There is no substitute for experience when it comes to designing a PV power system. Almost all system requirements are unique in some way and the ability to anticipate the on-site challenges and design the system accordingly can help ensure an optimum system performance. It's the system performance that is measured and noted by the system user, not the solar panel performance. Although the solar panel usually gets blamed when performance is less than expected, it is usually a system problem such as a poor choice of components, inefficient system architecture, poor installation techniques, or possibly, the wrong PV technology for the application. Especially for the larger PV systems, the key challenge is to design a system that matches the requirements, the environment, location and application, resulting in a high level of performance.

AT&T and other leading manufacturers have developed techniques that use environmental stress testing to enhance the quality and reliability of electronics assemblies. These techniques consist primarily of applying thermal, vibration, and voltage stresses to components or assemblies during design and manufacturing. Environmental stress testing is a tool that is used to accelerate the detection of product weaknesses. When coupled with corrective‐action programs, this tool also enhances product quality and reliability. This paper discusses applications of environmental stress testing in the electronics industry. It also reviews the results of environmental stress testing at AT&T's Little Rock Operations Center in Arkansas as applied primarily to the manufacture of circuit‐card assemblies.

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