Proceedings of the 1999 Photovoltaic Performance and Reliability Workshop, 18-21 October 1999, Vail, Colorado

This report compiles the presentations made at the 1999 Photovoltaic Performance and Reliability Workshop, held on October 18-2 1, 1999, in Vail, Colorado. Also included are summary notes of the workshop discussion sessions. The theme of the workshop was 'Setting a Standard for PV Performance and Reliability,' with the focus on testing, test methods, evaluation, and standards. The workshopprovided a venue for technical discussions on four topical areas: module rating, module qualification, power processing, and systems. Tutorial presentations and open discussion on individual concerns, issues, and solutions both served as the means for all to contribute and learn from one another. A repeated theme was that we need to ensure that the U.S. PV industry is in concert with, and at theforefront of, international PV module and systems technology activities. An overview of the outcome of the workshop includes the following. I) Module Performance Rating. IEEE PAR 1479 'Draft Recommended Practice for the Evaluation of Photovoltaic Module Energy Production' - proceed with validating the models, inputs, and the standard's clauses; complete the draft by the IEEE working group; lookclosely at the need to develop a similar activity for system energy rating. II) Module Qualification Testing. IEEE Std. 1262 'Recommended Practice for Qualification of PV Modules' - establish a PAR for 1262 test program revisions; continue validation of proposed new qualification tests at NREL, ISPRA, and U.S. PV industry and test lab facilities. How do we ensure that new products and potentialnew failure mechanisms are included in qualification program? And, a repeated statement was that reliability testing should be done and that it should include module qualification.; IIl) Power Processing. It was recommended to pursue new IEEE PARS for inverters and for charge controllers. The most pressing concerns expressed by individuals included system design and system components integrationaspects; reliability assurance; interconnection and the need for a uniform, national approach; testing; and, infrastructure development, e.g., outreach/education, qualification, accreditation, certification, and national/international standards development. IV) Systems Evaluation. The most pressing concerns stated primarily reiterated the concerns in the power processing session, and additionalconcerns were about installation. There was much discussion about packaged systems and appliance-level approaches to PV systems and their validation. IEEE PAR 1373 'Draft Recommended Field Test Methods and Procedures for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems.' There was much discussion of the appropriate levels of recommended testing; it was recommended to complete this IEEE Draft Std 1373 and tofocus on the need to develop an IEEE PAR activity for system energy rating. IEEE PAR 1526 - 'Draft Recommended Practice for Testing the Performance of Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems' - it was recommended to build on the completed initial testing validation at four U.S. sites by conducting a validation of the revised practices, and aggressively pursue the previously initiated internationaltesting validation involvement.