Jan 29 2010
Concentrix Solar, a leading supplier of Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) systems and a new division of the Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), the world's supplier of engineered substrates, announced today that the company has received IEC certification 62108 for its CX-75 FLATCON(R) module generation.
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the world's leading electrical and electronic standards organization. IEC 62108 is the CPV industry's standard, ensuring that modules and assemblies are suitable for long-term operation in a wide range of outdoor climates. By producing the CX-75 module in the company's industry-leading, fully-automated production line in Freiburg, Germany, Concentrix Solar is uniquely able to ensure consistent, highest-precision manufacturing in high volumes - a critical factor in ensuring high nominal AC system efficiency and long-term reliability.
"The IEC 62108 certificate is an important milestone, confirming that our new CX-75 module is ready for full, commercial deployment in utility-scale electricity production," said Concentrix Solar CEO, Hansjorg Lerchenmuller. "It attests that our systems are capable of withstanding prolonged exposure in harsh climates and are designed to withstand severe environmental conditions such as rain, hail and high winds."
The assessment was performed by the Spanish accredited testing institute CENER (Centro Nacional de Energias Renovables) and certified by the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification (AENOR). The certificate confirms that the Concentrix Solar CX-75 module successfully passed all the necessary IEC performance and accelerated aging tests and therefore received design qualification and type approval. Concentrix Solar's previous module generation successfully had already passed the IEC tests in 2007.
The IEC 62108 standard specifies the requirements for the design qualification and type approval of CPV modules and assemblies suitable for long-term operation in demanding outdoor conditions. Since 2009, it has been the standard for the certification of CPV modules. According to the testing standards for conventional PV modules, the IEC 62108 norm simulates environmental conditions and influences for CPV modules to verify the performance reliability and aging resistance. This includes, among other things, testing of hail impact, mechanical load, insulation and wet insulation as well as outdoor exposure.
Concentrix Solar takes a unique approach in manufacturing its modules in a fully automated industrial production line. The high degree of automation ensures that all modules are of the same high quality and deliver the greatest efficiencies and reliable system operation over long time periods.
With the CX-75, Concentrix Solar has increased the system efficiency (AC) of its concentrator systems, as confirmed at installations in San Diego, USA, and Puertollano, Spain. Precision and quality in module manufacturing lead to consistent high quality and an extremely high average module efficiency of 27.2 percent.