Kiwa PVEL Updates PV Module PQP

Kiwa PVEL, a leading independent lab for solar photovoltaic (PV) module testing, announced a significant update to its Product Qualification Program (PQP). The revisions aim to address growing concerns in the global solar industry, such as spontaneous glass breakage, frame structural failures, and severe hail events. Key updates include the introduction of test-to-failure (TTF) protocols for static mechanical load and hail testing, increasing sample sizes and focusing on areas most prone to breakage. Kiwa PVEL also updated its sample production witness process and introduced final stabilization steps to counter metastability mechanisms in n-type technologies. These changes are intended to provide more rigorous and statistically meaningful data, allowing manufacturers to better showcase product reliability and performance, and ensuring solar buyers receive actionable data.