The Neostar Pro 3S+ sits at the top of AIKO’s third-generation residential range. It puts out up to 490W at 24.5% efficiency, which is about as high as panels this size get, and it’s backed by a 30 year warranty on the panel itself, not just its output. That last part is rare. Most panels come with a 12 to 15 year product warranty.
Like the rest of the Neostar range, it’s built on ABC cells, short for All Back Contact.
On a normal panel, thin metal busbars run across the front of each cell to carry the current away. They do the job, but they also sit in the sun casting tiny shadows, and they’re the fine lines you see when you look at a panel up close. AIKO moves all of that wiring around to the back of the cell. The front is left clean, so more of it catches light, and the finished panel is a smooth, all-black sheet with nothing breaking up the surface. Higher efficiency and a better-looking panel, from the one change.
A few things that make the Pro worth a look, especially on an Australian roof.
It’s about as efficient as residential panels get. At 24.5%, you fit more power into less roof space. When the roof is the constraint rather than the budget, that’s the number that counts.
It handles heat well. The temperature coefficient is -0.26%/°C, better than the -0.30 to -0.35 you’ll see on a lot of panels. Every panel loses a bit of output as it heats up, and Australian roofs get hot, so a lower number here means more power on the days you’re running the air-con hardest.
It copes with shade better than most. AIKO’s cells manage partial shade at the cell level, so shade from a chimney, a vent or an overhanging branch knocks out less of the panel’s output than it would on a standard module.
Dual-glass build, top fire rating. Glass on both sides (2.0mm each) instead of a plastic backsheet, which holds up better against weather and UV over the decades you’ll have it up there. It carries an IEC Class A fire rating, the highest of the three classes.
Long warranty, low degradation. Thirty years on the product, thirty on performance, with degradation of 1% or less in the first year and 0.35% or less each year after. On AIKO’s warranty curve, that leaves the panel guaranteed to still produce around 88.85% of its rated output after 30 years.
The design has won a Red Dot Design Award and an Intersolar Award, and AIKO is listed as a BloombergNEF Tier 1 manufacturer.
Specifications
Figures below are for the 490W model. The 480W and 485W sit just under it on power, voltage and efficiency.
| Maximum power | 480 – 490 W |
| Module efficiency | Up to 24.5% (490W) |
| Cell type | N-type ABC (All Back Contact) |
| Number of cells | 108 (6 x 18) |
| Open-circuit voltage (Voc) | 41.10 V (490W) |
| Short-circuit current (Isc) | 14.88 A (490W) |
| Max power voltage (Vmp) | 34.70 V (490W) |
| Max power current (Imp) | 14.13 A (490W) |
| Power tolerance | 0 ~ +3% |
| Module dimensions | 1762 x 1134 x 30 mm |
| Weight | 24.2 kg |
| Construction | Dual glass, 2.0mm + 2.0mm |
| Frame | Black anodised aluminium |
| Junction box | IP68, 3 bypass diodes |
| Connector | MC4 |
| Temperature coefficient (Pmax) | -0.26%/°C |
| Max system voltage | 1500 V DC |
| Max static load | +5400 Pa / -2400 Pa (front / back) |
| Fire rating | IEC Class A |
| Operating temperature | -40°C to +85°C |
| Degradation | ≤1% first year, then ≤0.35%/year |
| Product warranty | 30 years |
| Performance warranty | 30 years |
| Model code | AIKO-A490-MCE54Db |