EN IEC 63202-1:2019

• Abstract:

  IEC 63202-1:2019 describes procedures for measuring the light-induced degradation (LID) of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells in simulated sunlight. The magnitude of LID in a crystalline silicon PV cell is determined by comparing maximum output power at Standard Test Conditions (STC) before, and after, exposure to simulated sunlight at a specified temperature and irradiance. The purpose of this document is to provide standardized PV cell LID information to help PV module manufacturers in minimizing the mismatch between cells within the same module, thereby maximizing power yield.

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 19-Sep-2019
• Withdrawal Date: 24-Jul-2022
• ICS: 27.160 - Solar energy engineering
• Technical Committee: CLC/TC 82 - Solar photovoltaic energy systems
• Drafting Committee: IEC/TC 82 - IEC_TC_82
• Current Stage: 6060 - Document made available - Publishing
• Start Date: 20-Sep-2019
• Completion Date: 20-Sep-2019
• Ref Project: SIST EN IEC 63202-1:2019 - Photovoltaic devices - Part 11: Measurement of light-induced degradation of crystalline silicon solar cells

• Refers: EN IEC 60904-9:2020 - Photovoltaic devices - Part 9: Classification of solar simulator characteristics
• Effective Date: 03-Feb-2026
• Refers: EN IEC 60904-2:2023 - Photovoltaic devices - Part 2: Requirements for photovoltaic reference devices
• Effective Date: 03-Feb-2026
• Refers: EN IEC 60904-1:2020 - Photovoltaic devices - Part 1: Measurement of photovoltaic current-voltage characteristics
• Effective Date: 03-Feb-2026

Overview

EN IEC 63202-1:2019 specifies procedures for measuring light-induced degradation (LID) of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells using simulated sunlight. The standard defines test apparatus, sampling requirements, conditioning and evaluation procedures that provide consistent LID data to help PV module manufacturers reduce cell-to-cell mismatch and maximize overall module power yield.

This document focuses on cell-level testing (rather than full-module procedures) and highlights experimental factors that significantly affect measured LID. The test outcome is the comparison of maximum output power at Standard Test Conditions (STC) before and after controlled light exposure.

Key Topics

• Apparatus and environment

  • Two solar simulators are required: one for I-V measurements and a Class BBB (or better) steady-state simulator for exposure.
  • Environmental chamber capable of maintaining cell temperature at (60 ± 5) °C, relative humidity ≤ 50 % and clean air.
  • Irradiance monitoring with sensors compliant with IEC 60904-2.

• Sampling and preparation

  • A minimum of 20 PV cells is required; samples should be from the same sorting bin and production batch.
  • Each cell is uniquely identified and stored in a sealed, dark container between measurements to avoid unintended exposure.

• Procedure highlights

  • Initial I-V measurement at STC following IEC 60904-1: three repeated measurements; rest > 3 s between readings; repeatability should be better than 0.2 %.
  • Exposure cycles use solar simulator 2 at (1 000 ± 50) W/m² with systematic rotation to compensate spatial non-uniformity.
  • First exposure cycle: cumulative 5 kWh/m² (recommended); subsequent cycles in 1 kWh/m² increments until LID quasi-stabilization is reached or cumulative exposure reaches 20 kWh/m².
  • Quasi-stabilization criterion: the change between the maximum and minimum of three consecutive maximum power readings is < 0.5 % of the average.
  • Periodic electroluminescence (EL) inspections are recommended to detect handling damage.

Applications

• Provides standardized LID metrics for cell sorting, quality control, and module design.
• Helps manufacturers minimize cell mismatch within modules, improving energy yield and reliability estimates.
• Useful for R&D comparisons across cell technologies and for validating improvements that reduce LID.

Related Standards

• IEC 60904-1 - Measurement of photovoltaic I-V characteristics
• IEC 60904-2 - Requirements for photovoltaic reference devices
• IEC 60904-9 - Solar simulator performance requirements
• IEC 61215 series - PV module qualification (for comparison of module-level LID testing)

Practical value: EN IEC 63202-1:2019 delivers a reproducible, cell-level LID measurement workflow that aligns test apparatus, sampling and reporting to generate comparable LID information that supports manufacturing optimization and improved module power yield.

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-december-2019
Fotonapetostne naprave - 11. del: Meritve degradacije kristalnih silicijevih sončnih
celic, povzročene s svetlobo
Photovoltaic devices - Part 11: Measurement of light-induced degradation of crystalline
silicon solar cells
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN IEC 63202-1:2019
ICS:
27.160 Sončna energija Solar energy engineering
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN IEC 63202-1

NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
September 2019
ICS 27.160
English Version
Photovoltaic cells - Part 1: Measurement of light-induced
degradation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells
(IEC 63202-1:2019)
Cellules photovoltaïques - Partie 1: Mesure de la Photovoltaik-Zellen - Teil 1: Messung der lichtinduzierten
dégradation induite par la lumière des cellules Degradation von kristallinen Silizium-Photovoltaikzellen
photovoltaïques au silicium cristallin (IEC 63202-1:2019)
(IEC 63202-1:2019)
This European Standard was approved by CENELEC on 2019-07-25. CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC
Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre or to any CENELEC member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the
same status as the official versions.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC Members.
Ref. No. EN IEC 63202-1:2019 E

European foreword
The text of document 82/1565/FDIS, future edition 1 of IEC 63202-1, prepared by IEC/TC 82 "Solar
photovoltaic energy systems" was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and approved by
CENELEC as EN IEC 63202-1:2019.
The following dates are fixed:
• latest date by which the document has to be implemented at national (dop) 2020-04-25
level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement
• latest date by which the national standards conflicting with the (dow) 2022-07-25
document have to be withdrawn
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Endorsement notice
The text of the International Standard IEC 63202-1:2019 was approved by CENELEC as a European
Standard without any modification.

Annex ZA
(normative)
Normative references to international publications
with their corresponding European publications
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments)
applies.
NOTE 1  Where an International Publication has been modified by common modifications, indicated by (mod), the relevant
EN/HD applies.
NOTE 2  Up-to-date information on the latest versions of the European Standards listed in this annex is available here:
www.cenelec.eu.
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
IEC 60904-1 -  Photovoltaic devices - Part 1: EN 60904-1 -
Measurement of photovoltaic current-
voltage characteristics
IEC 60904-2 -  Photovoltaic devices - Part 2: EN 60904-2 -
Requirements for photovoltaic reference
devices
IEC 60904-9 -  Photovoltaic devices - Part 9: Solar EN 60904-9 -
simulator performance requirements

IEC 63202-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2019-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Photovoltaic cells –
Part 1: Measurement of light-induced degradation of crystalline silicon

photovoltaic cells
Cellules photovoltaïques –
Partie 1: Mesure de la dégradation induite par la lumière des cellules

photovoltaïques au silicium cristallin

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-6896-4

– 2 – IEC 63202-1:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Apparatus . 6
5 Sampling . 6
6 Procedure for conditioning and evaluation . 6
7 Report . 8
Annex A (informative) Bar charts presented in the test report, showing the absolute
value of I degradation for all specimens after conditions in 6.1, 6.7 and 6.10 are met . 9
mp
Figure A.1 – I values of all test samples before and after LID tests . 9
mp
IEC 63202-1:2019 © IEC 2019 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS –
Part 1: Measurement of light-induced degradation
of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells

FOREWORD
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