TÜV SÜD: The 600W era brings closer cooperation between industry chains

Driven by the wave of low-price grids, photovoltaic modules are moving towards large-size and high-power with more and more diverse technology combinations. With the emergence of new manufacturing technologies and new system application technologies one after another, the control and evaluation of new business formats becomes more and more important. The cooperation between certified companies and manufacturing companies also extends to the exploration of next-generation technologies and the control of the overall performance of the power station.

Xu Hailiang, vice president of TÜV SÜD Smart Energy, introduced the related work of TÜV SÜD and component manufacturers in 600W component technology. "The emergence of 600W components puts high demands on the capabilities of test laboratories, and customers urgently need to verify the performance and safety of products."

TÜV SÜD has been deeply involved in photovoltaics and smart energy in China for more than ten years, and has extensive experience in testing and certification. TÜV SÜD has conducted photovoltaic technology exchanges with mainstream diode chip suppliers, photovoltaic component suppliers, and module factories, and developed a one-stop solution from chips to complete machines, meeting the market’s demand for test requirements of this new technology.  In addition, for new application scenarios of photovoltaic modules, such as higher ambient working temperature and application products as consumer products, TÜV SÜD also cooperates with enterprises to launch new testing and certification programs.

At present, there are two main technologies used in 600W modules, one is larger size, the other is higher efficiency, or both. The challenge of large-size components to test resources mainly comes from the dimensional limitations of environmental chambers, solar simulators, and some mechanical load testers.

“The test instruments previously designed for conventional modules must be upgraded as soon as possible. Our laboratory has also purchased a larger environmental box to meet the testing needs of large-sized modules. The calibration of the solar simulator has also been expanded to the range of 2.6mx1.6m. The same static mechanical load and dynamic mechanical load equipment have also been updated." Xu Hailiang said, "The impact of high-efficiency components such as components using HIT technology on output power measurement is mainly the capacitance effect of the battery, which is the most effective solution. The solution is to use a long pulse simulator, and our laboratory currently has a long pulse simulator that can offset the capacitive effect."

While new-generation products are improving in terms of performance, safety assessments must be strengthened. In this regard, Xu Hailiang pointed out seriously, “Performance and safety are often two sides of the same coin. To balance it, product designers need to take them into consideration when developing products.”

The size change will affect the mechanical strength of the components, and new frame design schemes or new installation methods are required. The current and power of high-efficiency components are relatively high, and the corresponding temperature rise when hot spots is generated will be higher, and the temperature of the components will be higher when they are working stably, which has a higher risk of fire. Pay attention to the promotion of the corresponding parameters. "It is also very important that the improvement of module performance must take into account the matching of the entire photovoltaic industry chain, such as the selection of higher performance junction boxes, connectors, diodes and other components, and more matching inverters, brackets and other BOS parts." Xu Hailiang emphasized.

In the photovoltaic industry, there has always been a phenomenon that the development of standards lags behind the development of the industry. The earliest standards were component standards, and then standards for parts, materials, systems, etc. were slowly released. As the world's leading certification body, TÜV SÜD not only contributes to the development of standards, but also continuously develops new technical solutions to meet the needs of the evolving industry.

According to Xu Hailiang, in the absence of corresponding international and domestic standards, TÜV SÜD has developed the certification of floating body materials for surface floating power stations to assess long-term reliability of floating body materials from the perspectives of material reliability, structural reliability, wind and wave resistance, etc.. In addition, TÜV SÜD has also innovatively developed an evaluation program for photovoltaic tracking brackets, filling the industry’s gap in technology evaluation in this new field.

For the development of the photovoltaic industry in the new era, Xu Hailiang also gave his own experience. "The industrial characteristic of the new era is that the scale effect is getting stronger and stronger. With its scale effect, large companies have more and more voice and lead the direction of this industry. At the same time, the 600W era may make the cooperation between  firms of photovoltaic industry chain more closer  and the coordination and cooperation between the upstream, middle and downstream more complete,giving full play to the full advantages of large-size and high-power modules."

Finally, he suggested that far-sighted industry practitioners should also pay attention to "stable" on the basis of "fast", and on the basis of "efficiency", they should also pay attention to the "safety" of products. Take into account the long-term "reliability" of products. Stability, reliability, and safety require that products and systems refer to standards at the design stage and conduct scientific verification before being put on the market. Let everyone not only afford photovoltaic power generation, but also dare to use photovoltaic power generation, so that they can look up to the blue sky with their feet on the ground.