Services > Quality Assurance > PV Solar Modules
Quality Control and Testing for PV Solar Modules
Proactively identify and prevent solar module defects
The solar industry is simultaneously experiencing the highest demand, fastest technological innovation, and greatest uncertainty in its history. These three facets have all contributed to a rapidly changing environment where technologies, factories, workshops, and workers are updated, replaced, and brought online at an unprecedented pace - the perfect recipe for defects.
Quality issues and defects that can impact the lifetime operation and performance of your project can occur at any time during design, manufacturing, shipping, installation, or operation. However, rapid advancements have made defects a regular occurrence amongst even the most mature and advanced suppliers.
Intertek CEA provides a complete quality assurance solution that covers the entire product lifecycle and provides peace of mind by:
Reducing technical and financial risk
Protecting solar investments
Ensuring future energy-producing viability for the life of the product
Pre-production solar module factory audits
Intertek CEA’s industry-leading experience inspecting solar suppliers and factories across the globe utilizes our advanced internal database of historical trends and issues to provide a robust and comprehensive view of a factories defect risk.
Intertek CEA’s factory audits provide industry-leading insights into production processes and quality standards at any solar and storage factory globally using a 1,000+ point checklist. Every finding is recorded and classified according to its risk potential, and Intertek CEA follows up with the supplier on all issues that are not immediately solved.
Intertek CEA’s Factory Audits cover:
Administrative Policies and Practices
Quality and Reliability Policies and Practices
Facility Certifications Audit
Management and Employee Training Audit
Production Process and Materials Management Audit
Finished Product Loading and Logistics Management Audit
In-House Testing Laboratory Management Audit
Factory And Supplier Processes and Documentation
Inline Production Process Monitoring
Intertek CEA’s inline production process monitoring sends experienced quality control engineers to the manufacturing facilities during production of your product to verify BOM compliance, inspect manufacturing conditions, verify calibration of equipment, and monitor the production line for issues.
When an issue is found, Intertek CEA immediately informs the factory to fix the issue on the spot. Every finding is recorded and classified according to its risk potential, and Intertek CEA follows up with the supplier on all issues that are not immediately solved.
Intertek CEA’s Inline Production Process Monitoring covers:
Conformity of Materials to the Contracted BOM (Bill of Materials)
Incoming Materials Quality Control and Inspection
Equipment And Production Line Maintenance and Calibration
Inline QC Monitoring
Packaging And Warehouse Inspections
Final Product (Pre-Shipment) Inspections
Intertek CEA’s comprehensive pre-shipment inspections identify defects exceeding the AQL standards and ensure defective products are not shipped. Identifying and removing defective products reduces risk and optimizes the performance and life of your products.
Through Intertek CEA’s Pre-Shipment Inspections, you will gain:
Comprehensive visual and EL test reports detailing every defect identified according to severity, including AQL limits per batch and which defects have been reworked or removed from the shipment
Comprehensive IV (flash) test reports detailing the minimum, maximum and average power of each sampled module, including the required pass criteria.
Access to Intertek CEA’s on-the-ground technology and quality experts who provide recommendations to the supplier to improve their processes and reduce defects over time
Container Loading Monitoring (CLM)
Inadequate loading practices by the factory can result in damaged finished products either during loading of the containers or at some point during transportation. Further, finished products that were previously rejected by Intertek CEA or that were not inspected by a third party altogether may end up getting shipped without oversight.
Intertek CEA’s container loading monitoring oversees the loading of the finished product to ensure conformance with packaging and loading specifications and to ensure the boxes/pallets loaded into the shipping container come exclusively from the inspected and approved lots.
Our engineers confirm the final products are safely loaded without damage, secured, sealed, and accurately recorded on the Bill of Lading. Intertek CEA’s container loading monitoring reports include comprehensive details covering every container, seal, and pallet number with accompanying photos.
Logistics management and shipment tracking
When working with overseas manufacturers on large PV projects, shipment and container tracking can quickly get complicated once the product has left the factory grounds.
Intertek CEA’s logistic management services help our customers capture baseline shipping schedules per the manufacturers and report on shipment progress to final destination on key milestones, including:
shipment content
date shipped from facility
onboarded to shipping mode
expected arrival at destination
customs cleared
picked up at port
actual arrival at destination
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