The Importance of Solar Panel Quality
Why test modules? 
  • Modules are the most essential components of solar PV plants. They represent up to 50% of the total PV project investment.
  • Modules are expected to have a defect free life for at least 20 to 25 years. Therefore, a high risk of supplier bankruptcy and difficulties of getting Warranty Performance over such a long time period exists.
  • Module defects imply a loss of production (income loss) during the lifetime of the Project.
  • Insurance coverage  does not guarantee Return on Investment - it only implies a possible economic compensation for the PV Modules.

How we Approach End-to-end Quality
  • Factory in-line inspection
  • EL image review to reveal defects (see images)
  • Reporting
  • Product screening in China
  • Final screening before transport
  • Screening post-transport at installation site (Mobile testing)
  • Screening post-installation (Mobile testing)

Benefits of this Approach
  • Powerful tool to mitigate the Technical Risks with regards to the Module’s Purchase Process and the ability to customize the process according to the needs of the PV project. 
  • Reduces the logistics complexity in a quality claim since products that do not meet the requirements can be detected much earlier in the process, which saves time and money. 
  • Service cost is low in comparison with the total PV Module acquisition and project investment. 
  • Customizable Service and adaptable to different Project and Client needs and requirements.
  • Independent third party service can make the claim process more fluent and easier to handle for both parties (Manufacturer and Client)
  • Risk reduction
What we can find...
What we can find...
Our Quality Assurance Approach
The Bottom Line for Investors
Our quality assurance approach means:
  • Higher quality and more durable plants
  • Less risk on producing revenues for 25 years
  • Targeted O&M
  • Third party insurance to cover eventual bankruptcy of supplier
  • Power rating on average 2% higher to give £52k/MWp over 20 years 
  • Independent quality certificate
  • Considerable historical data room on all tests batch reports to have

Our Track Record 
Case #1: a major British renewables company
What we did: 
  • Tested 260MW of modules over a 2 year period
  • On average switched out 7% of potentially defective modules worth £5m of avoided problems
  • Higher quality = higher power classes leading to 2% additional power giving the company £52k additional revenue per MWp over the lifetime of the park (20 years)
  • Higher quality = lower degradation leading to less than 0.25% potentially adding £13m of value
  • Rejected an entire 32MW batch (€14.4m avoided cost)

Case #1: The Bottom Line
  • In total we estimate that we have saved the company £30+m on a spend of £150m.
We bring Quality Assurance to your PV Plant with our award-winning mobile PV testing lab from MBJ Services
Picture
On-site lab-quality PV testing is available in the UK.
  • A+A+A LED flasher
  • high-resolution electro-luminance system
  • IR Camera
  • cost-effectively test more panels for a better sample rate and more comprehensive results​