IEC 61730-2 Photovoltaic Module Compliance Testing
IEC 61730 2 and EN 61730 2 testing describes the testing requirements for photovoltaic modules to provide safe electrical and mechanical operation during their expected lifetime. IEC 61730-2 addresses the prevention of electrical shock, fire hazards, and personal injury due to mechanical and environmental stresses.
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Summary of IEC 61730-2 Photovoltaic Compliance Testing
IEC 61730-2 describes the testing requirements for photovoltaic (PV) modules to provide safe electrical and mechanical operation during their expected lifetime. Specific procedures in this standard assess the prevention of electrical shock, fire hazards, and personal injury due to mechanical and environmental stresses.
IEC 61730-1 pertains to the particular requirements of construction. On the other hand, IEC 61730-2 outlines the requirements of regulatory compliance testing.
EN 61730-2 defines the basic requirements for various application classes of photovoltaic modules. However, the standard can not be considered to encompass all national or regional building codes. The specific requirements for marine and vehicle applications are not covered. This standard does not apply to modules with integrated AC inverters (AC modules).
This standard is designed so that its test sequence can coordinate with those of IEC 61215 or IEC 61646. This is so that a single set of samples may be used to perform both the safety and performance evaluation of a photovoltaic module design.
IEC 61730-2 Compliance Testing Procedures
The test sequences of this standard are arranged optimally so that tests of IEC 61215 or IEC 61646 can be used as basic preconditioning tests.
The sequence of tests required in this standard may not test for all possible safety aspects associated with the use of PV modules in all possible applications. This standard utilizes the best sequence of tests available at the time of its writing. There are some issues, such as the potential danger of electric shock posed by a broken module in a high voltage system, that should be addressed by the systems design, location, restrictions on access, and maintenance procedures.
The object of this document is to provide the testing sequence intended to verify the safety of PV modules whose construction has been assessed by IEC 61730-1. The test sequence and pass criteria are designed to detect the potential breakdown of internal and external components of PV modules that would result in fire, electric shock, and personal injury. The standard defines the basic safety test requirements and additional tests that are a function of the module end-use applications.
Test categories include general inspection, electrical shock hazard, fire hazard, mechanical stress, and environmental stress.
Environmental Stresses
- Thermal cycling
- Humidity freeze
- Damp heat
- UV preconditioning
- Cold conditioning
- Dry hot conditioning
General Inspection
- Visual inspection
- Performance at STC
- Maximum power determination
- Insulation thickness
- Durability markings
- Sharp edge test
Fire Hazard
- Temperature test
- Hot-spot endurance test
- Fire test
- Ignitability test
- Bypass diode thermal test
- Reverse current load test
Electrical Shock
- Accessibility test
- Cut susceptibility test
- Impulse voltage test
- Insulation test
- Wet leakage current
- Robustness of terminations test
Mechanical Shock
- Module breakage test
- Screw connection test
- Mechanical load test
- Peel test
- Lap shear strength test
- Materials creep test
Expert IEC 61730-2 Photovoltaic Laboratory Testing
Keystone Compliance assists manufacturers with IEC 61730-2 and EN 61730-2 test compliance. In addition to IEC 61730-2 testing, Keystone has a full scope of expertise including environmental and package testing such as temperature, accelerated aging, and ingress protection.
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For more standards on photovoltaic compliance testing, please visit the following pages below: