EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes Report
Photovoltaic Modules and Inverters
PV-2022-03
August 31, 2022

1.0 BackgroundEPEAT® is a comprehensive voluntary sustainability Type 1 ecolabel that helps purchasers identify sustainable
technology products and services. Central to EPEAT are conformity assurance activities that meet the technicalrigor and credibility needs of the institutional purchasers who rely upon EPEAT. The EPEAT Program ensures
the ongoing conformance of EPEAT-registered products through an ongoing surveillance process known asContinuous Monitoring. Continuous Monitoring activities occur throughout the year and test the ability ofParticipating Manufacturers to prove conformance with EPEAT Criteria on an ongoing basis.
Some Continuous Monitoring activities require that Investigations be conducted in discrete timeframes calledRounds. The EPEAT Program develops an individual plan for each Continuous Monitoring Round, which
specifies the EPEAT Criteria to be investigated, the method of investigation that GEC-approved Conformity
Assurance Bodies (CABs) must use and the specific dates when the Investigation activities must be completed.
The EPEAT Program also selects the Participating Manufacturers and EPEAT-registered products and assigns
Investigations to CABs, which must fully participate in and are responsible for implementing Continuous
Monitoring Round activities with their Participating Manufacturer clients. Participating Manufacturers arerequired to cooperate fully with their GEC-approved CAB during Round activities.
To maintain the level of transparency relied on by purchasers, the EPEAT Program publishes an Outcomes
Report at the conclusion of each Round to summarize the activities conducted and to identify the products andParticipating Manufacturers that received major nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracyof the EPEAT Registry.
This document summarizes the activities and results of Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2022-03 conducted
for the Photovoltaic Modules and Inverters category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2022-03
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2022-03 used Level 1 Investigations(documentation review activities to determine Participating Manufacturers’ conformance with specific EPEAT
Criteria). Participating Manufacturers had a discrete time period to provide their CABs with evidence
supporting conformance with the selected EPEAT Criteria. GEC-approved CABs reviewed the documentation,
made recommendations on conformity based solely on the evidence provided by Participating Manufacturers,
and sent Investigation Reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program made the final decisions on
conformity for the Investigations.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev0)

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PV-2022-03 Outcomes Report

2.2

August 31, 2022

Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round PV-2022-03 focused on corporate criteria with annual disclosure requirements,
to confirm that Participating Manufacturers are fulfilling annual reporting requirements for the criteria
investigated. The Participating Manufacturer received up to two investigations. If a Participating Manufacturer
was investigated for any of the selected criteria in another 2022 Continuous Monitoring Round, the criterion
was not assigned again in this Round, given the annual disclosure requirements. The product for investigation
was selected randomly using a random number generator.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round PV-2022-03
Criteria NumberCriterion Title

9.1.2

Publicly available record of annual recycling and recovery achievement

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for PV-2022-03
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•1 investigation completed•

1 decision of Conformance

4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for PV-2022-03
All nonconformances must be categorized as either major or minor. Minor Nonconformances are non-criticalor clerical in nature and do not materially affect the validity of conformance with EPEAT Criteria. Allnonconformances that do not meet the definition of minor are categorized as major.
There were no nonconformances of any kind identified in Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2022-03

5.0 Actions to Restore Conformance
Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (whether major or minor), Participating Manufacturers
must make corrections to restore the accuracy of the EPEAT Registry during the Corrective Action Phase. These
activities may include providing additional evidence to demonstrate conformance with the criterion or
unselecting the criteria in the EPEAT Registry. Where the product was found nonconformant and is no longer
available in the marketplace, the product must be archived.
During the Corrective Action Phase, Participating Manufacturers must also develop Corrective Action Plans forother EPEAT-registered products that may be affected by the same underlying issue causing thenonconformance but were not the subject of investigation (called “similarly affected products”).
Since no nonconformances were identified in this Round, no corrective actions were taken.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev0)

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PV-2022-03 Outcomes ReportAugust 31, 2022

6.0 Key Findings
6.1

Publicly available record of annual recycling and recovery achievement

Participating Manufacturers are adequately disclosing the annual recycling, recovery, and reuse achievementsof the take-back service for each country or globally. Reporting percentages for the percentage of materials
recovered/recycled, percentage of materials disposed, and percentage products or components prepared forreuse are calculated based on the total annual weight returned/collected mass of product taken back eachyear.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev0)

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PV-2022-03 Outcomes ReportAugust 31, 2022

Document Control and Change History
Issue
1Revision01120

Owner
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
EPEAT Conformity
Assurance Manager
Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

ApproverDirector, EPEAT
ProgramDirector, EPEAT
Program
Senior Director,
Ecolabels andManufacturer
Resources

Description
Initial release

Reformatting of document. Addition ofstandardized text.

Outcomes Report – Level 1 Investigations (P41B Issue2 Rev0)

Approval Date

Effective Date2018 Dec 112018 Dec 112021 Mar 25

2021 Mar 30

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