PV GAP News

December 1998 Volume 2, No. 1

PV GAP Secretariat; c/o IEC Central Office
3 rue de Varembé; Box 131
CH-1211 Geneva 20 - SWITZERLAND
Tel.: 41 22 919 0216 - Fax: 41 22 919 0300
E-mail: rk@iec.ch

© PV GAP 1998

GLOBAL IMPLEMENTATION OF PV GAP

Europe:
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) (Secretary General: J. Bonda) signed the PV GAP Master License Agreement in July 1998. The Sub-Licensing of the European PV manufacturers is being administered by EPIA.

Japan:
Mr. Hidenori Shimizu, Senior Adviser at JQA and a PV GAP Board member contributed the following:
"PV GAP in Japan:
PV GAP Japan Committee will be established within the organization of Japan Electrical Manufacturers Association (JEMA).
The membership is as follows:

• PV - related manufacturers (Cell, Module, Components)

• PV - related associations

• Government agencies

The Committee will merge the Japan PV GAP Conference which was organized under the secretarial activities of JEMA in 1996 and the New Energy Committee of JEMA. The agreement between PV GAP and JEMA will be signed to authorize the activities of the Japan PV GAP committee.

The PV module production of Japan in 1997 is reported as 42.5 MWp to show the maximum record of module production. 78.3% of the production is for domestic use which is twice what it was a year ago.

The application for overseas was 21.7%.

The Japanese Government subsidized system for grid connected solar home systems has been applied to over 16,000 homes between 1994 and 1998."

USA: The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) (Executive Director: S. Sklar) signed the PV GAP Master License in July 1998. The administration of PV GAP and the sub-licensing in the USA will be performed on behalf of SEIA by PowerMark Corporation (Executive Director: S. Chalmers). PowerMark Corporation is a US non-profit organization supported by the US PV Industry.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: In a large number of countries various organizations and members of the PV Industry have expressed their interest to qualify for PV GAP membership and obtain a license. By consulting with persons from those countries and with lending and/or donor organizations it became evident that three issues have to be solved:

• there is a need to develop a quality assurance (QA) system tailored for small businesses in developing countries which will also provide global acceptance by the IECQ system

• PV testing facilities should be identified in or around those countries to reduce expenses for the manufacturers

• IECQ Supervising Inspectorate function (auditing) should be also identified in the country or nearby.

In consultation with the World Bank and UNDP about the implementation of PV GAP in developing countries encouraged PV GAP to submit a proposal to UNDP to work initially with five countries (Argentina, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa) to establish the implementation process. The five countries were selected, where the World Bank / IFC / GEF are developing PV programs. PV GAP received in October a $25,000 contract from UNDP to develop solutions for the above three issues. The work will be carried out by the Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP), a non-profit organization located in Colorado, with inputs from PV GAP's Secretariat and IECQ.

The objectives of the work are:

• the development of a Quality Systems and Procedures Manual specifically tailored for small manufacturing companies located in developing economies, which would make it easy to establish an IECQ acceptable quality system for their manufacturing operations, and

• the assessment of the least expensive and best possible access to PV testing laboratories and auditing organizations.

The work will be completed by the end of January 1999. The material will be sent to experts and organizations in those countries and to others known to be interested in this to obtain their advice and suggestions.

The returns will be incorporated in the final draft and will be discussed and finalized at a meeting on May 3-4, 1999 in Geneva Switzerland. This meeting (PV GAP Global Implementation) is sponsored by the Swiss Government. The organization of this meeting is being handled by Alpha Real AG - Zurich, Switzerland.

Participants at the meeting will be representatives from the five target countries, as well as from other developing countries and people interested in the subject. Attendance at the meeting will be limited, so please contact the organizers (Alpha Real) as early as possible. Persons interested in attending the meeting and/or receiving the documentation should send a fax or e-mail to: Alpha Real AG (E-mail: alphareal@access.ch; Fax: 41 1 383 1895 (reference: PV GAP implementation in Developing Countries).

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PV GAP Reference Manual
The PV GAP Reference Manual was revised once during 1998. The revision constituted the addition of a PV GAP Recommended Standard for PV Modules. Members of PV GAP and subscribers to the Reference Manual were sent these additions. The PV GAP Reference Manual will be revised and reprinted at the beginning of 1999. The 2nd edition will be sent to the PV GAP members. For others it will be available from PV GAP Secretariat (see address above).

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PV STANDARDS
As indicated in PV GAP News (June 1998), that the most pressing issue is to establish standards and certifiable specifications for PV components and systems. PV GAP is cooperating with all organizations which are working on PV standards and is trying to accelerate the establishment of consensus standards. Good progress in this respect can be reported.

• PVRS 2 (PV GAP Recommended Standard) The first Qualification Approval specification (Crystalline silicon terrestrial PV modules. Blank detail specification) completed the approval process and was issued in December 1998. This Standard in conjunction with IEC 61215 and IEC 61345 makes now possible for PV module manufacturers could be approved and licensed under the PV GAP/IECQ system.
  

• PVRS 2 is expected to become a New Work Item for IEC TC 82 WG2.

Standards in Preparation:

• PV GAP Recommended Standard for Thin Film modules is being based on PVRS 2. This standard will start to go through the approval process in January 1999.

• A PV GAP Battery RS is going to be completed in the 1st quarter of 1999. Its certifiable version (PVRS 3) was begun in 1998 and it will start to go through the approval process in early January, 1999.

There is a very large interest to have a standard for outdoor testing of PV systems. An Interim Test Method was completed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). It is hoped that based on that a PV GAP RS could be established. The outdoor testing of PV systems (SHS) would be very important for the developing countries.

CENELEC established a draft standard for charge regulators. This is being circulated to the PV GAP Standards Committee.

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Vienna Conference 2nd World Conference and Exhibition on PV Solar Energy Conversion (July 6-10, 1998)

PV GAP, IECQ and IEC had a joint booth at the conference. A large number of people visited the booth and the interest was very encouraging. A talk about PV GAP by P. Varadi was included in the Plenary session.

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PV GAP Board
The PV GAP Executive and Advisory Board had a meeting in Vienna on July 5, 1998. New PV GAP Executive Board Member: During the Vienna meeting it was unanimously decided to invite Dr. Anil Cabraal of the World Bank to become a PV GAP Executive Board member. Dr. Cabraal accepted the invitation and received approval from the World Bank to become a PV GAP Board member. Because of his experience in PV and its utilization in the developing countries, Dr. Cabraal realized the need of a program such as PV GAP and therefore supported and guided it from the beginning. That he received permission from the WB to become a PV GAP Board member is also an important recognition of PV GAP's work.

The next meeting of the PV GAP Executive and Advisory Board will be on May 5, 1999 in Geneva, Switzerland, following the PV GAP Global Implementation meeting.

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IECQ Meeting in Houston, TX - USA
At the IECQ meeting which was held during the IEC conference in Houston, TX , P. Varadi (Chairman PV GAP) was invited to inform the IECQ members of the latest developments of PV GAP. Mr. Richard Kay (Secretary, IECQ) announced during the meeting that PV module manufacturers can now have their modules approved under the IECQ system which enables them to obtain the PV Quality Mark from PV GAP. The IECQ meeting approved a strong support to continue cooperating with PV GAP.

Copyright © 1999 PV GAP.All rights reserved