Congratulations to our 2024 PVMI Awardees
Analyzing our annual PV module test results, 8% of models tested met RETC’s rigorous standard for our top accolade—namely, recognition as an “Overall Highest Achiever”—whereas 14% of models tested showed some sort of red flag.
In this preliminary June 2024 release of the PV Module Index Report, RETC has recognized 23 module manufacturers for some form of high achievement across the 14 different testing sequences included within the reliability and performance disciplines. To capture the results of any remaining long-duration testing sequences, we will publish a final report release in September 2024.
To identify top PV module models and manufacturers in our data set, we first evaluated data distributions within specific sequences. We then identified thresholds for high achievement and red-flag results based on engineering best judgment and a review of scientific literature. Subsequently, we analyzed these summary data and established holistic criteria for recognition, which are included in this report for transparency.
To achieve RETC’s top honor, module companies had to meet our high achievement criteria in three disciplines: module reliability, performance, and quality. In other words, “Overall Highest Achiever” status effectively indicates that RETC recognizes these companies for “High Achievement in Reliability,” “High Achievement in Performance,” and “High Achievement in Quality.” This is an exceptionally high bar to pass. RETC commends these module companies for consistently achieving excellence in module manufacturing.
Based on a thorough review of these data and results, we have identified nine manufacturers that met our rigorous 2024 PV Module Index Report criteria for our “Overall Highest Achiever” recognition.
2024 PV Module Index Report Overall Highest Achievers
While we applaud high achievement in solar manufacturing, the red-flag results presented and discussed in this report demonstrate the importance of technical due diligence. After all, 75% more test samples returned a red-flag result (14% of models) compared to overall highest achiever results (8% of models). This discrepancy should be a red flag for underinformed buyers, owners, independent engineers, and investors. Without beyond-certification test data, you are more likely to procure modules that test poorly in one or more reliability or performance sequences than modules that excel across multiple disciplines.
Representing an extreme downside scenario, one of the PV module models submitted to RETC for the Thresher Test last year returned red-flag results in both a reliability and a performance test sequence. Upon further investigation, we learned that these test samples had not come directly out of a factory but rather had been resold at a discount out of a warehouse, where they had been stored for an unknown period. This double red-flag result is a reminder that the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. If a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is.
While outlier results make for excellent cautionary tales, industry stakeholders must also remain vigilant to pervasive and systemic problems, as these tend to be difficult to see in real time. As early as Q1 2022, RETC provided industry stakeholders with an early warning about the potential for ultraviolet-induced degradation in advanced n-type PV cells. Two years later, the industry at large has finally acknowledged that UVID is not only a real problem but also potentially a widespread one—and third-party testing laboratories around the world have largely adopted our UVID testing recommendations.
Novel technologies tend to degrade in novel ways. Collectively, we need to anticipate and test new products and technologies accordingly. As the solar market grows in scale and sophistication, industry stakeholders must remain vigilant regarding the technical risks inherent to an accelerated pace of change and the short time frames between innovation and mass production. As long as the solar industry continues to innovate and evolve, there will be a need for data-driven technical due diligence. Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.
2024 PVMI Report awardees
ABOUT RETC AND ITS PV MODULE INDEX REPORT
RETC is a leading engineering services and certification testing provider for renewable energy products with its headquarters in Fremont, California. Since its founding in 2009, RETC has partnered with manufacturers, developers, and investors to test a wide range of products, including PV modules, inverters, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and racking assemblies. As a member of the VDE Group, RETC is helping to provide customers worldwide with a one-stop shop for testing, inspection, certification, and data services that de-risk renewable energy projects.
The 2024 edition of the PV Module Index Report compiles the results of bankability and beyond-qualification tests conducted at RETC’s accredited laboratories over 12 months, spanning Q2 2023 through Q1 2024. As with previous editions of the report, we catalog testing sequences and data according to three interrelated and equally influential disciplines: module reliability, performance, and quality. The bankability tests underlying this report are foundational to a science- and engineering-based approach to technical risk mitigation. Industry stakeholders can use these comparative test results to identify product or project designs best suited to a specific environment, location, or portfolio, as determined by RETC’s Thresher Test results.
Informed by the comparative results of highly accelerated stress testing, diligent project developers, owners, and insurers can take science- and engineering-based steps to mitigate severe weather risks and prevent catastrophic loss events. Laboratory testing data clearly show that some PV modules are more resilient to severe hail impacts, for example, whereas other products are more vulnerable. At the same time, products that test well for hail durability may be at an elevated risk of degradation when installed in a hot, humid location.
Intelligent solar project development eschews an oversimplified solar-as-a-commodity approach to project design and product procurement. All solar modules and installation environments are not the same. Success or failure in the field could come down to this simple question: What is the right tool for the job? Successful solar project deployment demands differentiated products and design approaches. These strategic design adaptations ensure that fielded projects can withstand site-specific risks while optimizing investor returns.
As a highly accredited provider of product certification and bankability testing, RETC plays an essential role in PV performance characterization and optimization. Our laboratory and outdoor testing services help manufacturers identify cell-level degradation mechanisms and module-level failure modes during product development. In parallel, our work assures owners, insurers, financiers, and independent engineers that mass-produced PV products will perform as expected during commercial operations. Our state-of-the-art testing laboratories use calibrated and certified equipment under audited and controlled conditions. Performance characteristics captured under these rigorous conditions represent the true measure of PV module performance.
Knowledge is power.
Download the 2024 PVMI today!
