Inspection ,Testing and

Certification of PV Power
Plants.
Nearly 140 Years of Innovation. TUV (Technical
Uberwachungs Verein )

Your advantage: our experience.

1872 1957 2009
Entrepreneurs take the initiative Commitment to environmental World‘s largest
and set up the DÜV to ensure the protection: dust register in Cologne photovoltaic lab
safety of their manufacturing plants
1918 2006
Activities in the energy Joined the
and mining sectors UN Global Compact

1926 1975
First material analysis Medical work
laboratory

1900 1969 2007

Vehicle inspection and driving International product Represented on all
license tests tests and certifications continents

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At Home on All Continents.

220 offices in Germany – more than

500 locations in 61 countries.

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Sales by Business streams.

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 TUVR Services for Safety Of Power Plant

TÜV Rheinland has the expertise of testing PV modules, having been in the
solar business for over 30 years. It has a market share over 70 percent, and
has seven PV labs spread across Germany, China, Taiwan, US, Japan (two labs),
and now, India. Its testing focus is on safety, efficiency, quality and durability of
solar systems. TÜV Rheinland’s test laboratory in Electronics City, Bangalore, is
spread over an area of 20,000sqft., including 5,000sqft. outside exposure
testing area. We have invested close to $3 million in setting up the lab,

PV modules testing as per

IEC 61730
PV Lab Service IEC 61215
IEC 61646
UL 1703
TUV R Services For Safety and
Quality

Grid connected PV System Testing

& Verification IEC/EVS EN 62446
PV Power Plant Service
Owner Engineer Service
Lenders Engineer Service
 IEC 61730

• IEC 61730: Photo Voltaic Module (PV) Safety Qualification

•
•Part 1: Requirement of Construction
•
•Part 2 : Requirement for Testing

Testing in Lab
• Visual test
• Accessibility test
• Cut Susceptibility Test
• Ground continuity Test
• Impulse Voltage Test
• Dielectric With Stand Test
•Temperature Test
• Reverse Current overload test
• Module breakage test
• Fire test

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Photovoltaic Module Safety Qualification IEC 61730 ed1 2004

Visual Performance test

inspection (IEC 61215, IEC 61646
Component tests
Fire Module Dielectric Bypass diode foil
test breakage test withstand test thermal test
junction
Ground Temperature Partial box
continuity test test discharge test

Accessibility Reverse current Conduit

Test Sequences test overload test bending test

Precondition: compliance with Terminal box

IEC 61215 (ed2 2005), IEC 61646 knock out test

Cut suscepti- Impulse

bility tests voltage test

Accessibility
test

Visual inspection

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 Fire Test

• Spread of Flame Test

For Roof top PV Solar as per A,B and C
Class
For A&B class burner rating 325KW and time
period of 10 min
For C class burner rating 325 KW and time
period of 4min
Result : No glowing or burning parts of PV
module fall on test rig
Flame spread not to exceed Class A
1.2M,Class B 2.4M and Class C 3.9M
•
•Burning Brand Test
As per class A or B or C different mass of
wooden brands between( 10 to 2000gms) are
ignited to test if external fires causes PV
modules to burn.

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Photovoltaic Module Safety Qualification IEC 61730 ed1 2004

Module breakage test

The impactor bag, filled with lead shot,

weighs approximately 45,5 kg and will be
capable of delivering 542 J of kinetic
energy when swung through a 1,2 m
vertical drop.

The bag is dropped sequentially from a

height of 300 mm, 450mm and 1220mm
from the surface of the module, if no
breakage occurs before.

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Photovoltaic Module Safety Qualification IEC 61730 ed1 2004

Cut test:
A blade with a definite weight is moved
over the back side foil of the PV-module..

..subsequently the impairment

of the insulation is measured.

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Photovoltaic Module Safety Qualification IEC 61730 ed1
2004
Impulse voltage test and high voltage test:
The PV-module is enfolded with a copper foil.
Impulse voltage : 8000 V
High voltage : 4 x nominal system voltage + 2000 V

Possible defects:
Disruptive discharge from live parts of the PV-
module to the outer copper foil.

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Photovoltaic Module Safety Qualification IEC 61730 ed1
2004
Terminal box knockout tests:

• a force of 44,5 N is applied to the

knockout of the terminal box for 1 min.
• after 1 hour the displacement between
the knockout and the box shall be less
than 0,75mm
• a removed knockout shall not leave sharp
edges or cause damage to the box

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 Hail Impact test

Hail impact test: The PV - module must withstand the impact

of hail stones (weight: 7.5g, size: 2.5cm in diameter) at a
speed of approx. 82 km/h damage free.

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 PID – Potentially Induced Degradation (IEC 62804 Draft)

 PID is loss of system power caused due to leakage current at higher voltages.
 Performance loss can be high as 20%
 Caused by temperature and relative air humidity
 To make modules anti PID cell design changes is required in ARC, Cell metallization,
emitter design and doping.
 Testing at 60deg C,85% RH ,1000 V for 96hrs degradation of power output between
initial and final out put should be less than 5%

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 TCO - Corrosion

 Caused at edges especially in Thin film modules by reaction of moisture and sodium
present in the glass
 Modules with cells made of a-Si and CdTe with superstrate technology are affected the
most
 Happens in high temp and high humidity conditions
 TCO becomes milky and losses its conducting property and thereby efficiency of module

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Risks at PV Power plant systems
 For costumer/operator (Banks, investors, insurances, etc..) AND for Installers/distributors
- Economic risks
- Delivery delay
- Low performance
- Defects and loss of energy yield
- High costs for maintenance, repair or replacement
- Theft, vandalism
- At building integrated PV installations: negative effects on or damage of the structure
of the building
- Safety risks
- Electric shock
- Fire
- Statics
- Danger of falling
- Common accident danger
- Environmental risks
- Storm
- Lightning impacts
- Snow, ice
- Hail
- Rock fall, landslide, earthquake, flooding
- Weather during installation
PV Power plant testing & verification EVS- EN 62446 -
2010

• IEC/EVS EN 62446 – Grid connected photovoltaic systems – Minimum requirements

for system documentation, commissioning tests and inspection
• 1 ) System Documentation
• 2) Verification as per IEC 60364-6
- Normative references for the above standard:
• IEC 60364 (all parts) - Low-voltage electrical installations
• IEC 60364-6 - Low-voltage electrical installation – Part 6: Verification
• IEC60364 – 7 – 712 - Electrical installations of buildings – Requirements for
special installations or locations – Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems
• IEC/TR 60755 – General requirements for requirements for residual current
operated protective devices
• IEC 61557 (all parts) – Electrical safety in low voltage distribution system up to
1000 V AC and 1500 V DC – Equipment for testing, measuring or monitoring of
protective measures
• IEC 61730 – 1 – Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification – Part 1:
Requirements for construction

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 PV Power plant testing & verification IEC/EVS EN62446

Testing Equipments 6
1. IV curve tracer 1

2. Insulation resistance
tester 2

3. Voltmeter

4. Clamp meter 3
5
5. Switches

6. Infrared Camera
4

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 PV Power plant testing & verification IEC/EVS EN62446

•String IV curve
measurement

•Insulation Resistance
testing

•Current, voltage
measurement of the
string

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 PV Power plant testing & verification IEC/EVS EN62446

•Thermograph
images taken from
IR camera

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Defects that leads to failure
Thermograph images

Module JB failure due to

higher temperature rise at
the interconnection inside
the JB.

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Defects that leads to failure
Thermograph Images

Temperature rise at the

interconnection inside
the JB due to lose
connection/improper
crimping of the wire

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Defects that leads to failure
Thermograph images

Hot Spot on the

module due to
shading by the
lightning
arrestor

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 EL Image

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 Corrosion on Frame

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 Examples of Failures

Melting of the JB from inside

due to high temperature at
the interconnection

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 Junction Box failure

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 Junction Box and Module Failures

Module failure due to arching

EVA Discolouration

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Observed defects in the field

Bad quality modules

Delaminating

Arcing effect Structure failure

between the cells

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 Module Failure ( Thin Film )

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Defects that leads to failure

Broken module
By the vehicle
Movement in the site

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Defects that leads to failure

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 Structure Failures

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 OSHA Standard ( Green Job Hazard)

•OSHA has many standards that cover them.

• Falls

• Lockout/Tagout

• Crane and Hoist Safety

• Electrical

• Heat/Cold Stress

• Personal Protective Equipment

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IV curve characteristics of the string

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Overview Solar Power Plant

 Solar thermal power plants

- Parabolic trough type
- Power tower concept
- Dish sterling type

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Solar PV Power Plant Site Layouts
Solar PV Power Plant Site Layouts
Site visuals

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Transformer, substation and switchyard visuals

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 Accreditation for Type and Component Certification for On
shore and Offshore wind turbine

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 Thank you for your attention
B.S.Arun Kumar
TÜV Rheinland India Pvt. Ltd.,
Industrial Services
# 17B, Electronics City, Phase II, Industrial Area, Begur Hobli,
Bangalore 560 100
Tel. # +91 80 30554337; Fax. # + 91 80 3055 4342; M # + 91 9620288804
E-Mail: arunkumar.bs.@ind.tuv.com
www.ind.tuv.com