Preventing Costly Solar Junction Box Failures From Factory to Field

Junction box failures are rising, creating costly risks for solar projects. In this pv magazine webinar, Intertek CEA experts uncover what’s failing, why defects slip through inspections, and how to prevent safety issues, production losses, and warranty disputes across utility-scale installations worldwide today.

Junction box failures now rank among the most common and costly issues investigated by Intertek CEA's field team.

On affected sites, junction box defect rates range from 1% to 10% of installed modules. For utility-scale projects with hundreds of thousands of modules, even the low end of that range can represent thousands of potential reliability and safety concerns.

Without the right diligence and quality control, modules with junction box defects such as poor soldering, failed bypass diodes, adhesive issues, and improper crimps can leave the factory undetected. By the time the problem surfaces in the field, project owners may be facing lost production, warranty disputes, and, in some cases, thermal events.

So, what's actually failing inside the junction box? Why are these defects making it through quality inspections? And what can buyers, asset owners, and manufacturers do to prevent them?

In this live webinar, Intertek CEA's Ankil Sanghvi and Mike Scott break down what's going wrong inside the junction boxes, why it's happening more often, and what can actually be done about it, both on the factory floor and in the field.

pv magazine webinar content:

• The most common junction box failure modes, what causes each one, and the consequences of each

• How changes to module design have affected the risk of junction box failure

• Why these defects can pass factory quality checks and only surface under real operating conditions

• Approaches and best practices during procurement and module manufacturing that can prevent junction box failures

• How to detect and address junction box problems in the field, including what your warranty claim actually requires

• Advances in manufacturing that improve junction box soldering and reduce risks of junction box failures

• Q&A

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