PD IEC PAS 62257-10:2017

What is PD IEC PAS 62257-10-Silicon solar module inspection guide about? 

PD IEC PAS 62257-10 is designed to be used as a guide to visually inspect front-contact polycrystalline and mono-crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for major defects. The modules under consideration may be of any size or rated power, however, some specific use-cases for solar modules may have different requirements, and therefore adaption of PD IEC PAS 62257-10 is application and institution dependent.  

PD IEC PAS 62257-10 is meant to supplement and support rather than replace existing international testing standards lack of visually observable defects is necessary but not sufficient to determine if a module would pass IEC 61215 testing.  

Who is PD IEC PAS 62257-10- Silicon solar module inspection guide for? 

PD IEC PAS 62257-10 on renewable energy and hybrid systems is useful to: 

• Silicon solar module manufacturers 
• Companies involved in solar energy engineering 
• Solar photovoltaic industry 
• Solar cell and panel manufacturers 
• Photovoltaic power system manufacturers 

Why should you use PD IEC PAS 62257-10- Silicon solar module inspection guide? 

A silicon solar module is a solar panel built of silicon semiconductors. A collection of PV cells arranged in restricted panel functions as a solar energy collector.  

PD IEC PAS 62257-10 provides a terminology section and a checklist, followed by a table cataloguing and describing the defects to be visually inspected. The schematics in the terminology section describe where each component is found on a common solar PV module. 

A severity rating is also defined to give you guidelines on how concerning a particular defect may be. In the checklist and the catalogue of defects, defects have been organized by the component of the module on which they appear, followed by severity rating. 

Compliance with PD IEC PAS 62257-10 can help you standardize terms on visualizing defects that helps prevent misinterpretation and miscommunication and eliminates ambiguity. 

Several applications could be envisioned for PD IEC PAS 62257-10, including use by: 

• Border agents to inspect product shipments at ports of entry to a country. Standardized rejection criteria could be used as grounds for barring defective products for import in conjunction with an adopted IEC standard such as IEC 61215 
• Standards agencies or regulatory authorities in search and seizure efforts. A tool that can be used onsite to determine if defective or fraudulent products are found for sale in markets 
• Retailers/distributors to ensure they are receiving acceptable quality products from manufacturers 
• Installers/technicians when selecting a product from retailers or distributors for customers 
• Educators as a teaching tool for students of solar energy, for example when training technicians 
• Inspectors of already installed solar products to catalogue defects and attempt to troubleshoot failures 

Thus, PD IEC PAS 62257-10 can assist you with best industry practices for accurate and efficient defect detection that can minimize risk of product failures. Accurate defect identification is also critical for timely implementation of risk mitigation measures.