HelioVolta released the largest publicly available benchmark of U.S. solar contractors based on independent field inspections in its annual SolarGrade PV Health Report. The report found nearly 70% of the EPCs evaluated did not meet HelioVolta’s quality standards.
The findings are sourced from third-party data from 5 GW of solar assets in over 1,000 projects built by nearly 120 subcontractors and 70 EPCs.
Unplanned, unbudgeted corrective maintenance is an estimated six-times more likely to occur in their projects if workmanship errors are not remediated. The report is timely, as U.S. developers face expiring federal incentives for solar assets: in 2027, the tax credits that backstop initial revenues when projects miss energy production targets will largely disappear.
“As the era of guaranteed profits ends for the American solar market, the era of limited oversight must end with it,” said David Penalva, CEO of HelioVolta. “In the future, when projects are valued on their lifetime energy yield alone, widespread construction defects that are ignored today will be the hallmarks of unprofitable portfolios.”
The report underscores that contractor experience, size and geographic reach are not reliable predictors of quality. Instead, clear construction standards, third-party inspections and proactive communication between stakeholders deliver the best outcomes. EPCs that participated in third-party quality programs demonstrated a 48% reduction in issues per MW over time, validating that measurable quality improvements are achievable when they are prioritized.
“Truck rolls skyrocket and profits plummet when construction quality is an afterthought,” said Amanda Bybee, CEO of Amicus O&M Cooperative. “The cliché is true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If asset owners want to hit revenue targets, projects must be built right the first time. Today’s O&M budgets cannot cover extensive remediation.”
The major findings include:
- 85% of projects analyzed for the report contained major issues that require urgent corrective action, while 7% of projects had critical issues that triggered immediate de-energization (partial or total) and same-day remediation.
- HelioVolta observed wiring- and connector-related issues in 80% and 83% of projects respectively: the 3% improvement in connector issue rates since the 2024 SolarGrade PV Health Report suggests increased adoption of installation best practices for these components.
“Frankly, our findings are profoundly disappointing. As solar advocates, our team is pained to report that most projects we inspect will underperform or even fail if our findings go unaddressed,” said James Nagel, COO of HelioVolta. “We’re publishing our analysis to drive the industry to higher quality standards. The best EPCs in our dataset prove we can do better.”
HelioVolta developed the report using the HelioVolta Quality Standard (HQS), a proprietary methodology that categorizes contractor performance by issue severity and frequency. HelioVolta’s field engineers use SolarGrade software to document inspections and standardize observations across regions, contractors and system types.
HelioVolta will also present findings from the SolarGrade PV Health Report in a webinar on October 2nd at 1 p.m. ET.
News item from HelioVolta
