The quarterly published PV STPR covers global and regional supply chain analysis, technology trends, and regional policy analysis through early July 2025. 

pv magazine: Intertek CEA's engineering experts highlight how overlooked site-specific challenges such as poor soil conditions, flash floods, complex terrain, and extreme wind loading in Southeast Asia can derail solar projects if not addressed early through rigorous engineering and civil due diligence.

In this pv magazine Webinar, Intertek CEA’s supply chain experts—George Touloupas, Vice President of ESG & New Services, and Senior Project Managers Zhuo Chen and Nicola Licata—outline key ESG risks and share best practices for documenting and mitigating them.

The PV SMIP provides a comprehensive and unbiased analysis of the top PV module manufacturers in the world. It offers detailed insights into capacities, technology, and efficiency roadmaps, along with Manufacturing, Capacity, and Technology (MCT) ratings for each supplier.

George Touloupas, Vice President of ESG and New Services at Intertek CEA, and Huatian Xu, Intertek CEA’s Director of Technology and Quality, analyze the April 2025 results from the pv magazine test outdoor installation in Yinchuan, China.

pv magazine: Solar modules are growing larger, thinner, and more powerful—but a recurring issue is emerging worldwide: broken glass. According to Intertek CEA’s Joerg Althaus, these cracks often start near the frame or clamps and can spread from a few panels to thousands, without any obvious cause like hail or mishandling.

Sonnedix, an international renewable energy producer, engaged Intertek CEA to conduct commissioning inspections for its recently-installed solar projects. The goal of the work was to ensure that their contractor (EPC) followed the agreed scope of work.

As solar deployments continue to grow, so do the risks of module failures, underperformance, and safety hazards—many of which are preventable with the right knowledge. In this Solar Power World webinar, Intertek CEA Senior Engineering Managers Claire Kearns-McCoy and Ankil Sanghvi explain how understanding common pitfalls—from thermal events to electrical failures—can help developers avoid millions in losses.

Martin Meyers explores how the Inflation Reduction Act is reshaping U.S. solar manufacturing incentives and project economics. He highlights the evolving challenges developers face in navigating domestic content requirements and qualifying for bonus tax credits.

SEG Solar and Astronergy supplied new tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules, alongside an n-type back-contact sample from Aiko, for installation in the first week of March 2025. To add these new products to the comparison table in these results, we removed the production data from before March 7. Due to downtime for system upgrades, we also did not capture data for three days in March and therefore had to remove those days from the total energy yield calculation. Finally, three products using 210 mm square cells were removed from the data, as we identified anomalies in the production figures caused by the maximum power point tracking algorithm. The data from those products will be reported again as soon as the issues are resolved.

CEA conducted factory, pre-installation, and post-installation inspections for 1 GW solar PV portfolio in Chile. The goal was to assess module quality and identify defects from manufacturing to installation. The inspections focused on electroluminescence (EL) imaging and visual inspection to detect potential soldering issues, microcracks, and other module degradation mechanisms. A total of 8,520 images were taken.

A solar project developer engaged CEA to investigate widespread glass breakage across multiple PV sites. CEA conducted comprehensive on-site inspections and structural assessments, which pointed to possible issues related to module durability and mounting system compatibility.

At the end of February 2025, three new samples - two tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) samples from SEG Solar and Astronergy and our first n-type back contact sample from Aiko – arrived in Yinchuan and were installed at the beginning of March. The outdoor data for these will be published next month.

This pv magazine webinar addresses the quality risks U.S. solar module buyers face due to increased warehousing and the emergence of new manufacturing facilities. Experts from Clean Energy Associates (CEA) will discuss the rise in warehoused modules, common storage-related risks, quality concerns in new manufacturing environments, and strategies to mitigate these issues

While President Donald Trump’s sweeping levies on foreign imports have captured global headlines, antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigations into Southeast Asian products, along with a potential expansion of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), could pose even greater risks for US solar and energy storage.

The PV SMIP report provides a comprehensive and unbiased analysis of the top PV module manufacturers in the world. It offers detailed insights into capacities, technology, and efficiency roadmaps, along with Manufacturing, Capacity, and Technology (MCT) ratings for each supplier.

This case study explores a thermal event inspection carried out by Clean Energy Associates (CEA) at a rooftop solar PV installation. CEA found the access to the roof was unsecured that allowed unauthorized cleaning of the site prior to the start of the investigation.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA) is receiving more calls from solar developers concerned about warehouse panel damage. CEA’s Senior Engineering Manager Claire Kearns McCoy explains how improper handling, stacking, and storage conditions can lead to long-term issues. 

The new outdoor test field in Yinchuan, China, began operations on Dec. 9, 2024. Due to system modifications, the data of Dec. 23 were removed. In January, we were close to getting a full month’s worth of data, but unfortunately, due to an operational error, we lost data for several modules after Jan. 24. At present, this problem has been solved and we expect that a full month’s data will be presented in the next issue of pv magazine.

After more than seven years, pv magazine test is entering a new phase. Significant changes are on the horizon as we update and overhaul the program. George Touloupas, Vice President, ESG and New Services at Clean Energy Associates (CEA), and Huatian Xu, Director of Technology and Quality at CEA, introduce the new “pv magazine test 2.0” setup to assess PV modules in the lab and outdoors.