EPEAT Program
Continuous Monitoring Outcomes Report
Photovoltaic Modules and Inverters
PV-2024-01
August 9, 2024

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 nonconformances and the actions taken to restore accuracy of theEPEAT Registry.
This document summarizes the activities and results of Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2024-01 conducted
for the photovoltaic modules and inverters product category.

2.0 Overview of Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2024-01
2.1

Investigation Activities

As per the published Round Plan, Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2024-01 used Level 0 Investigations, which
involve reviewing publicly available information to determine Participating Manufacturers’ conformance withspecific EPEAT Criteria. GEC-approved CABs had a discrete time period to locate and review publicly available
information to determine conformance with EPEAT Criteria selected for investigation. CABs then maderecommendations on conformity based solely on the publicly available evidence, and sent Investigation
Reports to the EPEAT Program. The EPEAT Program made the final decisions on conformity for theinvestigations.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 0 Investigations (P41C Issue1 Rev0)

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2.2

August 9, 2024

Criteria InvestigatedContinuous Monitoring Round PV-2024-01 focused exclusively on criteria that can be evaluated using publicly
available information. While the EPEAT Program generally tries to focus on a specific impact or issue area inselecting criteria for investigation, the focus in this Round was instead on criteria which have requirements tomake information publicly available.
Participating Manufacturers received up to three investigations: two of the criteria selected for investigation
were Required Criteria, and one was an Optional Criterion. As a result, all Participating Manufacturers received
at least two investigations, and a third investigation was assigned if the manufacturer had selected theOptional Criterion. Products for investigation were selected randomly using a random number generator.
Table 1: Criteria Investigated in Round PV-2024-01
Criteria NumberCriterion Title

7.2.1

Environmental hot spot identification

9.1.1

Product take-back service and processing requirements

11.2.1

Reporting on key performance indicators

3.0 Summary of Investigations and Final Decisions on Conformity for PV-2024-01
Highlights from this Continuous Monitoring Round are:•3 investigations completed•

2 decisions of Conformance•1 decision of Inconclusive
Figure 1: Final Conformity Decisions for PV-2024-01(shown as percentage of total investigations)

Note: For inconclusive findings, the EPEAT Program may require the CAB to investigate the same Criterion in asubsequent Level 1 Round to definitively determine conformance.

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Outcomes Report – Level 0 Investigations (P41C Issue1 Rev0)

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PV-2024-01 Outcomes ReportAugust 9, 2024

4.0 Further Details on Nonconformances for PV-2024-01
All nonconformances must be categorized as either a minor error, nonconformance, or nonconformance dueto CAB inaction or delay not attributable to the Participating Manufacturer. Minor errors are non-critical orclerical in nature and do not materially affect the validity of conformance with EPEAT Criteria. Allnonconformances that do not meet the definition of minor errors are categorized as nonconformances (unlessthey are due to CAB inaction or delay).
No minor errors or nonconformances were identified in Continuous Monitoring Round PV-2024-01.

5.0 Actions to Restore Conformance
Where the final conformity decision is nonconformance (including minor errors and those due to CAB inactionor delay), Participating Manufacturers must make corrections to restore the accuracy of the EPEAT Registryduring 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 foundnonconformant 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 actions were taken to restore conformance.

6.0 Key Findings
6.1

GRI Standards Updated

Participating Manufacturers are reminded that GRI has updated several of its standards since the publicationof the Criteria. For Criteria such as 11.2.1 – Reporting on key performance indicators (corporate) and 11.2.2
Optional – Reporting additional key performance indicators (corporate), the references to GRI are normativeand undated, meaning the latest edition of GRI applies. A comparison table between the previous and current
version of the GRI Standards is available to Participating Manufacturers and CABs in the Conformity GuidanceMaterials.

Global Electronics Council

Outcomes Report – Level 0 Investigations (P41C Issue1 Rev0)

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Document Control and Change History
Issue
1Revision0

Owner
Senior Manager,
Ecolabels andResources

Global Electronics Council

ApproverVice President,
Ecolabels andManufacturer
Resources

Description
Initial release

Outcomes Report – Level 0 Investigations (P41C Issue1 Rev0)

Approval Date18 Apr 23

Effective Date
19 Apr 23

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