Our History

Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory (PRL) is a premier, self-sustaining research lab for PV module and component reliability and lifetime prediction. Our core mission is to predict the climate-specific and construction-specific lifetime of solar PV modules by combining field failure data, with indoor accelerated lifetime testing, and advanced statistical models. Over the last two decades, PRL has conducted extensive research on how extreme environments affect solar panels over 10 to 35-year lifespans, tackling critical industry challenges such as potential-induced degradation (PID), soiling loss, encapsulant discoloration, and the environmental toxicity of decommissioned aging solar panels.

🕰️ Our History

1992: The Pioneering Foundation Originally established as the ASU Photovoltaic Testing Lab (ASU-PTL), the lab achieved the monumental milestone of being the first certification lab in North America for photovoltaics. It was also recognized globally as one of the first three certification labs for PV in the entire world.
2000: A New Era of Leadership Dr. Govindasamy Tamizhmani (Mani) took over as Director, cementing the lab's focus on the long-term performance, durability, and lifetime prediction of renewable energy technologies.
2008: The Commercial Spin-Off After 15 years of immense success and industry impact, the testing and certification division of the ASU Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory (ASU-PTL) officially transitioned into the commercial entity TÜV Rheinland PTL (TÜV-PTL), while the research division evolved into the ASU Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory (ASU-PRL). This strategic transformation successfully bridged cutting-edge academic research with rigorous industry-standard testing and certification, strengthening the connection between innovation, reliability, and commercialization within the photovoltaic industry.
2018-2023: The TUV Rheinland PTL further transitioned into the SolarPTL in 2018 to continue providing testing and certification services for the PV industry. SolarPTL was later acquired by RETC, LLC (VDE) in October 2023.