PV Standards Overview

A brief historical perspective and current status of the on going evolution of photovoltaic standards development and the use of these standards in promulgating accepted practices used in producing, measuring, and deploying Photovoltaic (PV) components and systems in the field. After nearly 20 years of experience in developing and writing domestic and international consensus PV standards the needand importance of standard methods and practices continues, as in the past, to be essential for a maturing PV industry. Part of this maturity has been in establishing and maintaining a common ground through the development of consensus standards and furthering the use of standards for PV commercialization in support of test facility accreditation, product certification, systems deployment, andsafety code development to assure PV quality, performance, reliability, and safety.