SIST EN 61646:2008
Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval
Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval
This International Standard lays down requirements for the design qualification and type approval of terrestrial, thin-film photovoltaic modules suitable for long-term operation in general open-air climates as defined in IEC 60721-2-1. This standard is intended to apply to all terrestrial flat plate module materials not covered by IEC 61215. The test sequence is derived from IEC 61215 for the design qualification and type approval of terrestrial crystalline silicon PV modules. However, it no longer relies on meeting a plus/minus criterion before and after each test, but rather on meeting a specified percentage of the rated minimum power after all of the tests have been completed and the modules have been lightsoaked. This eliminates the technology-specific preconditioning necessary to accurately measure the changes caused by the test. This standard does not apply to modules used with concentrators. The object of this test sequence is to determine the electrical and thermal characteristics of the module and to show, as far as possible within reasonable constraints of cost and time, that the module is capable of withstanding prolonged exposure in climates described in the scope. The actual life expectancy of modules so qualified will depend on their design, their environment and the conditions under which they are operated.
Terrestrische Dünnschicht-Photovoltaik (PV)-Module - Bauarteignung und Bauartzulassung
Modules photovoltaïques (PV) en couches minces pour application terrestre - Qualification de la conception et homologation
La CEI 61646:2008 fournit les exigences sur la qualification de la conception et l'homologation des modules photovoltaïques en couches minces pour application terrestre et pour une utilisation de longue durée dans les climats généraux d'air libre, définis dans la CEI 60721-2-1. La présente norme s'applique à tous les équipements à module à plaque plane non couverts par la CEI 61215. Une modification technique significative par rapport à l'édition précédente concerne les critères d'acceptation/de refus.
Tankoplastni prizemni fotonapetostni (PV) moduli - Ocena zasnove in odobritev tipa (IEC 61646:2008)
General Information
Relations
Standards Content (Sample)
SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN 61646:2008
01-december-2008
1DGRPHãþD
SIST EN 61646:2001
Tankoplastni prizemni fotonapetostni (PV) moduli - Ocena zasnove in odobritev
tipa (IEC 61646:2008)
Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval
Terrestrische Dünnschicht-Photovoltaik (PV)-Module - Bauarteignung und
Bauartzulassung
Modules photovoltaïques (PV) en couches minces pour application terrestre -
Qualification de la conception et homologation
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 61646:2008
ICS:
27.160 6RQþQDHQHUJLMD Solar energy engineering
SIST EN 61646:2008 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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SIST EN 61646:2008
EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN 61646
NORME EUROPÉENNE
August 2008
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 27.160 Supersedes EN 61646:1997
English version
Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules -
Design qualification and type approval
(IEC 61646:2008)
Modules photovoltaïques (PV) Terrestrische Dünnschicht-Photovoltaik
en couches minces (PV)-Module -
pour application terrestre - Bauarteignung und Bauartzulassung
Qualification de la conception (IEC 61646:2008)
et homologation
(CEI 61646:2008)
This European Standard was approved by CENELEC on 2008-06-01. 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 Central Secretariat 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 Central Secretariat has the same status as the official versions.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
CENELEC
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
Central Secretariat: rue de Stassart 35, B - 1050 Brussels
© 2008 CENELEC - All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC members.
Ref. No. EN 61646:2008 E
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SIST EN 61646:2008
EN 61646:2008 - 2 -
Foreword
The text of document 82/512/FDIS, future edition 2 of IEC 61646, prepared by IEC TC 82, Solar
photovoltaic energy systems, was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and was approved by
CENELEC as EN 61646 on 2008-06-01.
This European Standard supersedes EN 61646:1997.
EN 61646:2008 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 61646:1997:
The major change is in the pass/fail criteria. It no longer relies on meeting a plus/minus criterion before
and after each test, but rather on meeting the rated power after all of the tests have been completed and
the modules have been light-soaked. This was done to eliminate the technology-specific preconditioning
necessary to accurately measure the changes caused by the test. (Some modules lose power in light
while others lose power during dark heat.) Since all modules must work after exposure to light, this
seemed like a good approach and will streamline the test procedure, hopefully reducing the testing cost.
– updated normative references;
– added a definition of “minimum value of maximum output power”;
– modified the wording in major visual defects to allow some bending and misalignment without failure;
– added requirements to the report from EN ISO/IEC 17025;
– removed the “Twist Test” as was done from EN 61215, since no one has ever failed this test;
– made the pass/fail criteria for insulation resistance and wet leakage current dependent on the module
area;
– added the temperature coefficient of power (δ) to the required measurements;
– modified temperature coefficient section to allow for measurements under natural sunlight or a solar
simulator;
– deleted reference plate method from NOCT;
– added apparatus sections to those test procedures that did not have apparatus sections in
EN 61646:1997;
– rewrote the hot-spot test;
– eliminated edge dip method from wet leakage current test;
– changed mechanical load test to 3 cycles to be consistent with other standards;
– added bypass diode thermal test.
The following dates were fixed:
– latest date by which the EN has to be implemented
at national level by publication of an identical
national standard or by endorsement (dop) 2009-03-01
– latest date by which the national standards conflicting
with the EN have to be withdrawn (dow) 2011-06-01
Annex ZA has been added by CENELEC.
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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Endorsement notice
The text of the International Standard IEC 61646:2008 was approved by CENELEC as a European
Standard without any modification.
In the official version, for Bibliography, the following notes have to be added for the standards indicated:
IEC 60904-5 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-5:1995 (not modified).
IEC 60904-8 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-8:1998 (not modified).
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SIST EN 61646:2008
EN 61646:2008 - 4 -
Annex ZA
(normative)
Normative references to international publications
with their corresponding European publications
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application 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 When an international publication has been modified by common modifications, indicated by (mod), the relevant EN/HD
applies.
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
1) 2)
IEC 60068-1 - Environmental testing - EN 60068-1 1994
Part 1: General and guidance
1) 2)
IEC 60068-2-21 - Environmental testing - EN 60068-2-21 2006
Part 2-21: Tests - Test U: Robustness of
terminations and integral mounting devices
2)
IEC 60068-2-78 2001 Environmental testing - EN 60068-2-78 2001
Part 2-78: Tests - Test Cab: Damp heat,
steady state
1)
IEC 60410 - Sampling plans and procedures for inspection - -
by attributes
1) 2)
IEC 60721-2-1 - Classification of environmental conditions - HD 478.2.1 S1 1989
Part 2-1: Environmental conditions appearing
in nature - Temperature and humidity
1) 2)
IEC 60891 - Procedures for temperature and irradiance EN 60891 1994
corrections to measured I-V characteristics of
crystalline silicon photovoltaic devices
2)
IEC 60904-1 2006 Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-1 2006
Part 1: Measurement of photovoltaic current-
voltage characteristics
1) 2)
IEC 60904-2 - Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-2 2007
Part 2: Requirements for reference solar
devices
1) 2)
IEC 60904-3 - Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-3 2008
Part 3: Measurement principles for terrestrial
photovoltaic (PV) solar devices with reference
spectral irradiance data
1) 2)
IEC 60904-7 - Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-7 1998
Part 7: Computation of spectral mismatch
error introduced in the testing of a photovoltaic
device
1) 2)
IEC 60904-9 - Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-9 2007
Part 9: Solar simulator performance
requirements
1) 2)
IEC 60904-10 - Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-10 1998
Part 10: Methods of linearity measurement
1) 2)
IEC 61215 - Crystalline silicon terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) EN 61215 2005
modules - Design qualification and type
approval
1)
Undated reference.
2)
Valid edition at date of issue.
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
1) 2)
ISO/IEC 17025 - General requirements for the competence of EN ISO/IEC 17025 2005
testing and calibration laboratories
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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SIST EN 61646:2008
IEC 61646
Edition 2.0 2008-05
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design qualification and type
approval
Modules photovoltaïques (PV) en couches minces pour application terrestre –
Qualification de la conception et homologation
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
X
CODE PRIX
ICS 27.160 ISBN 2-8318-9746-7
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD.5
1 Scope and object.7
2 Normative references .7
3 Sampling .8
4 Marking .8
5 Testing .9
6 Pass criteria .9
7 Major visual defects.10
8 Report .10
9 Modifications .11
10 Test procedures .14
10.1 Visual inspection .14
10.1.1 Purpose.14
10.1.2 Procedure.14
10.1.3 Requirements .14
10.2 Maximum power determination .14
10.2.1 Purpose.14
10.2.2 Apparatus.14
10.2.3 Procedure.14
10.3 Insulation test.15
10.3.1 Purpose.15
10.3.2 Apparatus.15
10.3.3 Test conditions .15
10.3.4 Procedure.15
10.3.5 Test requirements.16
10.4 Measurement of temperature coefficients .16
10.4.1 Purpose.16
10.4.2 Apparatus.16
10.4.3 Procedure.16
10.5 Measurement of nominal operating cell temperature (NOCT).18
10.5.1 Purpose.18
10.5.2 Introduction .18
10.5.3 Principle .18
10.5.4 Apparatus.18
10.5.5 Test module mounting .19
10.5.6 Procedure.19
10.6 Performance at STC and NOCT .21
10.6.1 Purpose.21
10.6.2 Apparatus.22
10.6.3 Procedure.22
10.7 Performance at low irradiance .22
10.7.1 Purpose.22
10.7.2 Apparatus.22
10.7.3 Procedure.22
10.8 Outdoor exposure test .23
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61646 © IEC:2008 – 3 –
10.8.1 Purpose.23
10.8.2 Apparatus.23
10.8.3 Procedure.23
10.8.4 Final measurements .23
10.8.5 Requirements .23
10.9 Hot-spot endurance test .23
10.9.1 Purpose.23
10.9.2 Hot-spot effect.23
10.9.3 Classification of cell interconnection .24
10.9.4 Apparatus.25
10.9.5 Procedure.25
10.9.6 Final measurements .26
10.9.7 Requirements .26
10.10 UV preconditioning test.27
10.10.1 Purpose .27
10.10.2 Apparatus .27
10.10.3 Procedure .27
10.10.4 Final measurements.27
10.10.5 Requirements .27
10.11 Thermal cycling test.27
10.11.1 Purpose .27
10.11.2 Apparatus .28
10.11.3 Procedure .28
10.11.4 Final measurements.28
10.11.5 Requirements .29
10.12 Humidity-freeze test.29
10.12.1 Purpose .29
10.12.2 Apparatus .29
10.12.3 Procedure .30
10.12.4 Final measurements.30
10.12.5 Requirements .30
10.13 Damp heat test .30
10.13.1 Purpose .30
10.13.2 Procedure .30
10.13.3 Final measurements.30
10.13.4 Requirements .30
10.14 Robustness of terminations test.31
10.14.1 Purpose .31
10.14.2 Types of terminations.31
10.14.3 Procedure .31
10.14.4 Final measurements.32
10.14.5 Requirements .32
10.15 Wet leakage current test.32
10.15.1 Purpose .32
10.15.2 Apparatus .32
10.15.3 Procedure .32
10.15.4 Requirements .32
10.16 Mechanical load test.33
10.16.1 Purpose .33
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SIST EN 61646:2008
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10.16.2 Apparatus .33
10.16.3 Procedure .33
10.16.4 Final measurements.33
10.16.5 Requirements .33
10.17 Hail test .33
10.17.1 Purpose .33
10.17.2 Apparatus .33
10.17.3 Procedure .35
10.17.4 Final measurements.36
10.17.5 Requirements .36
10.18 Bypass diode thermal test.36
10.18.1 Purpose .36
10.18.2 Apparatus .37
10.18.3 Procedure 1 .37
10.18.4 Procedure 2 .38
10.18.5 Final Measurements.38
10.18.6 Requirements .39
10.19 Light-soaking .39
10.19.1 Purpose .39
10.19.2 Apparatus .39
10.19.3 Procedure .39
10.19.4 Final measurements.39
10.19.5 Requirements .39
Bibliography.40
Figure 1 – Qualification test sequence .12
Figure 2 – NOCT correction factor .21
Figure 3 – Hot-spot effect in a thin-film module with serially connected cells. Worst
case shading condition is shading of 4 cells at the same time.24
Figure 4 – Thermal cycling test .28
Figure 5 – Humidity-freeze cycle.29
Figure 6 – Hail test equipment .35
Figure 7 – Impact locations.36
Figure 8 – Bypass Diode Thermal Test .38
Table 1 – Summary of test levels .13
Table 2 – Ice ball masses and test velocities .34
Table 3 – Impact locations .36
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SIST EN 61646:2008
61646 © IEC:2008 – 5 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
___________
THIN-FILM TERRESTRIAL PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULES –
DESIGN QUALIFICATION AND TYPE APPROVAL
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 provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
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.
International Standard IEC 61646 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 82: Solar
photovoltaic energy systems.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1996. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
The major change is in the pass/fail criteria. It no longer relies on meeting a plus/minus
criterion before and after each test, but rather on meeting the rated power after all of the tests
have been completed and the modules have been light-soaked. This was done to eliminate
the technology-specific preconditioning necessary to accurately measure the changes caused
by the test. (Some modules lose power in light while others lose power during dark heat.)
Since all modules must work after exposure to light, this seemed liked a good approach and
will streamline the test procedure, hopefully reducing the testing cost.
• Updated Normative references.
• Added a definition of “minimum value of maximum output power”.
---------------------- Page: 13 ----------------------
SIST EN 61646:2008
– 6 – 61646 © IEC:2008
• Modified the wording in Major visual defects to allow some bending and misalignment
without failure.
• Added requirements to the report from ISO/IEC 17025.
• Removed the “Twist Test” as was done from IEC 61215, since no one has ever failed this
test.
• Made the pass/fail criteria for insulation resistance and wet leakage current dependent on
the module area.
• Added the temperature coefficient of power (δ) to the required measurem
...
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