Underperformance & Root Cause Analysis

A plant producing 4% under budget loses money quietly, year after year. Spreading glass breakage or a thermal event loses it loudly. Both end with the same three questions: what is happening, why, and who pays? Sinovoltaics answers all three - with field evidence, factory records and expert reports built to survive the dispute that usually follows.
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What root cause analysis covers

PV root cause analysis is the systematic investigation of underperformance or failures - combining monitoring-data analysis, targeted field testing (EL, IR, IV, electrical) and design and records review - to identify the technical cause and assign responsibility with evidence.

Investigation scope:

• Yield loss investigation - monitoring data analysed, hypotheses tested in the field, losses allocated to causes (degradation, mismatch, soiling, equipment, design)
• Glass breakage investigation - the industry’s fastest-growing serial defect: breakage patterns mapped, origins assessed (module design, frame/clamp interaction, mounting compatibility, thermal stress vs external impact)
• Thermal event & fire investigation - evidence preservation, affected-area testing, cause hypothesis, responsibility assessment
• Serial defect characterisation - statistical sampling across the fleet: is it a batch, a design, an installation practice, or an operating condition?
• Lab forensics via partner laboratories - cross-sections, materials analysis and destructive testing where field methods reach their limit

Deliverables: investigation report with cause conclusion, evidence dossier, responsibility assessment, remediation and claim recommendations.

The factory records change the investigation

Most failure investigations start with what can be seen in the field today. Sinovoltaics investigations start earlier: with the module’s factory EL image, its bill of materials, its production batch - and, where we inspected the factory, knowledge of the line it came from and the QC regime it passed.

That context converts speculation into elimination. A crack pattern that matches handling damage rules out the cell batch; an inactive-area signature present since the factory rules out the installer. For glass breakage - where module design, frame stiffness, clamp geometry and racking interact - BOM-level knowledge of what was actually built into the module is routinely the decisive evidence.

When you need this

• Performance ratio is persistently below budget without an obvious cause
• Glass breakage is appearing and spreading across the plant
• A thermal event or fire requires an independent technical investigation
• A defect repeats across sites and you need to know if it is serial
• OEM, EPC and O&M each point at the others - and you need an independent referee
• Insurers, lenders or lawyers require an expert technical report

Engagement model

Per-case, at expert day rates, scoped after an initial desk review of monitoring data and documentation. Investigations frequently hand over into Warranty Claim Management - same evidence chain, no re-work.