Module manufacturer JA Solar is to partner with testing house VDE Institute to raise awareness on the benefits of using high quality solar products.
The pair has announced plans to increase understanding of how products’ technical performance can impact the bankability of projects.
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According to JA Solar and the VDE Institute, current international certification processes are too weak and fail to provide a “meaningful” measure of a component’s long-term reliability.
“We share [VDE’s] confidence that in the long term the solar industry will benefit from a deeper understanding of the importance of bankability in the market,” said Jian Xie, COO, JA Solar. “The dependability of JA Solar's products and services are the foundation of the superior value proposition we offer our customers,” he claimed.
JA Solar is one of a handful of companies, all Chinese, to have passed TÜV SÜD’s arduous ‘Thresher Test’ for crystalline modules. The Thresher Test is regarded as the toughest durability and performance test. It is unclear whether the partnership with VDE is to develop an additional test or another form of initiative to draw attention to the varying quality of PV modules.
The move is part of a running theme in the Chinese solar sector and the country’s shift toward becoming a knowledge economy.
Recent changes to manufacturing guidelines for Chinese polysilicon manufacturers are expected to squeeze out smaller operators that cannot raise the standard of their produce.
The recent EU-China trade deal could also aid consolidation in favour of larger manufacturers by “locking in” market share and making it harder for smaller firms to grow.
The deal includes a 7GW cap on exports from China to the EU that will be split based on existing market share and what Canadian Solar’s CEO Shawn Qu described as “other factors”.