News and events

ModuleTech 2025 Presentations

See the Presentations from PVSC IEEE 2025

Kiwa PVEL at Intersolar EU

May 7, 2025. Kiwa PVEL's Tristan Erion-Lorico presented “Solar Technology II: Quality Testing & Reliability of Solar Modules & Balance of Systems” at the 2025 Intersolar Munich conference. During the talk, he showcased how modules can tolerate some level of cell cracking, often showing less than a few percent power loss after extended reliability stress testing, underscoring that quality evaluation should focus on real-world performance impact rather than mere occurrence of crack

Kiwa PVEL in BloombergNEF

March 2025. The BloombergNEF report assesses the bankability of PV module and inverter manufacturers by analyzing their financial health, operational track record, and warranty performance. Contributions from Kiwa PVEL's extended-reliability testing are featured throughout this year's report. Learn more.

Access the PVRW 2025 Presentations

Mar 4-6, 2025. Kiwa PVEL's team presented at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's annual Photovoltaic Reliability Workshop (PVRW) 2025. Read more and access the presentations. 

Mitigating Hail Damage to PV Solar Panels

February 20, 2025. Read more about "Mitigating Hail Damage to PV Solar Panels" from Chubb Insurance, with contributions from Kiwa PVEL's Hail Stress Sequence testing.

Intersolar India 2025

February 13, 2025. Kiwa PVEL's Sishir Garemella presented on "Empowering the World: India’s Solar Exports and the Future of Solar Energy" at 2025 Intersolar India show in Gandhinagar, India.

Repowering a PV Plant After a Fire Event

January 30, 2025. When a fire damages a PV plant, recovery can be challenging—but with the right repowering strategy, restoration is possible. In this case study from Camelot Energy Group and Kiwa PVEL, we explore how fire damage in utility scale PV arrays can be sometimes be considerably more impactful than indicated by visual damage, and how good technical oversight is key to successfully remediating PV projects post-fire event.

Q1'25 STAC Webinar

Recorded Feb 12, 2025. Join Kiwa PVEL and CRU for an overview of our Q1 Solar Technology and Cost (STAC) service. Every quarter, the STAC service provides report subscribers with an update on PV manufacturing and module costs, including 5-year pricing outlooks, updated import/export data, and regional policy considerations.

Kiwa PVEL's 2024 Year in Review

Dec 31, 2024. As solar continued to break records in 2024, Kiwa PVEL also noted a number of highlights. Dec Learn more in our 2024 Year in Review. 

The benefits of hail and wind resistant solar modules

Dec 10, 2024. In this pv magazine Webinar, Kiwa PVEL joins other experts to discuss what increasing weather events mean for the solar industry including the benefits of hail-and-wind-resistant modules from a utility, C&I, community solar perspective, as well as from a residential homeowner and installer perspective.

Q4'24 STAC and ESTAC Webinar

December 4, 2024. Recording available from Kiwa PVEL and Exawatt/CRU's final webinar of 2024, exploring the latest insights from our Q4 Energy Storage Technology and Cost (ESTAC) and Solar Technology and Cost (STAC) reports.

2024 bifiPV Workshop: Back-Contact Cell Technology

November 20th, 21st & 22nd 2024. At the 2024 bifiPV Workshop in Zhuhai, Kiwa PVEL's Jean-Nicolas Jaubert presented on the reliability of back contact solar modules.

See Kiwa PVEL on the Taiyang News Virtual Conference

On Oct. 21st 2024, Kiwa PVEL participated in the Taiyang News Reliable PV Module Design Conference. Click to learn more. 

Read "Sunscreen for solar" from PV Magazine

Oct 4, 2024. Read the interview with Kiwa PVEL's Tristan Erion-Lorico and Archana Sinha, PhD about UVID concerns in solar modules. 

Webinar Recording: Raising the Bar

Sep 25, 2024. Access the recording from our latest webinar, where Kiwa PVEL and Kiwa PI Berlin take a deep dive into our latest white paper on solar module quality recommendations: Raising the Bar.

The 2024 PV Module Reliability Scorecard

Jun 5, 2024. The 10th Edition of the PV Module Reliability Scorecard is now available. Click to explore this year’s results, including Top Performers, methodology, key testing insights, and more.

How solar module manufacturers can avoid ADCVD tariffs

Jan 8, 2024. With the waiver of AD/CVD circumvention tariffs on SE Asian cells and modules that employ Chinese wafers set to expire in June this year, there are several key issues for the U.S. solar market. Kiwa PVEL’s Max Macpherson explains the potential for manufacturers to be able to sidestep the tariffs.

Cell Cracking in PV Modules: How Concerned Should You Be?

Feb 27, 2024. Kiwa PVEL’s hail testing has uncovered some unlikely good news about the impact of hail damage to PV modules. Although growing in prevalence, hail damage to PV modules might not be as worrisome a long-term problem as once feared.

PVRW Poster: Performance and safety of PV modules with extreme cell cracking damage

Feb 28, 2024. Kiwa PVEL’s VP of Technical Operations Todd Karin, PhD. poster on cell cracking from the annual NREL PV Reliability Workshop

PVRW Presentation: UV-induced Degradation in PV Cells

Feb 28, 2024. Kiwa PVEL’s Senior Engineer Archana Sinha presentation on UVID in PV cells from the annual NREL PV Reliability Workshop

Recording Now Available

Access the February 14th webinar where we took a closer look at the Q1’24 STAC report, and gave an introduction to Exawatt’s module tracker. The event included a live Q&A, where audience questions on solar technology and cost questions were answered by our experts.

Recording Now Available

January 31, 2024. In this webinar, experts from PVEL and Brown & Brown Risk Solutions provided an overview of microcracking risks, including the current challenges for developers and insurers, along with insights and the latest results from Kiwa PVEL’s extended reliability testing. An overview of insurance claims related to cell cracks and limitations for insurance coverage was also presented.

Weekend Read: Temper Tantrum

Jan 6, 2024. Reports of broken module glass with no obvious cause have begun to crop up at large PV projects. Module design, glass manufacturing, and interactions in the field between modules and trackers are at play and a clear solution has yet to emerge. Early signs suggest an update to certification standards may be needed.

PVEL will pay closer attention to hail stress and backsheet durability in future PV module tests

Nov 8, 2023. Solar testing group Kiwa PVEL announces upgrades to its suite of extended reliability and performance tests, the Product Qualification Program (PQP), including new hail stress updates.

Episode now available

June 27, 2023. In this Suncast episode, dive into Kiwa PVEL's rigorous testing process, the role of the Scorecard, and insights into what the data tells us as buyers about both the evolution of the technology and the importance of reliability testing. Listeners will learn about emerging technologies, like n-type Topcon, strategies to reduce high failure rates, India's rise in solar manufacturing, and upcoming industry trends, including manufacturing volumes and top performers!

Episode now available

Feb 20, 2023. Kiwa PVEL’s PQP results have become a prerequisite of sorts for foreign module manufacturers to sell into the U.S., as tax and debt equity investors typically require developers to procure modules that have undergone the firm's tests. Do you know what's in your module?

Understanding Bankability for Solar Manufacturers

January 9, 2023. In early 2023, Kiwa PVEL released a blog post detailing what "bankability" means for PV modules.