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Qualification testing of photovoltaic modules, according to IEC 61215 (crystalline silicon) or IEC 61646 (thin-film) standard, may be considered as a minimum requirement for reliability or a prerequisite for any reliability testing. It is a set of well-defined accelerated stress tests with strict pass / fail criteria based on functionality / performance, safety / insulation and visual requirements. This paper, fourth in series from TUV Rheinland PTL, compares the failure rates obtained over 15 years in four consecutive periods: 1997–2005, 2005–2007, 2007–2009 and 2009–2011. This paper also presents a distribution of failures, for the 2009–2011 period, among the four pass criteria defined in the standard: visual failure, dry insulation failure (safety issue), wet resistance failure (safety issue) and performance failure (power drop). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]