Taiwan adds carbon-footprint requirement to high-efficiency PV module standard

Taiwan’s Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) has updated its voluntary high-efficiency PV module specification to include a product carbon-footprint threshold, alongside tighter mechanical-load and aging-test requirements.

BSMI published an updated version of its PV technical specifications earlier this month as part of the country’s voluntary product certification (VPC) system for solar modules. The update incorporates carbon-footprint reporting and verification requirements into the specification, while the applicable carbon-footprint thresholds are set through a separate BSMI factory-inspection rule published in May 2026. The September specification also tightens mechanical durability testing and adds a new accelerated-aging protocol.

The new specification references carbon-footprint compliance, while the numerical thresholds are established through the May factory-inspection rule. Applicants seeking certification must conduct a product carbon-footprint inventory using life-cycle-assessment methodology under CNS 14040 and CNS 14044, Taiwan’s national standards, and quantify the result following ISO 14067:2018 and its Taiwanese counterpart, CNS 14067:2021.

Crystalline-silicon modules must not exceed 0.12 kg CO2e/W, while thin-film modules face a threshold of 0.85 kg CO2e/W. BSMI said it may revoke a factory-inspection report if verified production data fail to meet the applicable threshold.

The carbon-footprint requirement reflects a broader policy trend toward incorporating carbon metrics into PV qualification schemes. France’s Évaluation Carbone Simplifiée provides a useful comparison: administered through certification body Certisolis, it links verified module carbon data to public tenders and renewable-energy support mechanisms, with some categories citing thresholds around 550 kg CO2e/kWp. The two systems use different units – Taiwan measures per watt, France per kilowatt-peak – as well as different methodologies, so the figures are not directly comparable without accounting for those differences.

The European Union does not currently apply its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to solar modules. CBAM’s definitive regime, which took effect this year, covers iron and steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen. The European Commission has proposed extending the mechanism to some downstream goods containing carbon-intensive steel or aluminum, a proposal still under review by the European Parliament as of September, but there is no general EU-wide carbon-footprint certification requirement for PV modules equivalent to Taiwan’s updated rule.

For Taiwan, the new specification also raises the nation’s mechanical-load testing requirement to 5,400 pascals, a static load test applied to a module’s front and rear surfaces under CNS 61215-2, Taiwan’s adoption of the international IEC 61215-2 design-qualification standard. In IEC-based module testing, such load levels are typically associated with heavy snow-load conditions, compared with a baseline of 2,400 pascals used for standard wind-load qualification. The test does not by itself determine whether a module is suitable for a specific project site, which depends on mounting design, local structural codes and additional site-specific engineering factors.

A new accelerated-aging test requires modules to withstand cumulative simulated irradiance of 756 kilowatt-hours per square meter, delivered through repeated thermal and light-exposure cycles, with output degradation limited to under 5% by the end of the test. BSMI’s specification describes this cumulative exposure level as equivalent to approximately five years of outdoor irradiance exposure.

The test screens specifically for irradiance-driven degradation, such as light-induced degradation and discoloration, and does not by itself establish a full 25-year service-life curve. Other failure mechanisms, including thermal cycling, humidity-freeze stress and mechanical fatigue, are evaluated through separate, longstanding test protocols.

PV Taiwan Plus certification remains part of Taiwan’s voluntary product-certification system rather than a blanket legal requirement for all modules sold in the country. Whether a specific government procurement program, subsidy scheme or project-approval process requires certification depends on that program’s own rules.

The updated specification arrives as Taiwan pushes to expand solar deployment while tightening resilience and land-use rules.

The government is targeting 20 GW of installed solar capacity by November 2026, and mechanical durability has taken on added urgency after Typhoon Danas damaged more than 135,000 panels in 2025, prompting manufacturers such as TSEC to launch typhoon-resistant, locally produced glass-glass modules rated for high wind loads. Domestic producer United Renewable Energy has separately been shifting its manufacturing base from passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell technology as the island’s module industry adjusts to tighter export markets and evolving technical standards.