In this year’s ultraviolet-induced degradation (UVID) testing, engineering advisory and test services provider Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC), has noticed that 40% of modules tested have returned with a red-flag result.
The rapid transition in the upstream manufacturing solar sector to significantly larger p-type and n-type monocrystalline wafers, cells and modules may be hailed as a new era for the industry in higher module performance and a leap in reducing PV power plants LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) in a rapidly changing downstream market that becomes subsidy free, bidding orientated and targeting grid parity and beyond. But issues such as reliability lurk just below the surface.
