IEC PAS 62257-10:2017

Recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification - Part 10: Silicon solar module visual inspection guide

IEC PAS 62257-10:2017(E) is designed to be used as a guide to visually inspect front-contact poly-crystalline and mono-crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for major defects. The modules under consideration may be of any size or rated power, however some specific use-cases for solar modules may have different requirements and therefore adaption of this document is application and institution dependent (ex. labelling may not be present for a solar module sold as part of a small off-grid lighting kit). This document is meant to supplement and support rather than replace international testing standards such as IEC 61215.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 08-Aug-2017
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 27.160 - Solar energy engineering
• Technical Committee: TC 82 - Solar photovoltaic energy systems
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 21-Aug-2017
• Completion Date: 09-Aug-2017

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC PAS 62257-10 ®
Edition 1.0 2017-08
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
SPECIFICATION
PRE-STANDARD
colour
inside
Recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural
electrification –
Part 10: Silicon solar module visual inspection guide

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 16 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 PAS 62257-10 ®
Edition 1.0 2017-08
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
SPECIFICATION
PRE-STANDARD
colour
inside
Recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural

electrification –
Part 10: Silicon solar module visual inspection guide

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-4643-6

– 2 – IEC PAS 62257-10:2017 © IEC 2017
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 8
3.1 Clarification of terminology . 8
3.2 Clarification of severity rating . 8
4 Recommendations . 9
4.1 General . 9
4.2 Inspection procedure . 9
4.3 Accept / reject criteria . 10
Annex A (normative) Checklists . 11
Annex B (normative) Catalogue of defects: new modules . 13
B.1 LABEL . 13
B.1.1 Missing . 13
B.1.2 Poorly attached . 13
B.1.3 Information is missing . 14
B.1.4 Incorrect spelling . 14
B.2 BACKSHEET . 15
B.2.1 Delamination . 15
B.3 JUNCTION BOX . 16
B.3.1 Faulty electrical connection . 16
B.3.2 Cracks/breaks/gaps in housing . 16
B.3.3 Sealant failure . 17
B.3.4 Electrical polarity not indicated . 17
B.4 WIRING . 18
B.4.1 Wire(s) missing or insecurely attached . 18
B.4.2 Too short and/or too thin . 18
B.5 FRAME . 19
B.5.1 Damaged . 19
B.5.2 Adhesive/Sealant failure . 19
B.6 FRONT GLASS . 20
B.6.1 Cracking . 20
B.6.2 Scratches . 20
B.7 ENCAPSULATION . 21
B.7.1 Delamination . 21
B.8 CELLS . 22
B.8.1 Fake . 22
B.8.2 Dummy pieces disguising missing material . 22
B.8.3 Cracks . 23
B.8.4 Partially covered . 23
B.8.5 Scratches . 24
B.8.6 Differently sized . 24
B.8.7 Edge chips . 24
B.8.8 All cells very shiny . 25
B.9 CELL METALLIZATION. 26

B.9.1 Fingers not connected to busbar . 26
B.9.2 Not the same pattern on all cells . 26
B.9.3 Fingers off of edge of corner of cells . 27
B.10 CELL INTERCONNECTION . 27
B.10.1 Interconnection is discontinuous . 27
B.10.2 Cells connected in parallel (counterfeit) . 28
B.10.3 Poorly aligned and/or soldered . 28
B.10.4 Cells connected in parallel (real cells) . 28
Annex C (normative) Catalogue of defects: used modules . 29
C.2 BACKSHEET . 29
C.2.1. Burn marks . 29
C.2.2. Discolouration . 29
C.4 WIRING . 30
C.4.1 Cracks or exposed metal. 30
C.7 ENCAPSULATION . 30
C.7.2 Discolouration . 30
C.8. CELLS . 31
C.8.9 “Snail trails” . 31
C.8.10 Shiny locally/significantly varying colour . 31
Bibliography . 32

– 4 – IEC PAS 62257-10:2017 © IEC 2017
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY
AND HYBRID SYSTEMS FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION –

Part 10: Silicon solar module visual inspection guide

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
...