Solar Power

This guide is primarily concerned with the grounding system design for photovoltaic solar power plants that are utility owned and/or utility scale (5 MW or greater). The focus of the guide is on differences in practices from substation grounding as provided in IEEE Std 80. This guide is not intended for the substations to interconnect the plant; however, if the substation is included within the plant, portions of this guide may be applicable. Similarly, this guide does not directly cover small scale solar power plants (such as rooftop type systems), substation grounding, or lightning protection.

IEC TS 63157:2019 lays out recommendations for best practices for product realization, safety, customer satisfaction, and stakeholders' relationship used in the manufacture of power conversion equipment (PCE). This document captures key requirements customers would like to see completed to ensure high-quality products, specifically, that the products have the documented properties, including properties needed to give customer satisfaction with regard to the warranty. The object of this document is to provide more confidence in the ongoing consistency of performance and reliability of certified power conversion equipment. The requirements of this document are defined with the assumption that the quality management system of the organization has already fulfilled the requirements of ISO 9001 or equivalent quality management system. These guidelines also form the basis for factory audit criteria of such sites by various certifying and auditory bodies. This document covers manufacture of electronic power conversion equipment intended for use in terrestrial PV applications. The term PCE refers to equipment and components for electronic power conversion of electric power into another kind of electric power with respect to voltage, current and frequency. This document applies to PCE in both indoor and outdoor open-air climates as defined in IEC 60721-2-1 and IEC 60721-3-3. Such equipment may include, but is not limited to, DC-to-AC inverters, DC-to-DC converters and battery charge converters.

IEC TS 63156:2021 describes the procedure for evaluating the energy conversion performance of stand-alone or grid-connected power conversion equipment (PCE) used in PV systems. This procedure includes the calculation of inverter performance to anticipate the energy yield of PV systems. This evaluation method is based on standard power efficiency calculation procedures for PCE found in IEC 61683 and IEC 62891, but provides additional methods for evaluating the expected overall energy efficiency for a particular location given solar load profiles. This document can be used as the energy evaluation method for PCE in IEC TS 61724-3, which defines a procedure for evaluating a PV system’s actual energy production relative to its modeled or expected performance.

IEC TS 63019:2019 provides a framework from which the availability metrics of a PVPS can be derived and reported. It describes how data are categorized and defines generic information categories to which time can be assigned for a PVPS considering internal and external conditions based on fraction of time, system health, and condition by specifying the following: - generic information categories of a PVPS considering availability and production. - information category priority to discriminate between concurrent categories. - entry and exit point for each information category to allocate designation of time. The PVPS comprises all photovoltaic (PV) modules, inverters, DC and AC collection systems, grid interconnection equipment, the site, its infrastructure, and all functional service elements. Formulas in this document provide normative guidance for standardization. Beyond that, it is not the intention of this document to specify exactly how other undefined, time-based availability metrics shall be calculated. The annexes are examples and guiding principles for developing methods for calculation and estimation of availability metrics, subject to the knowledge and concurrence for use by the involved stakeholders. Estimates and calculations also have recommendations on how they are to be used as part of the informative function.

IEC TS 62989:2018(E) encompasses key characteristics of primary optical elements (lenses and mirrors) and lens or mirror parquets for concentrator photovoltaics including: optical performance, mechanical geometry, mechanical strength, materials, and surface morphology. The document identifies the essential characteristics, the corresponding quantities of interest, and provides a method for measurement of each quantity.

IEC TS 62916:2017(E) describes a discrete component bypass diode electrostatic discharge (ESD) immunity test and data analysis method. The test method described subjects a bypass diode to a progressive ESD stress test and the analysis method provides a means for analyzing and extrapolating the resulting failures using the two-parameter Weibull distribution function. It is the object of this document to establish a common and reproducible test method for determining diode surge voltage tolerance consistent with an ESD event during the manufacturing, packaging, transportation or installation processes of PV modules.

IEC TS 62915:2018(E) sets forth a uniform approach to maintain type approval, design and safety qualification of terrestrial PV modules that have undergone, or will undergo modification from their originally assessed design. Changes in material selection, components and manufacturing process can impact electrical performance, reliability and safety of the modified product. This document lists typical modifications and the resulting requirements for retesting based on the different test standards. This document is closely related to the IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 series of standards.

IEC TS 62910:2020 RLV contains both the official IEC International Standard and its Redline version. The Redline version is available in English only and provides you with a quick and easy way to compare all the changes between the official IEC Standard and its previous edition. IEC TS 62910:2020 provides a test procedure for evaluating the performance of Under Voltage Ride-Through (UVRT) functions in inverters used in utility-interconnected Photovoltaic (PV) systems. This document is most applicable to large systems where PV inverters are connected to utility high voltage (HV) distribution systems. However, the applicable procedures may also be used for low voltage (LV) installations in locations where evolving UVRT requirements include such installations, e.g. single-phase or 3-phase systems. The assessed UVRT performance is valid only for the specific configuration and operational mode of the inverter under test. Separate assessment is required for the inverter in other factory or user-settable configurations, as these may cause the inverter UVRT response to behave differently. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition issued in 2015 and constitutes a technical revision.

IEC TS 62804-1:2015(E) defines procedures to test and evaluate the durability of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules to the effects of short-term high-voltage stress including potential-induced degradation (PID). Two test methods are defined that do not inherently produce equivalent results. They are given as screening tests; neither test includes all the factors existing in the natural environment that can affect the PID rate. The methods describe how to achieve a constant stress level. The testing in this Technical Specification is designed for crystalline silicon PV modules with one or two glass surfaces, silicon cells having passivating dielectric layers, for degradation mechanisms involving mobile ions influencing the electric field over the silicon semiconductor, or electronically interacting with the silicon semiconductor itself.

IEC 62804-1-1:2020 defines procedures to test and evaluate for potential-induced degradation-delamination (PID-d) mode in the laminate of crystalline silicon PV modules-principally those with one or two glass faces. This document evaluates delamination attributable to current transfer between ground and the module cell circuit. Elements driving the delamination that this test is designed to actuate include reduced adhesion associated with damp heat exposure, sodium accumulation at interfaces, and cathodic gas evolution in the cell circuit, metallization, and other components within the PV module activated by the voltage potential. The change in power of crystalline silicon PV modules associated with the stress factors applied (the purview of IEC TS 62804-1) is not considered in the scope.