Challenges for IEC62108 testing

Abstract

The evaluation of durability, safety and performance of photovoltaic modules is becoming an important point when trying to establish a product into the market, mostly for the new technologies appearing. In that sense, the committee of experts dedicated to write the IEC standards, put together a set of tests that can allow deciding on those quality points. In this paper, a revision of major difficulties in implementing the tests according to recently issued IEC-62108, Ed.1 standard, for concentrator photovoltaic modules (CPV) and assemblies, is made. The content is structured starting with the concept of product certification followed by a summary of the different types of existing CPV modules and the implications of that into the tests proposed by IEC-62108. Finally a description of main differences between the new standard and the experienced IEC-61215:2005 for crystalline Silicon PV modules is presented.