SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020

Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance - Part 2: Grid connected systems - Maintenance of PV systems

IEC 62446-2 IEC 62446 describes basic preventive, corrective, and performance relatedmaintenance requirements and recommendations for grid-connected PV systems. Themaintenance procedures cover: - Basic maintenance of the system components and connections for reliability, safety andfire prevention - Measures for corrective maintenance and troubleshooting• Worker safetyThis document also addresses maintenance activities for maximizing anticipated performancesuch as module cleaning and upkeep of vegetation. Special considerations unique to rooftopor ground-mounted systems are summarized. This document does not cover off-grid systemsor systems that include batteries or other energy storage technologies; however, parts may beapplicable to the PV circuits of those systems.This document also does not cover maintenance of medium and high voltage a.c. equipmentthat are sometimes integral to larger scale systems, as those requirements are not specific toPV systems.Maintenance of PV systems is often lumped into the catch-all term operations andmaintenance (O&M.) This document does not address business or management operationalprocesses (e.g. forecasting, utility pricing incentives, etc.) or other considerations driven byfactors outside of basic system working condition, safety and performance.The confirmation of a system’s compliance with the appropriate design and installationstandards is covered in Part 1 and takes place during initial project commissioning.The objectives of this document are to: - Identify a baseline set of maintenance requirements which may differ by system type(residential, commercial, utility scale), owner, or financing requirements. -Identify additional maintenance steps that are recommended or optional.• Identify factors to be used to determine appropriate maintenance intervals. - Ensure that remote diagnostic methods are allowed as means for periodic verification,problem identification and early failure detection. - Ensure that alternate means of achieving maintenance related requirements are allowed toaccommodate for innovation, manufacturer specific methods, evolving customerrequirements, etc.

Photovoltaik(PV)-Systeme - Anforderungen an Prüfung, Dokumentation und Instandhaltung - Teil 2: Netzgekoppelte Systeme - Instandhaltung von PV-Systemen

Systèmes photovoltaïques (PV) - Exigences pour les essais, la documentation et la maintenance - Partie 2: Systèmes connectés au réseau électrique - Maintenance des systèmes PV

l'IEC 62446-2:2020 décrit les exigences et recommandations de base en matière de maintenance préventive, corrective et de performances concernant les systèmes PV connectés au réseau. Les procédures de maintenance couvrent:
- La maintenance de base des composants et connexions du système pour la fiabilité, la sécurité et la prévention contre les incendies;
- Les mesures de maintenance corrective et de dépannage
- La sécurité des travailleurs
Le présent document porte également sur les activités de maintenance permettant d'optimiser les performances prévues (nettoyage du module et entretien de la végétation, par exemple). Les considérations particulières concernant exclusivement les systèmes sur toiture et les systèmes placés au sol sont récapitulées.

Fotonapetostni sistemi - Zahteve za preskušanje, dokumentiranje in vzdrževanje - 2. del: Sistemi, priključeni na omrežje - Vzdrževanje fotonapetostnih sistemov

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 28-May-2020
• ICS: 27.160 - Solar energy engineering
• Technical Committee: PVS - Solar photovoltaic energy systems
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 28-May-2020
• Due Date: 02-Aug-2020
• Completion Date: 29-May-2020
• Ref Project: EN IEC 62446-2:2020 - Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance - Part 2: Grid connected systems - Maintenance of PV systems

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020
01-julij-2020
Fotonapetostni sistemi - Zahteve za preskušanje, dokumentiranje in vzdrževanje -
2. del: Sistemi, priključeni na omrežje - Vzdrževanje fotonapetostnih sistemov
Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance -
Part 2: Grid connected systems - Maintenance of PV systems
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN IEC 62446-2:2020
ICS:
27.160 Sončna energija Solar energy engineering
SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020


EUROPEAN STANDARD EN IEC 62446-2

NORME EUROPÉENNE

EUROPÄISCHE NORM
May 2020
ICS 27.160

English Version
Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing,
documentation and maintenance - Part 2: Grid connected
systems - Maintenance of PV systems
(IEC 62446-2:2020)
Systèmes photovoltaïques (PV) - Exigences pour les Photovoltaik(PV)-Systeme - Anforderungen an Prüfung,
essais, la documentation et la maintenance - Partie 2: Dokumentation und Instandhaltung - Teil 2: Netzgekoppelte
Systèmes connectés au réseau électrique - Maintenance Systeme - Instandhaltung von PV-Systemen
des systèmes PV (IEC 62446-2:2020)
(IEC 62446-2:2020)
This European Standard was approved by CENELEC on 2020-04-22. 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
© 2020 CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC Members.
 Ref. No. EN IEC 62446-2:2020 E

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020
EN IEC 62446-2:2020 (E)
European foreword
The text of document 82/1656/FDIS, future edition 1 of IEC 62446-2, prepared by IEC/TC 82 "Solar
photovoltaic energy systems" was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and approved by
CENELEC as EN IEC 62446-2:2020.
The following dates are fixed:
• latest date by which the document has to be implemented at national (dop) 2021-01-22
level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement
• latest date by which the national standards conflicting with the (dow) 2023-04-22
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 62446-2:2020 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 60300-3-3 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60300-3-3
IEC 60891 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60891
IEC 60904-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-1

2

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020
EN IEC 62446-2:2020 (E)
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.
Clause 2 of IEC 62446-1:2016 is applicable, except as follows:
Add the following references:
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
IEC/TS 61724-2 - Photovoltaic system performance - Part 2: - -
Capacity evaluation method
IEC/TS 61724-3 - Photovoltaic system performance - Part 3: - -
Energy evaluation method
IEC/TS 61836 2016 Solar photovoltaic energy systems - Terms, - -
definitions and symbols
IEC 62020 - Electrical accessories - Residual current - -
monitors for household and similar uses
(RCMs)
IEC 62446-1 2016 Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements EN 62446-1 2016
for testing, documentation and maintenance
- Part 1: Grid connected systems -
Documentation, commissioning tests and
inspection
IEC/TS 62446-3 2017 Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements - -
for testing, documentation and maintenance
- Part 3: Photovoltaic modules and plants -
Outdoor infrared thermography
IEC 62548 - Photovoltaic (PV) arrays - Design - -
requirements



3

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020



IEC 62446-2

®


Edition 1.0 2020-03




INTERNATIONAL



STANDARD




NORME



INTERNATIONALE











Photovoltaic (PV) systems – Requirements for testing, documentation and

maintenance –

Part 2: Grid connected systems – Maintenance of PV systems




Systèmes photovoltaïques (PV) – Exigences pour les essais, la documentation

et la maintenance –


Partie 2: Systèmes connectés au réseau électrique – Maintenance des systèmes

PV












INTERNATIONAL

ELECTROTECHNICAL

COMMISSION


COMMISSION

ELECTROTECHNIQUE


INTERNATIONALE




ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-7906-9




Warning! Make sure that you obtained this publication from an authorized distributor.

Attention! Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez obtenu cette publication via un distributeur agréé.

® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020
– 2 – IEC 62446-2:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 8
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 System documentation requirements . 10
4.1 General . 10
4.8 Operation and maintenance information . 10
4.10 Performance benchmarking . 11
4.11 Documentation of records . 11
5 Verification . 11
6 Test procedures – Category 1 . 11
7 Test procedures – Category 2 . 11
8 Test procedures – Additional tests . 11
9 Verification reports . 12
10 Maintenance protocols . 12
10.1 General . 12
10.2 Verification intervals and triggers . 12
10.3 Other considerations for determining specific verification intervals . 17
11 Verification tasks . 17
11.1 General . 17
11.2 General site visual inspection . 17
11.2.1 All systems . 17
11.2.2 Rooftop systems . 18
11.2.3 Ground-mount systems . 18
11.3 Component inspection and safety related maintenance . 18
11.3.1 Inverter and main electrical equipment pad . 18
11.3.2 Combiner boxes, disconnects and isolators . 18
11.3.3 Modules . 20
11.3.4 PV connectors . 20
11.3.5 Wiring . 21
11.3.6 Mounting system . 21
11.3.7 Conduits and cable trays . 22
11.3.8 Weather station . 22
11.4 Performance related maintenance . 22
11.4.1 General . 22
11.4.2 Wiring connection resistance . 22
11.4.3 Shade evaluation . 22
11.4.4 Module string or wiring harness testing . 22
11.4.5 Vegetation management . 24
11.4.6 Soiling and array cleaning . 24
12 Troubleshooting and corrective maintenance . 26
12.1 General . 26
12.2 Shutdown of equipment in response to hazardous failures . 26
12.3 Troubleshooting non-hazardous failures. 26

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12.4 Troubleshooting incident or event-triggered issues . 26
12.5 Diagnosing performance related issues . 27
13 Additional procedures . 28
13.1 General . 28
13.2 Safety procedures . 28
13.2.1 General . 28
13.2.2 Safe operation of switch disconnectors . 28
13.3 Isolation procedures . 28
13.3.1 Emergency shutdown. 28
13.3.2 Non-emergency shutdown . 29
13.4 Inspection and preventive maintenance procedures . 30
13.4.1 Inverter manufacturer specific procedures . 30
13.4.2 Tracker manufacturer specific procedures . 31
13.4.3 Data acquisition system specific procedures . 31
13.5 Electrical test procedures . 32
13.5.1 Earth fault testing . 32
13.5.2 Fuse tests . 34
13.5.3 Bypass diode tests . 34
13.6 Diagnostic procedures . 35
13.6.1 Validation of data acquisition systems (DAS) . 35
13.6.2 Inverter diagnostics . 38
Annex E (normative) Safety considerations . 40
E.1 Qualified persons . 40
E.2 General safety considerations . 40
E.3 Personal protective equipment . 41
E.4 Isolation procedures . 41
E.5 Lock-out tag-out . 41
E.6 PV specific signs and labelling . 42
Annex F (informative) Example preventive maintenance schedule . 43
F.1 General . 43
F.2 Example system description . 43
Annex G (informative) PV system operations . 50
Bibliography . 51

Table 3 – Verification and maintenance tasks and basis for determining task intervals . 13
Table 4 – Common reported inverter errors . 38
Table F.1 – Preventive maintenance schedule for XYZ plant . 44

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INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________

PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) SYSTEMS –
REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING, DOCUMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE –

Part 2: Grid connected systems – Maintenance of PV systems

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.
International Standard IEC 62446-2 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 82: Solar
photovoltaic energy systems.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
82/1656/FDIS 82/1676/RVD

Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard 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.

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SIST EN IEC 62446-2:2020
IEC 62446-2:2020 © IEC 2020 – 5 –
A list of all parts in the IEC 62446 series, published under the general title Photovoltaic (PV)
systems – Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance, can be found on the
IEC website.
This International Standard is to be used in conjunction with IEC 62446-1:2016.
The requirements in IEC 62446-2 are to be used with the requirements in IEC 62446-1:2016,
and supplement or modify clauses in IEC 62446-1:2016. All Clauses 1 to 9 of IEC 62446-
1:2016 apply, including the applicable Annexes. When IEC 62446-2 contains clauses that add
to, modify, or replace clauses in IEC 62446-1:2016, the relevant text of IEC 62446-1:2016 is
to be applied with the required changes.
Clauses, subclauses, figures, tables and annexes additional to those in IEC 62446-1:2016 are
numbered in continuation of the sequence existing in IEC 62446-1:2016.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.

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INTRODUCTION
This Part 2 of IEC 62446 gives requirements and recommendations for the maintenance of PV
systems, including periodic inspections, safety and performance related preventive
maintenance, corrective maintenance and troubleshooting. Grid connected PV systems are
generally considered to be a very low maintenance means of power generation. While this is
true relative to conventional generation sources that utilize fuel and/or rotating machinery, PV
systems do require some level of preventive and corrective maintenance to perform as
anticipated over lifetimes that can exceed 20 years. The level of maintenance required or
recommended for performance can vary considerably based on the owner’s preference or
contractual obligations for power production; however, a minimum level of monitoring or
maintenance is critical for safety and reducing the risk of fire. Adherence to a minimum set of
maintenance requirements is also integral to the goals of the IECRE Conformity Assessment
system, which is intended to drive the licensing and certification of PV systems and plants
from the design to the operations stage.

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IEC 62446-2:2020 © IEC 2020 – 7 –
PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) SYSTEMS –
REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING, DOCUMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE –

Part 2: Grid connected systems – Maintenance of PV systems



1 Scope
This clause of IEC 62446-1:2016 is applicable with the following exception:
Addition:
This Part 2 of IEC 62446 describes basic preventive, corrective, and performance related
maintenance requirements and recommendations for grid-connected PV systems. The
maintenance procedures cover:
• Basic maintenance of the system components and connections for reliability, safety and
fire prevention
• Measures for corrective maintenance and troubleshooting
• Worker safety
This document also addresses maintenance activities for maximizing anticipated performance
such as module cleaning and upkeep of vegetation. Special considerations unique to rooftop
or ground-mounted systems are summarized. This document does not cover off-grid systems
or systems that include batteries or other energy storage technologies; however, parts may be
applicable to the PV circuits of those systems.
This document also does not cover maintenance of medium and high voltage a.c. equipment
that are sometimes integral to larger scale systems, as those requirements are not specific to
PV systems.
Maintenance of PV systems is often lumped into the catch-all term operations and
maintenance (O&M.) This document does not address business or management operational
processes (e.g. forecasting, utility pricing incentives, etc.) or other considerations driven by
factors outside of basic system working condition, safety and performance.
The confirmation of a system’s compliance with the appropriate design and installation
standards is covered in Part 1 and takes place during initial project commissioning.
The objectives of this document are to:
• Identify a baseline set of maintenance requirements which may differ by system type
(residential, commercial, utility scale), owner, or financing requirements.
• Identify additional maintenance steps that are recommended or optional.
• Identify factors to be used to determine appropriate maintenance intervals.
• Ensure that remote diagnostic methods are allowed as means for periodic verification,
problem identification and early failure detection.
• Ensure that alternate means of achieving maintenance related requirements are allowed to
accommodate for innovation, manufacturer specific methods, evolving customer
requirements, etc.

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2 Normative references
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.
This clause of IEC 62446-1:2016 is applicable, with the following exception:
Addition
IEC TS 61724-2, Photovoltaic system performance – Part 2: Capacity evaluation method
IEC TS 61724-3, Photovoltaic system performance – Part 3: Energy evaluation method
IEC TS 61836:2016 , Solar photovoltaic energy systems – Terms, definitions and symbols
IEC 62020, Electrical accessories – Residual current monitors for household and similar uses
(RCMs)
IEC 62446-1:2016, Photovoltaic (PV) systems – Requirements for testing, documentation and
maintenance – Part 1: Grid connected systems – Documentation, commissioning tests and
inspection
IEC TS 62446-3:2017, Photovoltaic (PV) systems – Requirements for testing, documentation
and maintenance – Part 3: Photovoltaic modules and plants – Outdoor infrared thermography
IEC 62548, Photovoltaic (PV) arrays – Design requirements
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC TS 61836 as well as
those in Clause 3 of IEC 62446-1:2016 are applicable, with the following additions:
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
Addition:
3.17
support structure
equipment (also known as “racking”) used to physically support modules or groups of modules
and position them in a fixed or moving orientation relative to the path of the sun
3.18
equipment pad
foundation typically (but not exclusively) made of concrete or cement used for mounting and
securing inverters, disconnectors, transformers, or other equipment associated with a PV
system
Note 1 to entry: Equipment pads are typically installed in ground-mount systems, or adjacent to buildings for large
rooftop systems where equipment is too large to be wall-mounted.

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IEC 62446-2:2020 © IEC 2020 – 9 –
3.19
combiner box
junction box in which the parallel connections for PV strings, subarrays or arrays are made
3.20
qualified person
person, who has acquired, through training, qualification or experience or a combination of
these, the knowledge and skill enabling that person to perform the required task correctly
[SOURCE: IEC 62548:2016, 3.1.7 “competent person”]
3.21
PV array combiner box
junction box where PV sub-arrays are connected and which may also contain overcurrent
protection and/or switch-disconnection devices
Note 1 to entry: Small arrays generally do not contain sub-arrays but are simply made up of strings whereas large
arrays are generally made up of multiple sub-arrays.
[SOURCE: IEC 62548:2016, 3.1.36]
3.22
balance of system
in a renewable energy system, all components other than the mechanism used to harvest the
resource (such as photovoltaic panels or modules)
3.23
lockout/tagout
LOTO
safety procedure used to ensure equipment is properly de-energized and prevented from
being re-energized by a locking mechanism until service personnel deems it safe to do so
Note 1 to entry: LOTO is a practice a
...