Solar Basics is a video series by Solar Power World created to help installers learn about the business, tools and tricks of the solar power trade.
The tiered solar panel classification was first developed to show banks which panel manufacturers were legitimate and trustworthy, but it’s evolved since. Learn what tier 1 solar panels actually mean in this Solar Basics video, based on the story: What are tier 1 solar panels?
Stewart says
Thanks; very helpful explanation the clears up some of the confusing language I have seen on line about Tier 1.
Marc Lopata says
Thank you for this clear explanation; now if you can get this into the ears of PV buyers around the world, that will be helpful. Not only is the BNEF Tier-1 list useless for assessing the quality of a product, I would add that a manufacturer can only get on the list by paying the fee to Bloomberg and we the public can only access the list if we pay for a subscription. BNEF is clear that using the list without paying for it is an infringement on their intellectual property. So this seemingly useful tool is purely pay-to-play and a profit center for BNEF. There is no substitution for due diligence.
Solarman says
Interesting, BNEF pretty much dismisses their own “report” within the first page of said report.
“We strongly recommend that module purchasers and banks do not use this list as a measure of
quality, but instead consult a technical due diligence firm such as RINA (formerly OST Energy),
ATA Renewables, Wood Plc, PVEL, Black & Veatch, TUV, E3, STS Certified, Clean Energy
Associates, PI Berlin, Pvbuyer, Enertis, Oravia, Leidos Engineering, the Austrian Institute
of Technology (AIT) or Phoventus. These would usually consider what factory the module
comes from, as well as the brand, and give an informed opinion on whether the modules will
perform as expected.”
Thanks to the folks at SolarPowerWorldOnline for their many other articles that point out from an end user perspective, some of the “accepted” module manufacturers may be “transparent” in their data, little nuggets like a lot of solar PV manufacturers have cheaped out for several years now and have been using PVDF sheet for the back panel sealing of solar PV panels made by many well known manufacturers. Some hands on working installers are beginning to see crazing and cracks in this back sheet and premature failures of what is supposed to be a premium brand panel.
Jenny Chase says
I like the way in this video the BloombergNEF methodology is read out by women sounding mildly irritated about it, which is more or less how it was written.
(The full thing is here: https://data.bloomberglp.com/professional/sites/24/BNEF-PV-Module-Tier-1-List-Methodology.pdf )
Kelly Pickerel says
That’s not how we wanted to come across! We will work to improve how we present our information and our broadcast voices.