First-of-its-kind crowd-sourced solar inverter test provides buyers with transparent reliability data US – English – US – English – PR Newswire

“From financial loss to unsafe system operation, the consequences of failed inverters range from frustrating to dangerous – yet it is notoriously difficult to obtain third-party inverter data from manufacturers,” commented CJ Colavito, VP of Engineering at Standard Solar. “PVEL’s Crowd Power PQP enables quality-driven companies like ours to pool resources for data-driven testing of inverters, reducing the risk associated with the adoption of field-limited inverters.”

The tests in the Inverter Crowd Power PQP are consistent with the tests in PVEL’s traditional Inverter PQP, which PVEL first introduced in 2014. Both programs include security, reliability and performance testing by real-world practitioners under various environmental and connection conditions to support:

• Data sheet validation for more accurate performance and revenue models.
• Reliability ratings for improved forecasting accuracy of operation and maintenance costs and replacement rate.
• Safety ratings for reliable arc and ground fault detection in field systems.

“PVEL’s crowdsourced testing gives inverter buyers the opportunity to leverage empirical data against claims made in product marketing materials. The initial feedback from our downstream partners has been overwhelmingly positive,” he commented Tara Doyle, Chief Commercial Officer of PVEL. “With or without manufacturer involvement, we will ensure that PVEL’s engineering insights are made available to the solar market for the deployment of high quality equipment.”

The Inverter Crowd Power PQP complements and supplements PVEL’s traditional PQP tests, which are still available to manufacturers. Ginlong Solis and Chint Power Systems recently submitted next-generation inverters with more than 250 kilowatt hours for testing at PVEL. However, the vast majority of inverter vendors typically do not conduct independent testing beyond certification standards to support broad benchmarking of product quality and bankability.

In contrast, over fifty PV module manufacturers have tested their products at PVEL, and twenty-five suppliers conduct frequent, regular testing. Since PVEL’s PV Module PQP was introduced in 2012, the overall reliability of PV modules has improved significantly despite ongoing challenges. For example, PVEL thermal cycling test average degradation rates have improved by almost 70% since 2012.

“The most effective tool for improving product quality is validated data that objectively measures performance and reliability,” he commented Jack Bennett, CEO of NovaSource Power Services. “Inverters are the essential interface between solar power systems, batteries and the utility grid. Unless these products are reliable, we cannot rely on solar PV infrastructure to generate clean power for decades to come.”

To learn more about PVEL’s Crowd Power PQP, visit https://www.pvel.com/crowd-power-inverter-pqp/

About PV Evolution Labs (PVEL)

PVEL is the leading independent laboratory for the downstream solar and energy storage industry and a member of the Kiwa Group. As a pioneer in bankability testing, PVEL has accumulated more than a decade of measured reliability and performance data for PV and storage devices. Today, PVEL offers developers, investors and asset owners a range of technical services to mitigate risk, optimize financing and improve system performance throughout the project lifecycle. PVEL’s flagship product qualification programs for PV modules, inverters and energy storage systems connect manufacturers to a global network of over 400 downstream partners representing over 30 gigawatts of annual purchasing power. Learn how PVEL makes data important at pvel.com.

For more information contact:

Tori Clifford

Marketing Manager

PV Evolution Labs

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: +1 301-717-6796

SOURCE PVEL LLC

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