The EU-funded Solar Bankability Project aims to establish a common practice for professional risk assessment on the basis of existing studies and collected statistical data of failures in PV plants. Its risk analysis tends to assess the economic impact of technical risks and how this can influence various business models and the LCOE. In a first attempt, the project presents a cost-based Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to be implemented into the PV sector and tries to define a methodology for the estimation of economic losses due to planning failures, system downtime and substitution/repair of components.

In Solar Bankability, the role of the FMEA was to focus on the most important failure risks with respect to their impact on electrical and financial performance. An example of FMEA rating of PV module failures is given in the diagram below.

Failures on cabling/connectors are among highest risk potentials according to the list of The TOP 20 Technical Failures during Operation and have the biggest financial impact.