With prices for photovoltaic wafers and cells firming and the flooded market drying up, manufacturers are preparing to compete on quality and module efficiency. Higher module efficiencies promise better yields, more productive use of available space and greater solar asset value over the long term. This latter promise can only be fulfilled if the quality of the PV system holds up during its expected service life.

Higher efficiencies and demonstrated quality are perhaps less important to the end user as they are to the owner of the solar asset and the sources of financing. As private investors and fund managers move into the solar sector, they bring with them processes of due diligence in asset valuation common to other industries that attract venture capital. For more on that, see the cover story on due diligence for distributed solar portfolios.

Would-be investors in solar assets, then, are taking a more direct interest in the manufacturing processes that produce the building blocks of PV power generation. In turn, manufacturers that want their products approved for PV project development in a competitive market are working to improve their processes to make them more efficient and reliable.

“Being in charge of engineering quality for a company that makes a point of standing behind the quality of its products means I take quality assurance very seriously,” says Kristine Weaver, director of product management, quality and marketing for Arizona-based Centrosolar America Inc. “For me, understanding the manufacturing processes behind the components we incorporate into our modules is much more important than certification labels and branding.”

Weaver says it is her responsibility to walk the line of any component supplier, from raw materials right down to storage of finished products. She also makes manufacturing assessments of potential manufacturing partners.

“I’ve looked at manufacturing partner candidates and said ‘no, thanks’ after observing their processes for fifteen minutes,” Weaver says. “It doesn’t matter what the product is; the process tells the story.”

In order for quality to leap into people’s minds when they think about solar, everybody involved in the process - from engineers and technicians in the factory, to installers and operators out in the field - has to walk the line. S