Panasonic HIT^® Photovoltaic Cells Demonstrate High PID Resistance

Overall power output of Panasonic's HIT solar power generating system does not degrade even when the system is operated with high system voltages under high temperature and high humidity.

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation today announced that its HIT photovoltaic module's high-level of resistance to potential induced degradation (PID) has been verified by the results of tests conducted within and outside the company. The test conditions set by the third party organization were very stringent among those applied for various PID tests reported by several organizations. The successful passing of such a severe endurance test has confirmed the high quality and high reliability of Panasonic HIT modules.

PID is a phenomenon in which power output of photovoltaic modules is reduced when they are subjected to external factors such as high temperature and humidity, under the condition that a high voltage is applied across the internal circuits (photovoltaic cells) and the grounded frame. PID can occur in high-temperature and high-humidity environments, where the system voltage is high.

The following facts and the verification results obtained both within and outside the company prove that the HIT photovoltaic cells are extremely resistant to PID.

1) With respect to conventional crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic cells, the fact that the insulating layer on a cell surface takes charge is thought to be a direct cause of PID. However, in the case of HIT photovoltaic cells, both surfaces are transparent conductive layers with no insulating layers used. Therefore, no PID is thought to occur.

2) No incidences of PID have been reported from the European, U.S., or Japanese markets.

3) Two or more models of HIT photovoltaic modules were tested within and outside the company under multiple sets of conditions. The results showed no degradation in their characteristics.

4) During one of the third-party tests carried out by Chemitox Inc.^*1, HIT modules were subjected to 1,000 volts for 96 hours at a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius with 85% relative humidity. Panasonic HIT solar modules exhibited no sign of degradation under such conditions, which are extremely stringent compared to other third-party tests whose results are publicly available.

Panasonic intends to accelerate development and commercialization of photovoltaic cells with high quality and high reliability and to work on expanding the business globally.

*1 Chemitox, Inc. is a professional organization that carries out safety evaluation tests, photovoltaic cell evaluation tests, etc., and is certified as a third party testing laboratory by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) in accordance with ISO/IEC17025 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories), furthermore, is approved as the outside related testing laboratory by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), a U.S. certification organization and National Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) in accordance with the UL testing laboratory accreditation standard (GTSM: Global Technical Service Manual) for some materials.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products in three business fields, consumer, components & devices, and solutions. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.85 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2012. Panasonic's stock is listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE:PC) Stock Exchanges. The company has the vision of becoming the No. 1 Green Innovation Company in the Electronics Industry by the 100th year of its founding in 2018. For more information on Panasonic, its brand and commitment to sustainability, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.

Media Contacts:

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