IEC TS 62782:2016

Photovoltaic (PV) modules - Cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load testing

IEC TS 62782:2016(E) provides a test method for performing a cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load test in which the module is supported at the design support points and a uniform load normal to the module surface is cycled in alternating negative and positive directions. This test may be utilized to evaluate if components within the module including solar cells, interconnect ribbons and/or electrical bonds within the module are susceptible to breakage or if edge seals are likely to fail due to the mechanical stresses encountered during installation and operation. This test can be performed at any module temperature within the normal operating temperature range. This test has been written as a standalone technical specification, but it is likely to be used in conjunction with other test standards.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 08-Mar-2016
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 27.160 - Solar energy engineering
• Technical Committee: TC 82 - Solar photovoltaic energy systems
• Drafting Committee: WG 2 - TC 82/WG 2
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 30-Jun-2016
• Completion Date: 09-Mar-2016

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC TS 62782 ®
Edition 1.0 2016-03
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
Photovoltaic (PV) modules – Cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load testing

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé Fax: [phone]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 [e-mail]
Switzerland www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

IEC Catalogue - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The stand-alone application for consulting the entire The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
bibliographical information on IEC International Standards, electrical terms containing 20 000 terms and definitions in
Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and other English and French, with equivalent terms in 15 additional
documents. Available for PC, Mac OS, Android Tablets and languages. Also known as the International Electrotechnical
iPad. Vocabulary (IEV) online.

IEC publications search - www.iec.ch/searchpub IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a 65 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been
and withdrawn publications. collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and

CISPR.
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
details all new publications released. Available online and If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or
also once a month by email. need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: [e-mail].
IEC TS 62782 ®
Edition 1.0 2016-03
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
Photovoltaic (PV) modules – Cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load testing

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-3223-1

– 2 – IEC TS 62782:2016 © IEC 2016
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references. 5
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Apparatus . 6
5 Initial measurements . 6
6 Procedure . 7
7 Final measurements . 7
8 Test report. 8
Annex A (informative) Subsequent testing . 9

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULES –
CYCLIC (DYNAMIC) MECHANICAL LOAD TESTING

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
exceptional circumstances, a technical committee may propose the publication of a technical
specification when
• the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard,
despite repeated efforts, or
• the subject is still under technical development or where, for any other reason, there is the
future but no immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard.
Technical specifications are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.
IEC TS 62782, which is a technical specification, has been prepared by IEC technical
committee 82: Solar photovoltaic energy systems.

– 4 – IEC TS 62782:2016 © IEC 2016
The text of this technical specification is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
82/971/DTS 82/1014A/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• transformed into an International standard,
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULES –
CYCLIC (DYNAMIC) MECHANICAL LOAD TESTING

1 Scope
This technical specification provides a test method for performing a cyclic (dynamic)
mechanical load test in which the module is supported at the design support points and a
uniform load normal to the module surface is cycled in alternating negative and positive
directions. This test may be utilized to evaluate if components within the module including
solar cells, interconnect ribbons and/or electrical bonds within the module are susceptible to
breakage or if edge seals are likely to fail due to the mechanical stresses encountered during
installation and operation. This test can be performed at any module temperature within the
normal operating temperature range. Since the results have been determined to depend on
the module temperature during the application of the load it is critical to maintain the module
at a constant temperature during the performance of this test.
This technical specification has historically been applied to rigid modules. It cannot be applied
to flexible modules unless they are designed to be mounted in a rigid manner. In which case,
the cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load test can be applied to the flexible module in its rigid
mounting system.
This test has been written as a standalone technical specification, but it is likely to be used in
conjunction with other test standards. Typically, this test itself will not result in power loss, but
when followed by additional stress tests like thermal cycling and humidity freeze, the damage
done by the mechanical cycling results in power loss that would not have occurred due only to
the thermal cycling and humidity freeze tests. For example, the transportation testing
procedure (IEC 62759) includes the requirements for such a cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load
test followed by 50 thermal cycles and 10 humidity freeze cycles.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and
are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC TS 60904-12, Photovoltaic devices – Part 12: Infrared thermography of photovoltaic
modules
IEC TS 60904-13, Photovoltaic devices – Part 13: Electroluminescence of photovoltaic
modules
IEC 61215-1:2016, Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design qualification and type
approval – Part 1: Test requirements
IEC 61215-2:2016, Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design qualification and type
approval – Part 2: Test procedures
IEC TS 61836, Solar photovoltaic energy systems – Terms, definitions and symbols
____________
To be published.
– 6 – IEC TS 62782:2016 © IEC 2016
ISO/IEC 17025, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration
laboratories
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC TS 61836 apply.
4 Apparatus
The apparatus for this technical specification include:
a) Equipment for performing the cyclic (dynamic) loading: this equipment shall be capable of

applying a uniform load of 1 000 Pa ± 100 Pa onto the module surface in both directions to
simulate pressure and tensile loads at a rate between 3 and 7 cycles per minute. The
prescribed load is of uniform pressure, P, and is most appropriately applied with a
pressure of air or vacuum. If a piston system (or other non-uniform application) is used to
load the module, the force each piston (or applicators) exert is F = PA/n, where A is the
area of the module and n is the number of pistons. To ensure a similar effect to the
module, the maximum, perpendicular, center-to-center distance between evenly loaded
points shall be 20 cm or less. If one piston consists of multiple loading points this
maximum distance refers to both the loading points within and between pistons. The
maximum perpendicular distance between the module frame and an evenly loaded point
shall also be 20 cm or less.
b) Means for monitoring, throughout the test, the continuity of the internal circuit of each
module.
c) Means for monitoring the temperature of the module to an accuracy of ±2,0 °C and
repeatability of ±0,5 °C. The temperature sensors shall be attached to the front or back
surface of the module near the middle without interfering with the cyclic loading.
d) Infrared (IR) camera and a constant current power supply capable of providing between
one and two times the Standard Test Condition (STC) maximum power current of the
module in the forward direction. (See future IEC TS 60904-12.)
e) Electroluminescence (E
...