixth of the cost of a fitted system. What you’ll pay for a complete installation is much the same whichever panel goes on the roof:
| System | Panels (490W Black Tiger) | Panels (450W Lynx) | Typical fitted price | With a 5kWh battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3kW | 6 | 7 | £4,500–£6,000 | £7,500–£9,500 |
| 4kW | 8 | 9 | £5,500–£7,500 | £9,000–£11,500 |
| 5kW | 10 | 11 | £6,500–£8,500 | — |
| 6kW | 12 | 13 | £7,000–£9,500 | — |
Prices include fitting, scaffolding, the inverter and 0% VAT, which applies until 31 March 2027 (VAT on solar panels). For the full breakdown, see solar panel cost, the 4kW solar system guide, 4kW solar with a battery and solar panel payback.
Older Recom panels: 280W, 390W and 400W
If you already have Recom panels, they’re likely to be one of these:
- Recom 280W solar panels. A 60-cell panel from about 2016 to 2019, in monocrystalline and polycrystalline versions. Warranties of that period were typically about 10 years on the product and 25 years on power.
- Recom 390W and 400W solar panels. Panther and Puma panels with PERC cells from about 2020 to 2022, at around 20–21% efficiency.
Both are sound, ordinary panels for their time. If an older Recom system has lost output, check the inverter before the panels. It’s the part most likely to fail after ten years or so (solar panels not working, inverter replacement cost, how long inverters last). You won’t find a matching panel for a repair, but an installer can fit a modern one of similar voltage or use optimisers to mix old and new (solar panel optimisers). If the panels are fine and you want more from them, a battery is usually the best next step (adding a battery to existing solar).
If your panels came from the French factory and you need to make a warranty claim, go through your installer first, then Recom directly. The French subsidiary that built them no longer exists, so keep your paperwork.
Recom vs Aiko, Jinko and REC
| Recom Black Tiger | Aiko Neostar | Jinko Tiger Neo | REC Alpha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cell type | N-type back contact | N-type back contact | N-type TOPCon | Heterojunction |
| Efficiency | Up to 24.5% | Up to 25% | About 22–23% | About 22–23% |
| Product warranty | 25 years | 15–25 years by model | Usually 25 years | 20–25 years |
| Power guarantee | 30 years to 88.85% | 30 years | 30 years | 25 years |
| Company | Private, subsidiary liquidated in 2024 | Large, listed | One of the world’s largest | Long-established |
| On UK quotes | Rarely | Often | Very often | Often |
| UK stock | Shipped from Rotterdam | Widely stocked | Widely stocked | Widely stocked |
If you want a back-contact panel for a small roof or the all-black look, the honest comparison is with Aiko. The two are close on performance. Aiko is a far larger company and its panels are in every UK wholesaler, so for most people it’s the safer way to get the same technology. Recom makes sense when it’s clearly cheaper, or when your installer knows the brand well and stands behind it.
Read our reviews of Aiko, Jinko, REC, JA Solar, Trina and LONGi, and of other lesser-known brands such as Leapton, Risen and Suntech. The full ranking is in best solar panels UK.
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Get My Fixed Price →Pros & cons
Pros
- Black Tiger back-contact panel at up to 24.5% efficiency
- Excellent temperature coefficient of -0.26% per °C
- 30-year power guarantee to 88.85%
- 30-year product warranty on the Lynx
- Clean all-black look with no lines on the front
- UK launch in 2023, with stock held in Rotterdam
Cons
- French factory subsidiary liquidated in April 2024
- Headquarters and production have moved several times
- Not on the Tier 1 list we checked for 2026
- No public Kiwa PVEL reliability results that we could find
- Hard to find at UK wholesalers
- Private company with little published financial detail
Verdict: are Recom solar panels any good?
3.7 / 5. The panels are good, and the Black Tiger is very good. The uncertainty is about the company. On efficiency, heat performance and warranty length, Recom matches or beats the big names. If your roof is small and you want the most power from it, the Black Tiger does that job as well as almost anything.
But a 30-year promise needs a company that will be around to keep it, and Recom’s last few years haven’t been steady. For that reason it scores below Aiko, Jinko and REC. If you’re quoted Recom, don’t pay a premium for the European label, check where your panels were made, and choose the installer with even more care than the panel (how to choose a solar installer, solar panel companies UK, are solar panels worth it?).
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Recom solar panels: frequently asked questions
Are Recom solar panels any good?
On specification, yes. The Recom Black Tiger is an N-type back-contact panel of up to 500W and 24.5% efficiency, with a 25-year product warranty and a 30-year power guarantee to 88.85%. The Lynx TOPCon panel has a 30-year product warranty. The concern is the company, whose French factory subsidiary was liquidated in 2024. We rate Recom 3.7 out of 5.
Where are Recom solar panels made?
Recom says its panels are now made in Italy, at its site near Padua. Until April 2024 they were also made in Lannion, France, at a factory that has since been liquidated. Earlier Recom panels were made in Asia. Ask for the datasheet of your exact panel and check the country of manufacture on it and on the panel label.
Is Recom Solar a Tier 1 manufacturer?
Recom first appeared on BloombergNEF’s Tier 1 list in late 2019 and still markets itself that way. It was not on the published copy of the list for the second quarter of 2026 that we checked. Tier 1 measures how willing banks are to finance a maker’s panels, not how good the panels are, and makers move on and off the list.
What warranty do Recom solar panels have?
The Black Tiger has a 25-year product warranty and a 30-year power guarantee, with at least 88.85% of rated output at year 30. The Lynx has a 30-year product warranty and a 30-year power guarantee to 87.4%. Older Recom panels typically had about 10 years on the product and 25 on power. Ask which Recom company issues your warranty.
How much do Recom solar panels cost in the UK?
There’s no published UK price list. European wholesale prices are reported at about €0.06 to €0.125 per watt, so Recom should cost no more than a mainstream brand. A fitted 4kW system costs about £5,500–£7,500 with any mainstream panel, or £9,000–£11,500 with a 5kWh battery, including 0% VAT until 31 March 2027.
What happened to Recom’s factory in France?
Recom bought the Sillia panel factory in Lannion, Brittany, in 2017 and expanded it. On 12 April 2024, the commercial court in Saint-Brieuc placed the subsidiary, Recom Sillia, in liquidation, and 32 staff lost their jobs. Recom blamed the French government’s handling of solar tenders and said production would move to its Italian site near Padua.
Is Recom better than Aiko or Jinko?
The Recom Black Tiger is close to Aiko’s Neostar on efficiency and ahead of a standard Jinko Tiger Neo, so it suits a small roof. Aiko and Jinko are far larger companies, widely stocked in the UK and easier to deal with on a warranty claim. For most homes, they’re the safer choice unless Recom is clearly cheaper.
Going Solar UK is an introduction service, not an installer, and has no connection with Recom. Company details are from RECOM Technologies’ website and company profile, checked in October 2026. The liquidation of Recom Sillia is as reported by pv magazine and EnergyTrend in May 2024. Specifications are from Recom’s product pages and datasheets as listed by ENF Solar. We could not verify where current panels are manufactured. Tier 1 status is from a third-party copy of the BloombergNEF list for the second quarter of 2026. Kiwa PVEL results are from the PVEL scorecard site as read in October 2026. Wholesale prices are as reported by a third-party guide and will vary. Details of older panels are approximate. Competitor figures are typical for current ranges. Installed prices are typical 2026 UK estimates. Always confirm the exact model, datasheet and warranty with an MCS-certified installer.