The Working Group (WG) 2 of the Technical Committee (TC) 82 of the IEC is the premier body that formulates the international standards for PV modules such as the qualification and the safety standards. This group conducts an invite-only meeting two times a year in various parts of the world. Prof. Narendra Shiradkar from NCPRE, IIT Bombay was invited to participate in the IEC TC82/WG2 meeting in Doha, Qatar from April 21- April 25, 2024. He was the only Indian citizen in this meeting and gave inputs from the Indian perspective on the upcoming revisions of the mandatory standards IEC 61215 and IEC 61730. He also brought back home an important update for PV installers in India that unless sufficient clearance as defined by IEC 63126 is maintained between the modules and the roof, such installations, particularly in hot climates, would result in violation of the upcoming versions of the IEC standards. Thus, the installers in India need to be aware of this issue as it was seen in recent field surveys by NCPRE that in case of many rooftops (reported in the April issue of the NCPRE Newsletter), the modules are simply laid out on the roof, without regard for sufficient clearance. At this IEC TC82/WG2 meeting, groundwork was also laid for future collaboration between researchers in India and from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Germany.
Participants at the IEC TC82/WG2 meeting in Doha, Qatar. Prof. Narendra Shiradkar from NCPRE is fifth from left in the front row.