Interim test methods and procedures for determining the performance of small photovoltaic systems
This document provides test methods and procedures for determining the performance of small stand-alone and utility-grid connected PV systems. The procedures in this document provide a common approach for evaluating whether a given PV system is suitable to perform the function it was designed and manufactured to accomplish and meet the application load. This test document fills a testing void and provides the catalyst and focus for establishing the technical foundation and bridging the institutional barriers needed to reduce uncertainty that a system`s performance will be what its designers and builders claim. The need for this document was recently made more apparent with the initiation of a PV Global Approval Program (PVGAP) at the international level and is in response to concerns that PV systems being fielded must meet performance standards and that these standards include system-level performance type tests. The title of these test procedures is prefaced with the word interim because experience in using the procedures is needed before a consensus standard is developed and accepted by the PV community through its activities with the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 21 (SCC21) and International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 82 (IEC TC82) national and international standards-making bodies. Both entities have initiated projects to develop test standards and will need the technical basis and validation of test procedures such as those presented in this document before a consensus is achieved by the PV community.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-83CH10093
- OSTI ID:
- 656853
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/TP--520-25077; ON: DE98007057
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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