A new quality standard has been developed for manufacturing photovoltaic solar panels. Included in the IEC 62941 rules are requirements that manufacturers must assess possible system failures and take mitigation steps throughout the construction process, create a reliability test program to monitor PV module performance, improve product traceability throughout the supply chain, and obtain IEC certification.
The implementation of the new standard is expected to boost end user confidence in the reliability and performance of solar panels, which is expected to cut solar financing expenses in turn. The benchmarks were developed by researchers from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as well as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International PV Quality Assurance Task Force (PVQAT) and will work together with the existing ISO-9001 requirements.
