{"id":88875,"date":"2025-01-23T12:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T02:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=88875"},"modified":"2025-01-25T04:52:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T19:22:33","slug":"2024-pvel-scorecard-which-solar-panels-survived-kiwas-fiendish-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/2024-pvel-scorecard-which-solar-panels-survived-kiwas-fiendish-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 PVEL Scorecard: Which Solar Panels Survived Kiwa’s Fiendish Tests?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kiwa<\/p>\n

We’re well into the first month of 2025, but before getting carried away by the fact we’re now obviously living in the future, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at which solar panels tested well last year, according to the Kiwa PVEL 2024 PV Module Reliability Scorecard.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scorecard results are determined by meticulously torturing solar panels via a series of fiendish tests to see which survive with minimal deterioration.\u00a0 If a panel passes all 7 of their main tests — or even just most of them — you can be very confident it’s extremely reliable.\u00a0 I will briefly outline the tests and then tell you which four panels were absolute champions and passed them all.\u00a0 I’ll then tell you which 18 panels did nearly as well and passed the 6 most important tests for rooftop solar.<\/p>\n

But before I do this, I’m going to give you some caveats, provisos<\/a>, and flat-out excuses.<\/p>\n

Only Good Panels Are Revealed — Not Bad Ones<\/h2>\n

If you want to check out the 2024 Module Reliability Scorecard results yourself, it’s all right here<\/a>.\u00a0 But I’ll warn you there are limitations to what can be concluded from the Scorecard results, due to the following three conditions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Kiwa PVEL only reveals which panels passed their tests.<\/li>\n
  2. They don’t say which panels were tested but failed.<\/li>\n
  3. They don’t say whether or not a panel was tested at all.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This means that if a panel passes all 7 of their main tests — or just the first 6 — you can be confident it’s an extremely reliable panel that will last decades on a roof.<\/p>\n

    But if a panel passes only 1 test, or none, we have no way of knowing if it failed tests or simply wasn’t tested at all.\u00a0 This means we can’t say any panel is bad.\u00a0 For all we know, a panel that passed only 1 test is just as good, or even better, than a panel that passed all 7.<\/p>\n

    Manufacturers have to pay for each test, so there’s going to be a lot of untested panels out there.\u00a0 The only way around this problem is to pay for the full report — and promise not to publish the results.<\/p>\n

    You might also think they’d prominently display which panels passed all their tests, or nearly all, in the information they do give, but that’s not actually the case.\u00a0 You have to sift through the results to get that info.\u00a0 But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.\u00a0 I’ll tell you exactly which panels did well… right after I’m done mocking the Dutch.<\/p>\n

    Kiwa’s Business Is Based On Trust – Despite Being Dutch<\/h2>\n

    Kiwa<\/a> is a certification company that does testing, inspecting, consulting, training, and certificating across a wide range of areas.\u00a0 Their company motto is “We create trust around the world.”\u00a0 This must be difficult to do, given they’re Dutch.<\/p>\n