Trend for the Solar Photovoltaic Market
and Product Certification
Solar energy is known for being clean and plentiful. In light of escalating oil prices and growing concerns over global warming, governments are increasingly placing greater importance on solar technology.

Solar Energy Trend

According to a survey conducted by Solarbuzz, an independent solar energy research company, the demand for photovoltaic (PV) products has been rising for the last 20 years. The installed capacity of PV solar systems around the world has increased from 340MW in 2001 to 1,744MW in 2006, more than quadrupled in five years and growing at an annual rate of about 39% on average. Most of these installations are grid connected.

With policy incentives such as loan schemes and “feed-in tariffs”, Germany and Japan have become the two largest PV markets in the world. In 2006, Germany accounted for 55% (960MW) of the world’s total installed capacity while Japan’s share was 17% (300MW). However, in terms of growth compared with 2005, the two countries have slowed down with growth in Germany at 16% and no growth in Japan.

With the implementation of the California Solar Initiative program, United States, the world’s largest energy consumer, witnessed a rapid growth of 33% in PV installations with 140MW newly installed capacity in 2006 and has become the world’s third largest market for PV applications (equal to 8% of the global market share). To encourage the development of the industry, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and other states have committed to funding the installation of PV solar systems over the next 15 years, with a target capacity of 7GW in total. With the drive and incentives of the state governments, market potential in the United States should not be understated.

Solarbuzz forecast that in 2011, in a balanced energy scenario, Germany’s share in global installed capacity will drop to 31%; whilst in a production led scenario, demand in the United States will soar to account for 23% of the world total.

Other markets with development potentials include Spain, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, China, India and Australia.

Current Status and Challenge

From a supply point of view, the production of solar cells reached a capacity of 2,083MW in 2006, amounted to total sales of US$10.6 billion (including installation of solar photovoltaic modules, related parts and systems). Solarbuzz estimated that by 2011 sales achieved by the PV industry worldwide will be between US$18.6 billion and US$31.5 billion.

In view of the vast market potential, coupled with efforts by countries around the world, in particular the developed economies, to develop the PV industry, more and more manufacturers will participate in the market.

According to a research report published by Greenpeace and The European Photovoltaic Industry Association, in 2006 there were about 42 new chips, cells and modules manufacturers joining the competition, boosting the number of manufacturers capable of producing 10MW or more to over 150. As competition will be increasingly fierce, an early move to start product design, explore potential markets and build up sustainable competitive edges will be a key to the success of PV manufacturers.

According to a research report published by Greenpeace and The European Photovoltaic Industry Association, in 2006 there were about 42 new chips, cells and modules manufacturers joining the competition, boosting the number of manufacturers capable of producing 10MW or more to over 150. As competition will be increasingly fierce, an early move to start product design, explore potential markets and build up sustainable competitive edges will be a key to the success of PV manufacturers.

Product Certification and Standards

The main parts and components in a PV system include a PV module and panel, junction box, inverter and power converter. As these products are placed in the outdoor over a long period of time, there are stringent safety and performance requirements for PV products sold in the European and U.S. markets (refer to Table 1).

With regard to the sales of Building-integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products in the United States, in addition to meeting the UL 1703 Standards, the products must fulfill other relevant standards or pass additional assessments as required, depending on what materials the products will replace and where the products will be installed (refer to Table 2).

Other standards for PV products that are still in draft form include: IEC 62109 Safety of Power Converters for Use in Photovoltaic Power Systems and IEC 62108 Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Modules and Assemblies — Design Qualification and Type Approval.

UL has proposed to the U.S. Government to adopt IEC 61730 as the national standard for the United States. Though the final adoption of the proposal may take time, one thing for sure is that certification for both safety and performance of PV products is the way to go.

UL’s One-stop Certification Services for Photovoltaic Products

UL’s research in PV product standards dated back as early as the 1980s. In addition the UL standards, UL has also been active in developing the IEC standards and promoting harmonization of UL and IEC standards. Hitherto, in the arena of photovoltaic product certification, UL is a key player in both setting standards and as a third party certification body.

UL is the only National Certification Body (NCB) in the United States that is qualified to recognize and issue CB certificate for PV products under the CB Scheme. In addition to providing PV manufacturers the trusted UL and cUL certification marks, UL also offers services such as conducting IEC compliance tests for PV products and issuing CB certifications to compliant products.

Manufacturers of PV modules are also offered the “UL + CB Photovoltaic Product Certification Service” which combines the UL 1703 and IEC 61215/ IEC 61646 test schemes. This service enables manufacturers to acquire the relevant certifications for both the U.S. and EU markets with just one test, which permits early market entry and greatly reduces certification costs.

Application for UL Certification

In general, there are two stages regarding the application for UL Photovoltaic Product Certification: preliminary investigation and listing investigation.

	•	Preliminary Investigation Preliminary Investigation mainly investigates whether the construction, design and materials comply with the standards required. Upon completion of the assessment, UL will produce a report in the form of a letter listing non-compliant materials and structures in detail. The information facilitates the manufacturers to rectify the non-compliant items in the report before listing evaluation. If the manufacturer can provide details of the changes made to the non-compliant items, a second assessment before listing investigation will not be necessary. If the manufacturer later makes substantial changes to the construction or materials of the product that requires listing investigation, such as use of different PV cells, use of unrecognized plastics for EVA and the back panel, a smaller scale structural assessment pinpointing the changes will be required before the commencement of listing investigation. Preliminary Investigation aims to help manufacturers identify potential problems in their products at an early stage so as to avoid failing the certification at the listing investigation stage because of non-compliant construction or materials. We therefore recommend manufacturers to apply for preliminary investigation at an early product development stage.
	•	Listing Investigation When product development nears completion, the manufacturer may apply to UL for a listing investigation. UL will conduct engineering evaluations and tests according to the appropriate standards. After the initial production inspection (only applicable to factories manufacturing UL certified PV product the first time) and confirmation of product compliance, UL will issue a Notice of Authorization (NoA) to the manufacturer. Information of the PV product qualified for a UL listing will be posted in the UL online database which is a free resource for customers to obtain relevant information of that product. For further information or enquiries, please contact your local UL office.

Reference:
1.	Solarbuzz LLC, “MARKETBUZZTM 2007 Annual World Solar Photovoltaic Industry Report”, March 2007. (Report summary available on www.solarbuzz.com)
2.	Greenpeace and European Photovoltaic Industry Association, “Solar Generation Report”, Third and Fourth Editions, September 2006 and September 2007. (Available on www.epia.org)