2023 PV Module Quality Report

Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

During the first six-months of 2022, investors, developers, and owners continued to be challenged
by Withhold Release Orders (WRO) and Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD), which
caused many projects to be postponed. Looking forward, we’re facing challenges with the develop-
ment of domestic supply chains and the time needed to build equipment and to qualify factories and
products. Independent quality assurance of manufacturing processes and finished goods remains
crucial to assure reliability and long-term performance of PV modules. The data presented in this
article will share insights and trends in quality that PI Berlin, a member of the Kiwa Group has ob-
served through factory-based quality assurance on over 90 GW of PV modules.

In 2022 PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group inde- Once production starts, having an independent set
pendently assessed the quality of over 21 GW of PV of eyes in the factory assures the equipment is pro-
modules globally, increasing the six-year total as- duced according to the customer’s expectations. In-
sessed to over 90 GW. An analysis of the quality data factory pre-shipment inspections (PSI) ensure that
collected over the 2016 to 2021 period, presented in each batch meets agreed quality criteria before be-
the 2022 PV Module Quality Report, offered signifi- ing released for shipment. Equipment is only deliv-
cant insights into manufacturing and product quality ered once we provide our expert confirmation.
trends within the PV industry. This year’s report pro-
vides additional data from 2022 that helps buyers Pre-shipment inspection of finished PV modules
and investors in the industry better understand the serves to check the modules for any obvious physical
latest process and product trends. defects, commonly using a mix of three different
inspection methods: visual inspection, flash testing
Factors Affecting PV Module Quality in 2022 and electroluminescence (EL) imaging. EL imaging is
a vital tool to help identify any defects within the
• Due to WRO and AD/CVD, most projects were cells.
postponed, or production slowed down during
the first six months of the year. Pre-shipment inspection is usually done by splitting
the entire production for a specific project into
• To catch up with U.S. market demand, manufac-
batches. Using standardized ISO 2859 sampling
turers expanded capacities and new operations
rules, modules out of each batch are statistically
expanded to other geographic regions.
sampled for inspection. Acceptable quality levels
• Improved PV module quality was observed last (AQL) are then applied, the most common being
year during the second half of the year with AQLs of 0.65 or 1.5 for major defects. These deter-
supply chains being healthier and more stable. mine how many modules can have defects before an
• The shift started from PERC to TOPCon at the entire batch is rejected by the buyer.
end of 2022. This shift will be reflected in the
performance of module quality in 2023.

Assessing Manufacturing Quality

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group assesses the
manufactured quality of newly built PV modules
using two methods: production supervision and pre-
shipment inspection.
Production supervision oversees the individual man-
ufacturing processes used to assemble a PV module
from start to finish. Some of the assembly processes,
such as cell stringing and lamination, can have a fun-
damental effect on the reliability of a PV module if
not controlled properly.

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group

2I6 Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

Any defect identified through production supervi- Figure 1: PID192(-) - BOM 1 and BOM 2
sion or pre-shipment inspection is categorized as
critical, major, or minor depending on its likely im-
pact to module safety, performance and reliability as
shown in Table 1. The number of defects that are
tolerated in a batch of modules depends on the se-
verity of each defect.

Finding Severity
>1.1% Power Degradation >4.5% Power Degradation
Critical May create a safety hazard, cause
early-life module failure or
significant performance loss.
Major May cause under-performance or
more rapid performance
degradation over time than
expected.
Minor Unlikely to cause under-
performance or more rapid
performance degradation in Post-PID192(-) on one Post-PID192(-) on an
modules built today but could BOM with 1.1 % power almost identical BOM
escalate if controls are not degradation with 4.5 % power
improved.
degradation
Table 1: PV module defect classification

Impact of Bill of Materials (BOM) Selection PVEL’s historical data for extended PID testing has
Potential-induced degradation testing conducted by resulted in multiple cases of higher degradation
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL), member of the Kiwa Group rates than those observed during the IEC 61215
is an invaluable metric for module reliability in the standard's 96-hour PID test used for certification.
field. PID susceptibility is especially important for sites
that use transformerless string inverters, although
As reported in the 2022 PV Module Quality Report, PID has been shown to impact central inverter sites
seemingly minor changes to a solar module’s Bill of when modules are left open circuited during string
Materials (BOM) can have a major impact on test outages.
results. For more than a decade, PVEL’s Product
Qualification Program (PQP) testing and annual PV Following Kiwa’s procurement best practices, includ-
Module Reliability Scorecard highlight how different ing PQP testing of individual BOM combinations,
BOM combinations, even from the same manufac- specifying the well-performing BOMs in procure-
turer, can have greatly different reliability results. ment contracts, factory production oversight and
batch testing, would help ensure that the modules
In this case, potential-induced degradation (PID) are not susceptible to PID and other degradation
testing on two almost identical glass/glass BOMs mechanisms.
revealed results that surprised even the manufactur-
er. Both BOMs were the same model type, using the Trends in PV Module Quality
same datasheet and nameplate. The cells, glass and
almost all other materials were identical in these In 2022, the solar module market didn’t experience
two BOMs. The only differences were that the mod- any major innovative changes (technological, materi-
ules used encapsulants from two different suppliers al or structural), which resulted in more mature
(although both were front side EVA + rear side POE), manufacturing operations and process controls. As
and different frame and junction box sealants. As seen in Figure 2, the annual defect rates (1.56 %) for
seen in Figure 1, what some may consider as minor newly built PV modules in 2022 improved in compar-
BOM changes resulted in one BOM having four times ison to the previous year (1.73 %).
higher PID susceptibility.

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group

3I6 Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

Increases in automation including soldering integrat-

ed with solar cell dicing, busbar auto-soldering, and
improved in-process intelligent defect detection
contributed to better manufacturing performance.

Product Defects
When you consider the types of defects and quality
issues found in factories, a great deal of it comes
down to defects within the cell and how the cells are
connected (Figure 3). These two issues dominate
data compiled over the last six years. While all issues
matter, frame damage, poor lamination and prob-
lems with string layout, most of the issues we find in
factories, as they are they are becoming more ma-
ture, are cell defects or cell interconnect problems. Figure 2: Annual aggregate defect rates in newly
Certain types of solar cell cracks have been shown to built PV modules
have an impact on module performance deteriora-
tion and hot spot occurrence. Soldering issues can Certain instances of frame damage or frame misfit
also contribute to these field problems. Imperfec- can cause laminate edges to be exposed and thus
tions in solar cells, such as cracks and poorly sol- more susceptible to hail or mechanical damage.
dered joints, lead to higher resistance and become When taken together, these three major findings:
hot spots in the long run. The field effects can in- cell defects, cell interconnects and frames damage
clude burnt marks that degrade solar cells and back- can severely impact field longevity and reliability.
sheets and may eventually lead to fires if left un- Such problems are promptly reported to the manu-
checked. Frame damage can also lead to wind and facturer by PI Berlin while on site.
snow load issues if it is severe enough.

Figure 3: Distribution of defect types in newly built PV modules (2022)

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group

4I6 Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

Figure 4: Distribution of PV module manufacturing defects (2022)

Together, with the manufacturer, these problems bifacial modules. With less focus on monofacial, the
are assessed, root cause analysis done and fixes im- modules receive less manufacturing support. Larger
plemented. wafers (182mm and 210mm) have become more
dominant in the market, but their performance is
Manufacturing Process Defects nearly similar to smaller wafers in terms of defect
rates.
Rework is the number one contributor to defects in
the manufacturing process ahead of soldering and
lamination (Figure 4), which were typical contribu-
tors in past years. Rework levels can be as high as
20 % in some factories. The reason for this is that
multi-busbar technology, since 2019, had reached a
level of maturity with soldering and encapsulant
materials becoming more stable in the manufactur-
ing process.

Technology Defects
Monofacial modules may be the older product still in
production, but the defect rate of producing them
has risen compared to the rate of bifacial modules
(Figure 5). This is due to the shift in focus to the pro-
Figure 5: Differences in defect rates by technology type
duction, supply chain and process controls of

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group

5I6 Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

Quality is Challenging for Newer Factories Supply Chain Comparison Across Module
Suppliers to the U.S.
When you look at the data from 2016 to 2022, the
discovery of items that need improvement show up Currently, domestic supply chains for U.S. module
mainly in the newer factories (Figure 6). But really, assembly are mostly nonexistent. There is a lot of
it’s a combination of factors when you’re building a planning going on but as far as supplying compo-
factory, the people, materials and equipment, and nents for building modules, only about 1 % of all
the supply chains that may or may not be 100 % sta- modules are made here. Module assembly in the US
ble. Over time it’s the factories that have been in is dependent on supply chains from China, Southeast
operation longer that exhibit fewer findings in quali- Asia, and India for almost all materials. There are
ty variances, indicating a maturation of processes plans to build out domestic supply chains, heavily
and statistical stability. influenced by policy, the IRA and the 10 % domestic
content bonus, but it won’t happen overnight.
Improving the Quality and Supply Chain of
Critical Module Materials for Domestic Geographic modifications of supply chains are going
to result in continual Bill of Materials (BOM) changes
Manufacturing
and substitutions, which is something we will need
When our customers are purchasing PV modules or to be aware of and be careful to observe as we
are selecting modules to install, some of the key move forward.
pieces that they need to consider are wafer, ingot,
The primary stimulus for growth is the IRA 45X pro-
polysilicon, and metallurgical grade silicon specifica-
duction credit. This means that companies in the US
tions. They should pay particular attention to how
who are producing PV wafers will receive a $12.00
cells perform, and which technology is being used. A
per square meter subsidy and tax credit, producing
lot of new technologies including TOPCon and HJT
solar grade polysilicon will receive a $3.00 per kilo-
are being deployed over the next few years and they
gram subsidy, and backsheets will get $.40 per
have their own specific behaviors in how they inter-
square meter subsidy. Companies producing solar
act within the module. Other components to consid-
modules overall will receive $0.07 multiplied by the
er include different encapsulants, junction boxes,
capacity of the module.
connectors, backsheets, glass, and cell intercon-
nects.

Figure 6: Discovery of items that need improvement (2016-2022)

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group

6I6 Trends in PV Module Quality from over 90 GW of Independent Quality Assurance

The time and cost required to build domestic materi- fully debugged factories combined with appropriate
al supply chains is considerable. The estimated in- quality oversight and reliability testing will continue
vestment in polysilicon alone is well over $100 mil- to be the recipe for a strong reliable solar module
lion and would require a three to four year build business. The support given by companies like PI
cycle to get the permits, foundations and buildings Berlin and PVEL, members of the Kiwa Group are
constructed as well as the equipment purchased, essential to this protocol and certainty of servicing
installed and debugged. the market.
Equipment and material supply for domestic manu- Authors
facturing is also a challenge. Currently, U.S. module Fei Lu leads factory services for PI
manufacturers are completely reliant on Chinese Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group
equipment suppliers for upstream production equip- worldwide, including auditing and
ment. Crystal growers and wafer slicers are almost production supervision of photo-
exclusively being supplied out of China. Cell equip- voltaics and battery storage sys-
ment is available through U.S. and European manu- tems. Previously, Lu served as Di-
facturers, but pricing and delivery times are subject rector of Module Technology at the Chinese corpo-
to ramping schedules as the suppliers are expanding ration Jiangsu Linyang Photovoltaics Technology and
their capacity and capabilities. prior to that as Senior Engineer and Project Lead for
For BOM materials, the IRS ruling on domestic con- Product Development at REC Solar in Singapore.
tent will help stimulate the building of glass, encap-
sulant, backsheet, junction box, and frame factories Terry Jester is Managing Director
in the U.S. Announcements have already been pub- of PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa
lished in the press regarding component supply fab- Group. She is an experienced CEO,
ricators. COO and Board member with a
40+ year history of working in the
The time to build the supply chains for polysilicon, solar, renewable energy, and elec-
ingots, wafers and cells including siting, permitting tronic manufacturing industry.
and construction requires multiple years. Glass, Terry worked on the materials con-
frames, junction boxes and backsheets are usually a struction that helped provide the first 25 year war-
little shorter, somewhere in the one to one-and-a- ranties in the business. Terry has held executive
half year timeframe. Module manufacturers can leadership roles at BIA Controls, SunPower, Solar
stage factory equipment, siting and permitting with- World, Silicor, Solaria, Arco Solar, Siemens Solar and
in a year. Shell Solar. Her experience also includes technology
vetting as an EIR for large PE firms, and management
When we look at the challenges facing the develop- of product commercialization from R&D through
ment of domestic supply chains, policy uncertainty is production. She sits on several boards focused on
still top of mind and what that could mean from a the renewable energy business.
legislative standpoint. The time to build equipment,
qualify factories and products is a multiyear task for PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group provides ex-
everything except standing up a module assembly pert technical diligence, procurement, and quality
line. Staffing and training candidates and ultimately assurance services for a wide range of solar install-
running these factories in a controlled manner is no ers, integrators, project developers, utilities and in-
easy feat. vestors. We enable our clients to manage technical
risk associated with the investment or procurement
When we look at the supply of various materials like of PV equipment. We leverage direct relationships
metals, there is a fluctuating curve on what the price with PV module, inverter and battery manufacturers,
is depending on shortages and overages. It’s difficult apply our expertise to qualified manufacturers and
to predict the cost for these components when the independently verify quality, reliability, and perfor-
incoming materials are varying wildly in terms of mance.
price. There is also the overlying requirement of
supply chain traceability that customers must con- Contact
sider. And as you build these modules with their For more information on services provided by PI
lengthy reliability and warranty terms, the quality Berlin please contact your local PI Berlin representa-
requirements mandate that you have a strict bill of tive or email us at [email protected]. Check us out
materials and significant process controls. A combi- on the web at pi-berlin.com or follow us on LinkedIn
nation of stable supply chains, at pi-berlin.

PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group