PV lab testing

By Evelyn Butler

The renewable energy industry in general has grown exponentially in recent years with various technologies supporting each other to bring more variety to the energy source market, including solar/PV, wind, fuel cells and biofuels as examples. Such a compendium of energy sources helps both industrialized and emerging countries improve their energy independence, revitalize their energy portfolio and spur economic growth. North America, Europe and Asia are the three regions that continue to drive global solar energy growth. The U.S. continues to hold a lot of hope as the fastest growing installation market for solar companies.

Importance of Global Harmonization Efforts

With high demand for renewable energy and thus continuous growth of the Solar/PV industry, there is an apparent need for globally harmonized safety and performance testing and certification requirements. Among the challenges for PV product manufacturers is that regional markets have different requirements for products to be imported and installed. For example, in addition to a U.S. national standard for PV modules and accessories, individual states may also incorporate requirements suited to their specific market such as operating temperature limits or wind loading limits, providing manufacturers with design challenges so that their products can be used for as many markets as possible.

Other countries may also incorporate separate country-specific requirements that can introduce additional PV module specifications required for each country. For instance, fire safety testing is only a requirement in the U.S. market due to the proliferation of wood and other more flammable construction materials for residences, businesses, and other industrial or commercial buildings. Many other countries such as India and Australia require the basic IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard compliance and proof of certification, and others such as China and some European countries may require certification or compliance to previous versions of IEC standards or European Norm standards.

Oftentimes, project developers, design engineers, product engineers and local authorities are not able to clearly identify, specify or meet the myriad of differing regulations much less than the administrative paths. This provides a complex web of unknown requirements for product manufacturers to research, understand and address. The complexity of this process may hinder the introduction of new PV products through the design and development stages. A clear understanding of the applicable product requirements for safety, performance and installation with local codes would enable product and project designers to more effectively develop new technology and more quickly commercialize their products in the supply chain and in final assembly. It will also help major projects stay on track and perform within agreed-upon specifications.

Some of the Players in the Field

And that is where organizations such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL)--an independent standard-writing organization with more than a 115-year history in product testing and certification--come in. UL is actively working with the U.S. and international standards groups and industry forums to facilitate the development of requirements that ease the manufacturer’s burden of having to meet so many different market needs and still produce a PV module that can be installed in as many markets as possible. The UL Standards Technical Panel (STP), which is comprised from multiple stakeholders including manufacturers, suppliers, regulatory representatives, consumers and testing organizations, manages the U.S. Standard for Safety. UL’s technical staffs also work with International ElectroTechnical Commission (IECEE) PV Technical Committees and Working Groups to develop requirements applicable to as many markets as possible, to encourage new technology development through general application of basic requirements and by identifying technology-specific issues in such products as solar trackers and Concentrating PV (CP) systems.

The Solar America Board for Codes and Standards, under which UL manages the Product Safety Panel, is another organization funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to actively engage manufacturers, code officials, government and other important stakeholders in the continued development of national requirements. The Solar ABCs (www.solarabcs.org) engages industry through specific projects, such as the ongoing fire research testing project with UL, NEC code development and interconnection standards and studies with IREC, to bring additional voices and perspectives to the overall compliance development process.

In addition, industry groups such as SolarTech, of which UL is a Board Member, are well-focused on increasing collaboration to streamline solar projects throughout the value chain from silicon cell development, design and development, manufacturing, testing and certification, permitting and installation, with a complementary focus on workforce and planning issues. SolarTech accomplishes this by providing a member network of influential partners and organizations that actively support the group’s workshops and industry summits as another important aspect to gaining more insight into how processes and requirements can be developed. Solar industry groups such as the European Photovoltaic Industry Association also provide a valuable resource and audience for how countries are creating and maintaining their solar certification regimes as they are defining or refining their renewable energy goals particularly with regard to the solar. As a member, UL continues to monitors the influential work of such groups to determine if any shift or adjustment in standards requirements or certification programs is necessary.

Streamlining Testing and Certification Process

Even when all requirements are known, it can be a lengthy process obtaining necessary certifications, especially if products are sold in different markets around the globe. For third-party certifiers, the challenge is in providing testing and certification services that compliment innovation and business needs to spur industry growth, both timely and efficiently, without compromising safety. But making sure that a product is safe requires due diligence and time. For example, one of the fundamental aspects of product safety certifications includes evaluation of the product’s components as an essential combination of materials with anintrinsic effect on the operation of the product as a finished module (this includes encapsulants, backsheets and other layers within a PV module as well as the attached junction boxes, electrical conduits and fuses). For instance, lamination of PV cells within layers of encapsulant, substrate, superstrate and other materials highly influence the finished product’s behavior during the testing and certification process under which the module is subjected to pre-conditioning and extreme heat and cold temperatures for extended periods. Considering all of the components of a PV module and their potential effect on the finished product provides third-party testing and certification organizations the necessary test data to make informed engineering decisions that are relied upon with confidence by Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) in the U.S., customs officials, system designers and project developers.

UL Programs

The solar industry continues to look to third-party certification companies to provide customized services that will save time and resources. UL plays an important role in this transformation through process enhancements and investments in innovative safety testing and programs to bring solar energy solutions to market faster. One key new service offering that UL has introduced is its Master Certification Program for PV production equipment manufacturers and its Fast Track Certification program for their PV module manufacturing customers. The program basically allows the PV production equipment manufacturer to pursue and maintain their own UL and/or IEC master certification of the basic designs from a turnkey production line. The PV production equipment can then authorize their PV module manufacturing customer to utilize their test results and master certification as a basis of the modules produced off the installed production line. PV module manufacturers will have very limited testing to verify the module produced is of a consistent design and quality and maintain their certification under the Fast Track program. Overall, these programs allow PV manufacturers to base their certification on tests already conducted during the master certification process, reducing their time-to-market by avoiding redundant testing. The overall portfolio of UL services is flexible, enabling manufacturers to choose the standards they require, the markets to which they need access, and how their projects can be combined for effectiveness. UL partners with manufacturers to determine the best way to meet their individual certification needs, particularly where multiple components and materials are desired. UL looks along the value chain, working with different stakeholders in industry to facilitate services development that streamlines the overall commercialization process.

Safety Testing and Certification continue to encourage collaboration and facilitate commercialization in the worldwide market. UL remains a leader in standards development and maintenance worldwide, working with industry stakeholders to hear and act upon industry perspectives and opportunities for enhancement in the global certification scheme. The U.S.A. continues to invest funds and resources into the solar/PV energy business sector through capital and engineering resources in UL’s PV technology centers of excellence for testing and certification in San Jose, CA, the U.S., Suzhou, China, near Frankfurt, Germany and Ise, Japan with additional locations coming in 2010: through participation in ongoing renewable energy R&D projects such as with the Solar ABCs; through continued education of safety principles with important stakeholders such as AHJs and customs officials, and through continuing focus on our missions of ensuring public safety in the clean energy market and a “Greener” environment.

Evelyn Butler, Director of Business Strategy, Energy Sector, Global Energy Business for Underwriters Laboratories has worked for UL for 20 years and the last six in Renewable Energy technologies (www.ul.com).

For more information, please send your e-mails to pved@infothe.com.

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