Q Cells Becomes First in Industry to receive TÜV Rheinland’s New Three-step Quality Control PV Certification

TÜV Rheinland provides testing and certification services to numerous Solar PV modules. Lately, this week TÜV has come up with a new Three-step Quality Control PV Certification Program. Hanwha Q Cells became the first renowned Solar PV manufacturer to achieve this certification from TÜV Rheinland on December 1, 2020.

To flourish in the solar energy sector, manufacturers and retailers need to ensure that their products possess quality and performance standards. TÜV Rheinland tests and certifies PV modules according to national and international standards, including IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 it provides more severe conditions, performance characterization, and energy yield testing.

The New Three-step quality control PV Certification program will raise the bar in monitoring, testing, and recognition of PV module quality.

Along with fighting a Patent Battle with REC Group, Hanwha Q Cells is all set to achieve this certification, starting with its newest range of Q.PEAK DUO-G9+ Solar modules to strengthen and hold an incomparable position in the PV industry.

The new certification process has three stages or steps comprising of, Initial Qualification Test where the PV modules go through damp heat testing, mechanical stress, and approx. 600 thermal cycles, for an even longer duration, to access long term reliability.

Followed by the next step ensures, all the testing standards are highly advanced than the previous test standards. In this step, TÜV Rheinland’s representatives are present at the PV modules manufacturing sites, to see and examine the products for selecting random samples from the ongoing production.

Lastly, the final step is Regular Monitoring of the material and suppliers used by manufacturers. TÜV Rheinland’s independent personnel monitors everything until TÜV and Q Cells come to an end conclusion that this material inspections module shall become standardize in the PV industry.

Nicole Nelles, Head of global quality management at Q Cells, said, “Q Cells is very pleased to have become the first solar module manufacturer to receive TÜV Rheinland’s Quality Controlled PV certification of quality.” He added, “the aim is to integrate them into the Quality Controlled PV program so that it is continuously evolving with the times.”

Accompanying, Lukas Jakisch, Business Field Manager for PV modules at TÜV Rheinland said, “TÜV Rheinland has defined a catalog of tests that establish additional qualities that go beyond the standard level of approval and safety qualification. TÜV Rheinland’s surveillance of a manufacturer’s production process- where we perform tests on samples taken at random every month- seeks to identify a consistent level of oversight, with a special focus on reliability and material properties as well as supplier change control.”

However, Nicole Nelles further added, “We continue to conduct and develop a number of additional test programs in parallel – each designed to deliver and ensure improvements in solar module quality.”