Kenya, a shining example of standards..

You might not yet know this, but Kenya has one of the most developed off-grid solar power markets in the world. Tens of thousands of Kenyan homes are now powered by solar panels from ICP and other makers for remote power to work their lights, fans, small fridges and communications.
Yet one of the most rampant problems in Kenya has recently become the same in North America. Manufacturers of amorphous silicon solar panels (aka: thin film) are over-rating their panels and causing mass deception and margin erosion for legitimate manufacturers.
As a result, Kenya’s Renewable Energy association mandated Humboldt and University of California at Berkley to run long-term testing on the most prevalent solar panels in the market. Their findings mimic what we at ICP have been saying for close to a year. In essence, while most makers come within earshot of their ratings, only one solar panel maker consistently lies about their ratings.
So what does an industry do? Well, we know that in the long term, such practices will simply backfire. Whereas this maker used to have quite a strong position in Kenya, their market share has virtually vanished in anticipation of the publication of these results (see test results download at bottom of this blog entry).
Yet we should all look to Kenya to replicate these testings and demand that makers/distributors rate fairly. Now that Kenya has taken this action, the World Bank has received the testing results and will most likely banish this same maker from bidding on huge contracts it previously would win.
As time goes by, the example that Kenya has set will push ALL makers to be honest. And that is the greatest protection that we can give to consumers in a field which by its nature is already ambiguous.
In Canada, CANSIA (the canadian solar association) is also asking the government to get involved. You can find our edited version of their release at this link on the ICP site.
Arne Jacobsen, one of the testers from Humboldt, has promised to begin lobbying the marketers of the same false-rated panels in the USA and we know his influence will begin a process which will start to eliminate the practice in America. The report he’s helped prepare also points to other very important points like delamination and water ingress which are major causes of panel failures, yet are not obvious to the first-time buyer at point of purchase.
Kenya, you led the way. Kudos to you. And special kudos to those other ethical companies like Solar Cells and Free Energy who performed well within the required ranges in these tests. Honorable competitors only serve to make the industry better.
Tata for now,
Sass
PS. Download the file at Download file