Strong Show By Indian Manufacturers In KIWA PVEL 2024 Module Scorecard

The 2024 KIWA PV Evolution Labs (KIWA PVEL) module reliability scorecard is out. 2024 is the 10th edition of the widely tracked scorecard. Considered one of the leading global indicators of module quality, the scorecard this year features a record 53 manufacturers and 388 module types from across the world that have earned the right to be called “Top Performers”.  While the higher numbers are also a reflection of the spread of PV cell and Module manufacturing to more regions, particularly India and the US, the annual report has also recorded the highest percentage of module failures in its 10-year history, with two-thirds of manufacturers notching up at least one test failure.

Record Performers, Record Failures As Well

This year, KIWA PVEL has also added a hail testing category, perhaps reflecting the increasing risk of extreme weather in more and more regions of the world where solar is widely adopted.

For the scorecard, PVEL runs the PV Module Product Qualification Program (PQP), scoring solar modules following the results of various testing procedures, including thermal cycling, damp heat, hail stress sequence – with a new Top Performer in that category – backsheet durability, LID/LeTID sensitivity and more. In total, there are 10 different categories assessed. From India, EMMVEE makes it as the top performer across all seven test categories, while regulars such as Adani Solar, Vikram Solar, Waaree have also maintaining their presence, with Premier Energies turning in a strong performance as well. New entrant ReNew has fast tracked its way into the top performers list as well. Saatvik Solar, Tata Power, and Goldi Solar are the other Indian names in the list.

Thermal Recycling Tests

Customers will be interested to now that in the thermal recycling tests, 84% of BOMs tested degraded by < 2%, with a median degradation of 0.8% following TC. But the number of outliers and failures has increased.
• The median power loss was 0.6% for glass// glass versus 1.7% for glass//backsheet. 95% of glass//glass BOMs had < 2% degradation following TC600 versus only 50% of glass// backsheet BOMs.
• The median degradation rate for PERC and TOPCon was 0.6 and 0.7%, respectively, but the number of power degradation failures was higher for TOPCon modules. HJT BOMs showed improved TC results compared to previous years.

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