2024-Module Teste
Crédits : CEA_L.GODARD_HD (9)

Voltec Solar photovoltaic panels endure our crash test

Research and innovation

Published on 09/29/2025

The CEA teams subjected photovoltaic panels from French manufacturer Voltec Solar to an intensive stress sequence in their laboratories. The aim was to assess their reliability. The Voltec Solar panels passed successfully, demonstrating their quality and resistance.

To comply with IEC 61730-2 sequence C, photovoltaic panels must withstand three successive tests: exposure to UV radiation, thermal cycles and finally freeze-thaw cycles. This is not particularly demanding in terms of truly assessing resistance and reliability in a real-world environment over the long term.

To go beyond the standard and better assess the reliability of solar panels, the CEA has developed its own, more demanding test sequence, a kind of ‘crash test’.

"We are seeking to reproduce the periodic stresses and synergies of several stress factors (wind, humidity, temperature variations). This approach is, in our view, more representative of the real environment than a “simple” increase in the doses required by the standard."

Voltec Solar panels were first subjected to mechanical cycling, in which pressure is repeatedly applied to the panel to check whether the photovoltaic cells and the interconnections between them can resist without breaking.

This test is followed by exposing the panel to humid temperatures to ensure that the barrier properties of the materials remain robust. Next comes a sequence comparable to sequence C of the IEC 61730-2 standard, but repeated three times, with the addition of a significant increase in UV stress; the UV dose is multiplied by 12 for each side of the panel.

The results show that panels manufactured by Voltec Solar are particularly resistant to this stress sequence, with a power reduction of less than 5%. And 5% is the limit required by the norm for less severe tests.

More specifically, the electroluminescence analyses show that the French manufacturer's panels present some alterations in the interconnections, but without any major impact on their performance. Consistent with the electrical measurements, the images show the integrity of the panels with regard to significant moisture penetration, complete cell disconnections and cell alterations. We also observed no deterioration in the passivation layer used to improve efficiency by preventing the recombination of electrons and holes on the surface: the open-circuit voltage Voc remained stable throughout the sequence (-0.2 to -0.3% losses).

For the test to ensure the integrity of the panel with regard to the safety of goods and people, the value obtained of 12.6 G.Ohms.m2 is well above the 40 M.Ohms.m2 required by the standard, i.e. 315 times the limit value.

Finally, the visual inspection showed no deterioration: no corrosion on the frame, the connectors and junction box remain intact, and no ‘chalking’ type degradation on the back side.

Tests have demonstrated a genuine level of quality, both in terms of the choice of materials and the manufacturing processes, placing Voltec Solar among the top-range suppliers of photovoltaic panels for both residential applications and large power plants.

Find out more about the CEA method

la méthode STROKE

This work is being carried out within the framework of the INES.2S ITE.

INES.2S is an energy transition institute (ITE). Driven by the CEA, its mission is to develop an industrial sector for the integration of solar photovoltaic energy in France, in support of the Multi-Year Energy Programme Act. The INES.2S ITE is co-financed by the French government as part of the Investments for the Future Programme (ANR-10-IEED-0014-01).

Share this news