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To realize the EU target of energy transition to a carbon neutral energy system, wide scale deployment of photovoltaic solar energy is required. This report describes the contribution of the European Solar Test Installation to enable this transition., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

This document contains proposal for the establishment of transition methods in order to facilitate the introduction of regulations governing ECODESIGN , ECOLabel , Energy Label and GPP. This draft has been prepared for the 2nd Stakeholder Meeting for the PV Ecodesign Preliminary Study. The final version will be available at the conclusion of the preparatory study in 2019., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

This report outlines the JRC contribution to standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. The JRC continues to play a significant role in European and International standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. In particular JRC staff are convenors for working groups in both the relevant International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) technical committees, and were the project leader of two standards (IEC 61853-3 and IEC 61853-4) which were published by the IEC in 2018. JRC is also the project leader for another 3 standards (IEC 60904-1, IEC 60904-4 and IEC 60904-10) which are progressing through the standardisation process and has made contributions to 24 others (as part of the various project teams)., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

Photovoltaics (PV) are expected to make a major contribution to achieving European and global climate change mitigation goals over the coming 35 years. It is the renewable energy technology with the largest scope for cost reduction and efficiency gains, as well as exploiting the largest resource. The rapid technical evolution needs to be matched by standards to ensure the highest level possible of product quality, reliability and sustainability, as well as transparent market conditions. This requires reliable, reproducible and widely applicable measurement protocols for the assessment of electrical performance of PV devices of traditional as well as emerging PV technologies. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) plays a prominent role in developing, validating and implementing such measurement protocols, exploiting more than 35 years of expertise developed in the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI), the European Commission’s reference laboratory to validate electrical performance and lifetime of PV devices. The JRC works together with policy makers, industry and the research community to monitor the progress of PV technology and helps develop the solutions for the future. This directly supports the European Union’s objective of attaining an increasing share of renewable energies in the market (20% in 2020 and at least 32% in 2030). ESTI is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration laboratory. As such, it is involved in benchmarking, intercomparisons (bilateral and round robin (RR)) and proficiency tests to maintain and improve its measurement capabilities for solar irradiance and electrical performance of PV devices. The results of these international activities is directly used, mainly through the International Electrotechnical Commission’s Technical Committee 82 (IEC TC 82), as input for revision of existing standards or for development of new standards for assessment of the electrical performance of PV devices. This work concerns both measurement methods and PV technologies. Furthermore, ESTI actively promotes transfer of knowledge about the measurement procedures to the European and International research community, provides the PV traceability chain by generating PV reference materials for its partners and clients and offers verification of PV devices (mainly based on new technologies). In this report the activities of 2018 are summarised. Starting from the traceability chain of solar irradiance measurements according to international standards, the activities of ESTI in establishing the PV traceability chain at its own laboratory is outlined. Then the activities in international intercomparison measurements for the major instruments used in the traceability chain are described, starting from cavity radiometers and spectroradiometers to PV devices (both cells and modules). These serve to establish the traceability, stability and conformity of ESTI calibration measurements. This in-house metrology activity is then used to provide the PV traceability chain to clients and partners by generating reference materials, i.e. by calibrating PV cells and modules for them under the ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as calibration laboratory. Another crucial activity is to verify those PV devices which claim to have achieved extraordinary performance, be it world record efficiencies or other performance beyond the usual. Last not least, the activities on measurement methods are described, which span from the actual development of new methods and their validation to their implementation into the ESTI quality system and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation scope. Thereby, this annual report: — verifies the status of ESTI’s unique independent traceability chain for solar irradiance measurements; — summarises benchmarking activities with peer external international organisations; — summarises results of PV device calibrations performed for EU industry and research organisations; — provides an update on the adequacy of measurement methods used to assess the electrical performance of PV products and prototypes., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

To support the on-going preparatory activities on the feasibility of applying the EcoDesign, EU Energy label, EU Ecolabel and Green Public Procurement (GPP) policy instruments to solar photovoltaic modules, inverters and systems, this report aims to: • Identify, describe and compare existing standards and new standards under development, relevant to energy performance, reliability, degradation and lifetime. • Identify aspects not covered by existing standards, for which transitional methods may be needed., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

The Energy Efficiency and Renewables Unit of Directorate C of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre hosted the second annual joint training workshop with the Politecnico di Milano. The training workshop was held in the context of a special training day on Photovoltaic's for Integration of Renewable Energy Solution in the Mediterranean electricity markets. Participants from Mediterranean and African countries representing utilities, energy purchasers, economists, local and national governments and administrations from 14 countries attended the workshop. Presentations were made on: • The state of the art of Photovoltaic technologies, • The situation of African PV deployment with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean countries • The applications and potential for the JRC PVGIS model to help planning deployment, management and monitoring of distributed installations • The role that international standards play in ensuring the reliability and quality of supply from renewable energy sources., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

Characterisation of 4 crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules mounted on an electric vehicle and exposed outdoor for more than 20 years was performed. Heavy soiling was apparent and manual cleaning led to an average increase of Pmax of 14%, due mainly to an increase in Isc. One of the modules presented a severe damage with a FF below 37% and a decrease in the Pmax around -55%. An annual degradation rate of -0.24% for the module on the bonnet (different manufacturer than the other modules) and between -0.84 to -2.75% for the other modules was obtained, being slight greater than other reported values for crystalline silicon bared modules. The visual inspection showed modules heavily soiled and different defects, such as finger interruptions, discoloration, delamination and broken cells were apparent. Electroluminescence and IR imaging enabled the identification of modules with defects of the cells that can cause high cell temperatures during module operation, potentially leading to damages and a relation between the soiling parts and the relative EL intensity was found., JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewables

33rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2007-2012, Nominal power measurements of individual PV modules are needed to quantify the critical modules of PV plants offering lower energy production than expected. Today’s state of the art procedure of shipping a small number of modules to a laboratory is time- and cost intensive and it bears the chance of accidental damage. The Portable LED Flasher (PLF) was developed to require no dismounting of the modules. The quality of the PLF was tested on three PV plants in Switzerland. Additionally, ten PV modules of each plant were measured in the certified indoor laboratory of SUPSI, resulting in a maximum deviation of 3% of the STC values. Furthermore, a round robin test on a single crystalline silicon reference module at 25°C was performed at the JRC’s ESTI laboratory, the Swiss Mobile Flasher Bus and SUPSI resulting in a maximum deviation of the mean values below 1% compared to the PLF. A throughput of up to 150 modules or 500 modules respectively per day is expected and the total measurement costs are estimated to be about a tenth of the costs compared to an indoor laboratory. Module temperature measurement is crucial for a low total uncertainty. Thus, methods such as pre-shadowing of the module and approximation of cell temperature are the current focus of further improvement of the PLF measurement method.

The electrical ageing of photovoltaic modules during extended damp-heat tests at different stress levels is investigated for three types of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules with different backsheets, encapsulants and cell types. Deploying different stress levels allows determination of an equivalent stress dose function, which is a first step towards a lifetime prediction of devices. The derived humidity dose is used to characterise the degradation of power as well as that of the solar cell's equivalent circuit parameters calculated from measured current–voltage characteristics. An application of this to the samples demonstrates different modes in the degradation and thus enables better understanding of the module's underlying ageing mechanisms. The analysis of changes in the solar cell equivalent circuit parameters identified the primary contributors to the power degradation and distinguished the potential ageing mechanism for each types of module investigated in this paper. © 2016 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This work was supported in part by the European Commission under FP7 grant N° 262533 SOPHIA (INFRA-2010- 1.1.22_CP-CSA-Infra) and by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) under project ‘Stability and Performance of Photovoltaics (STAPP)’ (contract no: EP/H040331/1).

As the PV industry has grown, the long-term reliability of PV systems has become increasingly important. There are many facets to this problem and many organizations are taking on the challenge. This paper describes three closely coordinated efforts that, together, are intended to provide a comprehensive set of standards for the technical aspects of verifying PV system quality and bankability. These three efforts are developing standards for 1) qualifying the design for the intended application (climate zone and mounting configuration), 2) quality management systems for PV module manufacturing, and 3) system-level inspections to ensure appropriate design, installation, commissioning, and operation of PV systems. The International PV Module Quality Assurance Task Force was created in 2011 to address the first two of these and now has ten task groups working to develop specific tests and guidelines. More recently, the IEC Conformity Assessment Board formed a new entity to define how a certification can be completed for renewable energy systems, including PV systems. This new group, IEC RE, will create a process based on a comprehensive set of standards including the module-specific standards developed by the Task Force and a range of system-level standards that have already been published by IEC or other standards organizations. Aspects of the system that are not included in an existing standard will be identified and addressed. This comprehensive set of technical standards will provide a technical foundation for a range of broader assessments (including financial assessments) being developed to establish investor confidence. This paper will describe these three coordinated efforts and how they align with other related efforts., JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficiency

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2996-2999, The choice of materials and components used in the manufacture of photovoltaic modules can affect their safety, performance, durability and reliability. The materials and design of the components used to produce a photovoltaic module play a critical role in protecting the module from the outdoor environment. Material performance properties are described and their impact on photovoltaic module performance and reliability are discussed. These critical properties include the mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal characteristics and the durability of these properties under relevant accelerated exposure conditions. Results of accelerated exposure on materials and modules are presented. Accelerated test conditions to establish material durability and the relationship of these accelerated conditions to both the outdoor environment and cumulative degradation over the expected module lifetime are discussed. The measurement and characterization of materials and modules removed from the service environment will be discussed. A review of the characterization strategies that have been found useful for module and subsequent materials evaluation will also be presented.