RETC, a part of the VDE Group, has launched its 2026 PV Module Index (PVMI) Report, which options 19 photo voltaic panel producers incomes recognition throughout a number of testing disciplines and award classes. 13 producers achieved Total Highest Achiever standing.
The report gives unbiased, comparative information on photo voltaic PV modules throughout reliability, efficiency and high quality metrics.
“Certifications require merchandise to satisfy a minimal baseline normal; nonetheless, they don’t essentially handle how property will carry out all through their projected lifetime within the area, particularly lately, underneath more and more excessive circumstances,” mentioned Cherif Kedir, CEO of RETC. “In 2026, photo voltaic is now each important infrastructure and a commoditized product, which makes high quality differentiation paramount for long-term reliability, consistency and efficiency. Stakeholders require extra confidence that the merchandise being deployed right this moment will proceed performing reliably over a long time, particularly as new manufacturing scales quickly and new supplies and provide chains rapidly enter the market.”
Based mostly on testing carried out between Q2 of 2025 and Q1 of 2026, the 2026 PVMI evaluates PV modules utilizing RETC’s prolonged real-world testing protocols designed to establish potential long-term reliability and efficiency dangers that won’t seem in normal certification testing. The report highlights a number of rising developments shaping photo voltaic procurement, manufacturing and danger analysis choices throughout the business.
Visible inspection. Credit score: Augustin Rajkumar/RETC, VDE Group
“What we’re seeing is an business shifting from a deployment story to a efficiency and danger administration story,” Kedir mentioned. “The PVMI offers builders, financiers and asset homeowners a clearer view of which modules carry out underneath prolonged stress circumstances designed to replicate the realities they may face within the area.”
The 2026 Photovoltaic Module Index Report highlights a number of reliability and efficiency developments rising from RETC’s prolonged laboratory testing, together with:
- Greater than 10% of module check samples returned failing “red-flag” ends in the two,000-hour damp warmth check class.
- For the second consecutive 12 months, roughly 8.3% of module check samples exhibited unacceptable ranges of ultraviolet-induced degradation.
- RETC noticed year-over-year will increase in red-flag outcomes throughout damp warmth, potential-induced degradation, static and dynamic mechanical load, and thermal biking check classes.
- These laboratory-observed wearout mechanisms and failure modes present further context for damaging field-performance developments noticed by the technical due diligence neighborhood
One other unbiased testing lab, Kiwa PVEL, additionally highlighted troubling reliability markers in its newest photo voltaic panel report.
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