02.09.16
Working with partners around the world, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have completed five years of work toward helping establish an international quality standard for manufacturing photovoltaic (PV) modules.
PV manufacturers will use the new standard to increase the level of confidence investors, utilities and consumers have in solar panel safety and reliability, which in turn should lower the cost of financing for solar projects.
The standard supplements the existing ISO-9001 and was jointly developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International PV Quality Assurance Task Force (PVQAT). The task force was formed in 2011. The new standard appears in “Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules - Guidelines for increased confidence in PV module design qualification and type approval.”
The PV industry has grown by a factor of about 500 over the past two decades. With customers worldwide now investing approximately $100 billion in PV annually, the international solar community is driven to maintain the quality of that investment. To this end, NREL, along with other international groups, has led the PVQAT to establish these guidelines.
PV manufacturers will use the new standard to increase the level of confidence investors, utilities and consumers have in solar panel safety and reliability, which in turn should lower the cost of financing for solar projects.
The standard supplements the existing ISO-9001 and was jointly developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International PV Quality Assurance Task Force (PVQAT). The task force was formed in 2011. The new standard appears in “Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules - Guidelines for increased confidence in PV module design qualification and type approval.”
The PV industry has grown by a factor of about 500 over the past two decades. With customers worldwide now investing approximately $100 billion in PV annually, the international solar community is driven to maintain the quality of that investment. To this end, NREL, along with other international groups, has led the PVQAT to establish these guidelines.