BloombergNEF PV Module Tier 1 List Methodology

October 1, 2020

Contents
BloombergNEF PV Module Tier 1 List
1. Why divide the PV market
into tiers? 1 Methodology
2. Definitions 1
3. Criteria 1 BloombergNEF has developed a tiering system for PV module products based
4. How do I access the tier on bankability, to create a transparent differentiation between the hundreds of
list? 2
manufacturers of solar modules on the market. Since this basic categorisation
5. How can manufacturers
improve their ranking? 2 has been used as an advertisement by certain manufacturers, but should never
6. How does a manufacturer replace a proper due diligence process in product selection, this document
know if they will be on the
next tier 1 list? 3 explains the tiering criteria and its limitations.
7. Appeals 3
About us 4 1. Why divide the PV market into tiers?
BloombergNEF is frequently requested by clients for a list of 'major' or 'bankable' suppliers - in
common industry parlance, tier 1 suppliers - for use in manufacturing forecasts, preliminary
competitor analysis, and other internal comparisons. It is very common for industry players to
refer to 'tier 1' players, but these terms are seldom defined or described, which is unhelpful for
firms outside the solar industry trying to get a basic overview.

We strongly recommend that module purchasers and banks do not use this list as a measure of
quality, but instead consult a technical due diligence firm such as RINA (formerly OST Energy),
ATA Renewables, Wood Plc, PVEL, Black & Veatch, TUV, E3, STS Certified, Clean Energy
Associates, PI Berlin, Pvbuyer, Enertis, Oravia, Leidos Engineering, the Austrian Institute
of Technology (AIT) or Phoventus. These would usually consider what factory the module
comes from, as well as the brand, and give an informed opinion on whether the modules will
perform as expected.

2. Definitions
'Bankability' - whether projects using the solar products are likely to be offered non-recourse debt
financing by banks - is the key criterion for tiering. Banks, and their technical due diligence
providers, are extremely unwilling to disclose their whitelists of acceptable products.
BloombergNEF therefore bases its criteria in what deals have been closed in the past, as tracked
by our database – 35,000 photovoltaic financings worldwide as of October 2020.

We reserve the right to change these criteria at any time - particularly by requiring more
information to consider a manufacturer tier 1. The companies will be reviewed every quarter
based on information added to BloombergNEF's database. Only project financings for over
1.5MW of capacity are included in the database. Portfolio financings count for tiering only for
projects with defined locations, and where the debt is secured on all the assets together, ie, if one
project in the portfolio underperforms the bank has a claim on the rest of the portfolio.

We only tier manufacturers which actually own production facilities and sell under their own
brands. Companies which outsource production under brand names are not tiered.

3. Criteria
Tier 1 module manufacturers are those which have provided own-brand, own-manufacture
products to at least six different projects, which have been financed non-recourse by six different
Solar tiering team
commercial (ie not development, not export-import) banks, in the past two years. The earlier of
solartiering@bloomberg.net
financing or commissioning date counts for tiering, ie refinancings of old projects do not count.

No portion of this document may be reproduced, scanned into an electronic system, distributed, publicly
displayed or used as the basis of derivative works without the prior written consent of Bloomberg Finance
L.P. For more information on terms of use, please contact sales.bnef@bloomberg.net. Copyright and
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 BloombergNEF PV Module Tier 1 List Methodology
October 1, 2020

These 1.5MW+ deals must be tracked by our database, ie the project location (sufficiently to
identify the project uniquely, ie street address), capacity, developer, bank and module maker must
be in the public domain. Manufacturers which have filed for bankruptcy or a form of insolvency
protection, or are in default of major financial obligations as stated in court documents, are
removed from the tier 1 list until further notice.
This classification is purely
a measure of industry From October 2020, we will require additional evidence that a deal in China, India, Poland,
acceptance, and there are Austria, Hungary, Switzerland or Turkey is non-recourse, in order to include it in our database.
This is because non-recourse financing is not the norm in these markets, and a bank may not
many documented
require technical due diligence on modules if the financing is not secured on the project. Non-
examples of quality issues
recourse financing is where the bank has agreed to take the risk of the modules failing, and will
or bankruptcy of tier 1 not be repaid from the balance sheet of the developer or equity holder if the project does not
manufacturers. service the debt. Lease financing may be considered non-recourse.

This evidence must be in the form of either a public document like a press release from one of the
companies involved, or an article about the project published by a recognized media firm, or a
copy of the agreement with the bank. The agreement with the bank will be kept strictly confidential
and only used to confirm the non-recourse nature of the financing to ensure database accuracy.
After October 2020, emails or statements from developers will no longer be counted as sole
evidence that finance is non-recourse. We reserve the right to reject any deal because there is no
public evidence that it exists.

This classification is purely a measure of industry acceptance, and there are many documented
examples of quality issues or bankruptcy of tier 1 manufacturers.

3.1. Tier 2 and 3

We do not publish a tier 2 or 3 list.

4. How do I access the tier list?

To get a quote for a Bloomberg subscription, which includes the quarterly tier 1 list, please
contact sales.bnef@bloomberg.net. There is no other way to legally obtain the tier 1 list. Pirate
versions released on the internet may have been doctored.
The list of tier 1 manufacturers is available to BloombergNEF's Solar Insight subscribers as part
of the quarterly BloombergNEF PV Market Outlook. Note that a tier 1 listing is not a
recommendation for the company or its products.

A company may be removed from the Tier 1 list at any time, so only the list for the most recent
quarter is valid. Press releases, and claims from the company, do not constitute evidence that a
Please do not send us firm meets BloombergNEF's tier 1 criteria.
confidential information for
tiering purposes except to 5. How can manufacturers improve their ranking?
clarify that a deal is Since a tier 1 ranking is not a recommendation, we advise manufacturers against spending much
actually non-recourse – energy pursuing it. On the other hand, one of the characteristics of a tier 1 manufacturer is
transparency and good data availability.
then we will keep it
A manufacturer can help us tier them accurately by sending us (at solartiering@bloomberg.net)
confidential! We need to
data on the projects they have provided modules for, and the financing used to support these
include the basic deal projects. This data must include enough information to identify the project uniquely - project size,
details, including bank location (street address or coordinates), developer name, bank which provided financing, type of
name, in our database. financing, construction and financing dates. This information will be published by BloombergNEF
in its subscription database.

No portion of this document may be reproduced, scanned into an electronic system, distributed, publicly
displayed or used as the basis of derivative works without the prior written consent of Bloomberg Finance
L.P. For more information on terms of use, please contact sales.bnef@bloomberg.net. Copyright and
© Bloomberg Finance L.P.2020 Disclaimer notice on page 4 applies throughout. 2
 BloombergNEF PV Module Tier 1 List Methodology
October 1, 2020

We strongly prefer well organized and complete information. Where confirmation is required in the
form of a bank document, please try to send the confirmation with the full project details. It is not
helpful to send large amounts of incomplete or inaccurate project details and may result in your
entire submission being rejected without notice.
Emails with data received before the first day of a calendar quarter (1 January, 1 April, 1 July, 1
October) will definitely be processed for the tier 1 list appearing in the PV Market Outlook about
50 days later. Data received in later emails may only appear in the database and be used for the
tier 1 list for the following quarter.

6. How does a manufacturer know if they will be on the next tier 1

list?
For legal compliance reasons, we cannot disclose any substantial information about upcoming
research prior to publication. Consequently we cannot confirm whether a manufacturer will or will
not be on the tier 1 list in the next quarter until the list is published.

BloombergNEF clients have access to the full database, so can look at the deals in the database
and count the banks themselves. If you are a BloombergNEF client, please ask your client service
representative for details of how to do this.

7. Appeals
The Bloomberg Solar Insight team’s ruling on tiering for each quarter is final and will not be
influenced by taking an Insight subscription, visiting our offices, buying us lunch, pleading, or
sending us specification sheets, testimonials, or confidential information. The only thing that will
influence the decision is on-the-record data about financed projects. Please read this text
carefully before asking us questions already answered here, as we receive a high volume of
queries and cannot enter into detailed correspondence. A Chinese and a Korean translation are
available on request.

No portion of this document may be reproduced, scanned into an electronic system, distributed, publicly
displayed or used as the basis of derivative works without the prior written consent of Bloomberg Finance
L.P. For more information on terms of use, please contact sales.bnef@bloomberg.net. Copyright and
© Bloomberg Finance L.P.2020 Disclaimer notice on page 4 applies throughout. 3
 BloombergNEF PV Module Tier 1 List Methodology
October 1, 2020

About us

Contact details

Client enquiries:
 Bloomberg Terminal: press <Help> key twice
 Email: support.bnef@bloomberg.net

Solar tiering team solartiering@bloomberg.net

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