Independent testing lab Kiwa PVEL just published the 12th edition of its annual PV Module Reliability Scorecard. The digital resource is designed for solar industry stakeholders to access testing insights gained from the company’s flagship Product Qualification Program (PQP). The PQP, a comprehensive suite of extended reliability and performance tests, helps evaluate solar modules under a wide range of environmental and mechanical conditions.
Credit: Kiwa PVEL
New for 2026, ultraviolet induced degradation (UVID) has been included as a Top Performer category, along with the previous test categories: thermal cycling (TC); damp heat (DH); mechanical stress sequence (MSS); hail stress sequence (HSS); potential induced degradation (PID); light [and elevated temperature] induced degradation (LID+LETID); and PAN performance (PAN).
In the 12th edition, Kiwa PVEL names a total of 43 manufacturers as “Top Performers” in one or more of the tests, although for the first time, no single model achieved Top Performer status across all tests.
“Our 2026 Scorecard reflects a market that is advancing in performance while facing growing reliability pressures,” said Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP of sales and marketing of Kiwa PVEL. “We’re seeing reductions in power loss for some tests and increased energy yields in our PAN testing. At the same time, failure rates, particularly delamination and mechanical breakage, have reached new highs. These results underscore that innovation and cost cutting measures must be matched with consistent quality and robust design to ensure long-term field reliability in an increasingly cost-conscious industry.”
Key highlights from the 2026 Scorecard:
- Some degradation decreased, but failures increased: Power loss reduced across some key tests (UVID, PID, TC and DH), yet overall failure rates hit record highs with 87% of manufacturers and 61% of BOMs experiencing at least one failure.
- New Top Performers: The annual list of Top Performer manufacturers is increasingly dynamic, with 13 first-time Top Performers and some previous Top Performers notably missing from this year’s list.
- No single leader across all metrics: While many manufacturers achieved Top Performer status, no single model met the Top Performer threshold in every test.
- Failure types shifting and intensifying: Module breakage (especially in MSS and HSS) remains the top issue, but delamination surged significantly with 45% of manufacturers having at least one major delamination defect.
- Design and material trade-offs matter: Cost and efficiency optimizations (e.g., thinner encapsulants, zero-busbar designs, thinner frames) are linked to higher degradation or failure risk, highlighting the importance of balancing quality and design.
- Performance gains continue: Energy yields once again increased due to higher bifacialities and improved temperature coefficients, but LID degradation worsened slightly, likely due to the increase in new cell factories.
Cell cracking. Credit: Kiwa PVEL
Available online, the 2026 PV Module Reliability Scorecard features a free Top Performer search tool, where users can get detailed results by manufacturer, module type, and test category, as well as export the list of Top Performers for further analysis.
“Amid growing complexity across the global energy landscape, we’re pleased to unveil this year’s list of Top Performers,” said Kevin Gibson, Managing Director of Kiwa PVEL. “While we’re seeing continued improvements in performance and energy yield, the rise in failure rates highlights the importance of independent, data-driven validation. In a market defined by rapid innovation and cost pressures, these insights help stakeholders better assess risk, differentiate quality, and make more confident long-term investment decisions.”
To be eligible for the 2026 Scorecard, manufacturers must have completed the PQP sample production factory witness after November 1, 2024; submitted at least two factory-witnessed PV module samples to all PQP reliability tests, as per Kiwa PVEL’s BOM test requirements; and have new Top Performer results that were not included in the 2025 Scorecard.
