Rooftop Solar PV Quality and Safety in Developing Countries - Key Issues and Potential Solutions

Technical Report · Wed Jan 19 04:00:00 EST 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1841962· OSTI ID:1841962

Campton, Mike ^[1]; Aznar, Alexandra ^[1]; Gokhale-Welch, Carishma ^[1]; Repins, Ingrid ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

To scale solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment in developing countries, the technology must be safe and reliable, meeting both customer and utility expectations. However, challenges exist in achieving these goals. Because PV systems are novel and complex, the majority of consumers are unable to distinguish between low- and high-quality systems; many may invest based on price alone. Suboptimal PV system performance and safety incidents can have downstream impacts on the solar industry and customer adoption because of unmet expectations and negative publicity. Rooftop solar system components vary in quality, and inadequate training could lead to poor installation practices. And even if inspection checklists, certification procedures, and standards are available, they may not be widely used in countries if they are not mandatory, the workforce is not aware of them, or installers lack the technical capacity to comply. Despite the numerous solar quality and safety challenges developing countries may face, lessons learned and best practices from around the world can address them.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1841962
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-7A40-81594; MainId:82367; UUID:161a7411-5815-4e24-b94a-c8bbeea7eaca; MainAdminID:63689
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Developing Countries
PV
Photovoltaics
Quality
Safety
Solar
USAID