International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. The United States formed an IEC National Committee (USNC) to oversee the country's participation in IEC activities. The USNC is governed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The IEC promotes international cooperation on all questions of standardization and the verification of conformity to standards and often serves as the basis for national standardization and as references when drafting international tenders and contracts. The IEC standards include all electrotechnologies, which also includes photovoltaic systems for energy production and distribution.
IEC Technical Committee 82 (IEC TC82) covers photovoltaic systems. The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (USTAG) provides input from U.S. stakeholders into IEC TC82 standards.
Learn about the IEC Standards Development Process
The IEC PV Standards Development includes the IEC Technical Committee 82 Solar Photovoltaic Energy System (IEC TC82). The IEC TC82 develops and adopts all PV related standards. The scope of IEC TC82 is to prepare international standards for photovoltaic systems that convert solar energy into electrical energy, as well as for all the elements in the entire photovoltaic energy system. The IEC TC82 is comprised of five working groups, which are shown below. Official members of the IEC TC82 working groups are assigned by the IEC National Committees on a project-by-project basis and by invitation only.
The TC 82 has written nearly eighty standards that pertain to photovoltaic. Below is a listing of current work in progress for IEC PV standards organized by the assigned IEC Working Group:
WG 1 Glossary
IEC 61836, 2007 Ed 3, IEC/TS 61836 Ed. 3.0, Solar photovoltaic energy systems - Terms, definitions and symbols.
WG 2 Modules, non-concentrating
IEC 60891, 2009 Ed 2, IEC 60891 Ed. 2.0, Photovoltaic devices - Procedures for temperature and irradiance corrections to measured I-V characteristics
IEC 60904-1, 2006 Ed 2, Photovoltaic devices-Part 1: Measurements of PV current-voltage characteristics
IEC 60904-2, 2007 Ed 2, Photovoltaic devices – Part 2: Requirements for reference solar devices
IEC 60904-3, 2008 Ed 2, Photovoltaic devices – Part 3: Measurement principles for terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) solar devices with reference spectral irradiance data
IEC 60904-4, 2009 Ed 1, Photovoltaic devices – Part 4: Reference solar devices - Procedures for establishing calibration traceability
IEC 60904-5, 2011 Ed 2.0, IEC 60904-5 Ed. 2.0, Photovoltaic devices – Part 5: Determination of the equivalent cell temperature (ECT) of photovoltaic (PV) devices by the open-circuit voltage method
IEC 60904-7, 2008 Ed 3, Photovoltaic devices – Part 7: Computation of the spectral mismatch correction for measurements of photovoltaic devices
IEC 60904-8, 1998 Ed 3, IEC 60904-8 Ed. 3.0 Photovoltaic devices - Part 8: Measurement of spectral response of a photovoltaic (PV) device
IEC 60904-9, 2007 Ed 2, Photovoltaic devices – Part 9: Solar simulator performance requirements
IEC 60904-10, 2009 Ed 2, Photovoltaic devices – Part 10: Methods of linearity measurement
IEC 61215, 2005 Ed 2.0: Scope of the work in progress includes design qualification and type approval for crystalline silicon terrestrial PV module, Ed 3; publish 4Q 2011.
IEC 61345, 1998 Ed 1, UV test for photovoltaic (PV) modules
IEC 61646, 2008 Ed 2, Thin-film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type approval
IEC 61701: 1995 Ed 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes salt mist corrosion testing of PV modules for Edition 2; publish 4Q 2010.
IEC 61730-1: 2004 Ed 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes PV module safety qualification requirements for construction for Part 1/Amendment 1; publish 4Q 2010.
IEC 61730-2, 2004 Ed 1, Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification – Part 2: Requirements for testing Amendment 1 in process; publish 2Q 2011
IEC 61829, 1995 Ed 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes on-site measurement of I-V characteristics for crystalline silicon PV array, Ed 2; publish 1Q 2011.
IEC 61853-1: Ed 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes irradiance and temperature performance measurements and power rating for PV module performance testing and energy rating, Part 1; publish 1Q 2011.
IEC 61853-2: Ed 1.0: Scope of work in progress includes spectral response, incidence angle and module operating temperature measurements for PV module performance testing and energy rating, Part 2; publish 4Q2010.
IEC 62716, Ed 1, Ammonia corrosion testing of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Publish 2Q2012New Work Item Proposals (NWIP)
NWIP for PV connector & cabling standard—based on EN 50521
NWIP for various material standards
NWIP for transportation of PV modules
WG 3 Systems
IEC 61194, 1992 Ed 1, Characteristic parameters of stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems
IEC 61683, 1999 Ed 1 Photovoltaic systems - Power conditioners – Procedure for measuring efficiency Revision to Ed 2 in process; expect publication in 3Q 2011
IEC 61702, 1995 Ed 1, Rating of direct coupled photovoltaic pumping systems
IEC 61724, 1998 Ed 1, Photovoltaic system performance monitoring – guidelines for measurement, data exchange and analysis
IEC 61725, 1997 Ed 1, Analytical expression for daily solar profiles
IEC 61727, 2004 Ed 2, Photovoltaic (PV) systems – Charact. of the utility interface
IEC 62124, 2004 Ed 1, Photovoltaic (PV) stand alone systems – Design verification
IEC 62446, 2009 Ed 1 Grid connected photovoltaic systems – Minimum requirements for system documentation, commissioning tests and inspection
IEC 62253, Ed 1 Equipment and safety specifications for direct coupled photovoltaic (PV) – pumping systems; publish 4Q 2011
IEC 62548, Ed 1 Installation and Safety Requirements for Photovoltaic (PV) Generators; publish 4Q 2011
New Work Item Proposals (NWIP)
NWIP TS Design guidelines and recommendations for photovoltaic power plants
WG 6 Balance of System Components
IEC 61683, 1999 Ed 1, PV systems – Power conditioners – Procedure for measuring efficiency. Edition 2 in process; publish 4Q 2011
IEC 62093, 2005 Ed 1, Balance-of-system components for photovoltaic systems - Design qualification natural environments. Edition 2 in process; publish 4Q2012
IEC 62109-1, Ed. 1.0 Safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic power systems -- Part 1. General requirements. Published 2010-4
IEC 62109-2 Ed. 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes developing requirements for inverters for safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic power systems, Part 2. Particular requirements for inverters. Publish 4Q 2010.
IEC 62509 Ed. 1.0: Scope of the work in progress includes developing performance and functioning of photovoltaic battery charge controllers. Published 2010-12
New Work Item Proposals (NWIP)
IEC 62109-X, Ed. 1.0 Safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic power systems – Part X. Controllers.
IEC 62109-X, Ed. 1.0 Safety of power converters for use in photovoltaic power systems – Part X. Particular requirements for combiner box. (May be developed with SC17B) Publish 4Q2012
IEC 62116: 2008 Ed 1, Test procedure of islanding prevention measures for utility-interconnected photovoltaic inverters
WG 7 Concentrator Modules
IEC 62108, 2007 Ed 1, Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules and assemblies - Design qualification and type approval Amendment or revision is underway
IEC 62670-1, Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module and assembly performance testing and energy rating - Part 1: Performance measurements and power rating - Irradiance and temperature. Publish 4Q2012
IEC 62670-2, TS Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module and assembly performance testing and energy rating - Part 2: Energy rating by measurement. Publish 4Q2012
IEC 62688, Ed.1 Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module and assembly safety qualification. 82/631/CD. Publish 4Q2012
82/618/NP, Specification for solar trackers used for photovoltaic systems. Publish 2Q2012
JWG 1 TC 82/TC 88/TC21/SC21A: Decentralized Rural Electrification
IEC 61427, 2005 Ed 3, Secondary cells and batteries for photovoltaic energy systems (PVES) - General requirements and methods of test. Revision to include latest battery technology is underway
IEC/TS 62257-1, 2003 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 1: General introduction to rural electrification
IEC/TS 62257-2, 2004 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 2: From requirements to a range of electrification systems
IEC/TS 62257-3, 2004 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 3: Project development and management
IEC/TS 62257-4, 2005 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 4: System selection and design
IEC/TS 62257-5, 2005 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 5: Protection against electrical hazards
IEC/TS 62257-6, 2005 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 6: Acceptance, operation, maintenance and replacement
IEC/TS 62257-7, 2008 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 7: Generators
IEC/TS 62257-7-1, 2010 Ed 2 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 7-1: Generators - Photovoltaic arrays. Published 2010-9.
IEC/TS 62257-7-3, 2008 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 7-3: Generator set - Selection of generator sets for rural electrification systems
IEC/TS 62257-8-1, 2007 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 8-1: Selection of batteries and battery management systems for stand-alone electrification systems - Specific case of automotive flooded lead-acid batteries available in developing countries
IEC/TS 62257-9-1, 2008-09 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-1: Micropower systems
IEC/TS 62257-9-2, 2006 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-2: Microgrids
IEC/TS 62257-9-3, 2006 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-3: Integrated system - User interface
IEC/TS 62257-9-4, 2006 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-4: Integrated system – User installation
IEC/TS 62257-9-5, 2007 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-5: Integrated system - Selection of portable PV lanterns for rural electrification projects
IEC/TS 62257-9-6, 2008 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-6: Integrated system - Selection of Photovoltaic Individual Electrification Systems (PV-IES)
IEC/TS 62257-12-1, 2007 Ed 1 Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 12-1: Selection of self-ballasted lamps (CFL) for rural electrification systems and recommendations for household lighting equipmentAccess IEC Standards
IEC standards also provide industry and users with the framework for economies of design, greater product and service quality, more inter-operability, and better production and delivery efficiency. Some IEC standards are available in a database format. These standards are accessible by purchase them from the ANSI IEC eStandards Store, or directly from the IEC Web Store.