2013-02-05SKN_N0213R0

SOLAR KEYMARK-Scheme Rules for PVT certification

-Requirements and Recommendations -

Revision 4.0 issued 2013-02-05 by Ulrich Fritzsche (TÜV Rheinland)

Co-authors: JoakimByström (Absolicon), Daniel Eggert (ISFH), Korbinian Kramer (Fraunhofer ISE),Sören Scholz (DINCERTCO), Mark Witt (TÜV Rheinland PTL), Stephan Fischer (ITW)

Due to the fact, that there is no standard fully covering photovoltaic and thermal PVT Hybrid collectors or a standard mentioning PVT’s (neither within current EN 12975-1 or -2 nor within IEC 61215; 61646; 62108; 61730), there’s a need of additional requirements within Solar KEYMARK Scheme Rules to ensure a harmonized procedure within the third parties involved in the Solar KEYMARK certification.

The new revision of EN 12975-1 which will be expected within 2013will explicitly include PVT Hybrids into its scope. Under chapter5.2 describing the required tests 5.2.5 Electrical safety (for PVT solar collectors only)describes therequirements for PVT’s:

PVT-solar collectors have to comply with Annex D of EN 12975-1

Enclosed, you will find an extract out of Annex D of EN 12975-1:

It’s under the responsibility of the certification body how they achieve, if the PVT complies with the relevant standards. This may be done by amanufacturer declaration or by requiring the relevant certificates.

The Solar Keymark test labs are not directly involved into that procedure.

For the manufacturer and distributor of PVT, the much more relevant document is the European low voltage directive as it is a legal requirement in every country of the EU:

Beside this references, the European Low Voltage directive 2006/95/EG is covering all electrical devices with above 50 V AC or 75 V DC. This is the case for commercial PV modules at least, if it is possible to connect several in serial within one array. Within this directive, the Standards EN 61730 Part 1 & 2 are listed as obligate standards, which need to be tested. One part of the EN 61730-2 is a successful passed EN 61215 resp. EN 61646 test procedure. As this directive is required for the final product entering the market, also the tests need to be done with the final product and not only with the PV-laminate. At least an evaluation, if any retesting guideline need to be fulfilled has to be done by an accredited PV test lab. Otherwise, the manufacturer has to take the full responsibility for the full risk of their products alone.

How can certification bodies achieve, that PVT’s are fully complying with the relevant standards?

All required PV related tests and verification procedures need to be performed by an ISO 17025 accredited and preferably alsoIECEE accepted CBtest laboratory CBTL.

All certificates shall be issued by an EN 45011 accredited and preferably also IECEE accepted certification body CB. (see IECEE certification for PV via

The verification and certification of PVT Hybrid collectors to guarantee complying also with the electrical PV standards should take the following requirements into account:

- A:Full certification of the PVT Hybrid collector/module (not only the PV-module) according to

  • EN 61215 “Crystalline silicon terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval (IEC 61215)” ;
  • EN 61646 “Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval” (IEC 61646)
  • EN 62108 “Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules and assemblies – Design qualificationand type approval (IEC 62108)“ and
  • EN 61730-1“Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Part 1: Requirements for construction” (IEC 61730)”
  • EN 61730-2“Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Requirements for testing” (IEC 61730)”
  • IEC 62688 “Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module and assembly safety qualification” (after official publication as standard)

-B:For PVT Hybrids where the PV module has only been “modified” after original manufacture to operate in hybrid, such as through adhesive or mechanical bond between absorber and module, it is possible to use the original PV-module certificate (according to the above listed standards), if a verification procedure confirms, that the assembly of the PVT did not adversely affect PV components and the PV module safety and durability through evaluation based on the IEC 61215, 61646, 62108 and 61730 retest guidelines

  • CTL decision sheet DSH0647A:2010 “Retest Guidelines for IEC 61215 and IEC°61646”
  • CTL decision sheet DSH0770:2010 “Retest Guidelines for IEC 61730-1/-2”
  • CTL decision sheet DSH0778:2010 “Retesting guideline for changes in CPV cell package technology”

-Consideration of temperature test results (under stagnation conditions) within IEC 61730 test procedureas well as requirements for all polymers as defined in IEC 61730-1
Remark: Most PV-module test standards are only considering standard PV modules without any thermal insulation or additional cover. For the definition of thefinal test procedure, the resulting raised stagnation temperature need to be taken into account . In some cases for example, the climate chamber temperature need to be adapted.

-Full EN 12975 test of the PVT Hybrid according to SK Scheme Rulesby a SOLAR KEYMARK-recognized test laboratory

-Thermal performance detection shall be performed with the PV-module working in MPP mode as main working conditions. Additional performance tests with PV-module working in open or short circuit mode are possible. The reference values for the data sheet will always be the ones detected with MPP mode for PV.

-Reference of IEC (or IECEE) certification within Test-Report, Solar KEYMARK Data Sheet, and Solar KEYMARK certificate (similar to the solar thermal system certificate according to EN 12976 with reference to the collector certificate according to EN 12975).

-Calculation of output power both thermal and electrical, including interaction of thermal on electrical performance according to ScenoCalc (if applicable).If it is not applicable, it need to be clearly stated, that the recent data sheet is only an interim solution until the calculation is implemented in ScenoCalc.The electrical operation mode used for thermal performance test and energy prediction need to be stated.

Only a few Solar KEYMARK recognized testing laboratories are also accredited for IEC testing. The verification of electrical safety or PV durability aspects shall only be performed by IECEE accepted CBTL’s with scopes including the above mentioned IEC standards. SK certification bodies shall only do the document examination, that all required certificates and verification reports are available.