Uncertainty in determination of power generation is one of the critical factors
contributing to the cost
of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. Precise measurement of cell and module
characteristics are
indispensable in reducing the financial risk associated with the investments in PV
industry. Since, it is
not economical to measure all cells and modules in the production line with the
required precision and
certainty; calibration becomes a key step in PV performance analysis value chain. As
the PV reference
cells are difficult to obtain and maintain, many PV measurement labs use secondary
cells/modules
calibrated against the primary reference devices. Thus, there is a need for
accredited secondary
characterization laboratories, which can serve the purpose by maintaining the ISO
17025 quality
standards. Besides, Indian solar photovoltaic (PV) industry spends considerable
revenue and spends
considerable time in getting calibration certificates from international certifying
centers.
However, the process of establishing secondary cell calibration facility setup
requires clear
understanding of legal, technical, and accreditation related aspects. In connection
to this a consultancy
programme on Secondary Cell & Module Calibration has been initiated under the
scope of the project
“Strengthening Quality Infrastructure for the Solar Industry” This activity is the
combined efforts of PTB,
Germany & MNRE, India with technical expertise from Fraunhofer, Germany. NCPRE, IIT,
Bombay is
leading the activity as national coordinator and will be the participant as well
during these consultancy
workshops. The aim of these workshops is to support the Indian labs in improving
their measurement
procedures, and quality infrastructure to get the accreditation level based on ISO
17025 quality
standards. This programme consists of nine modules encompassing all the major
related topics including
standards and traceability, quality assurance & quality management procedures, and
equipment
upgradation. At the end of this consultancy workshop a round-robin intercomparison
exercise will be
performed for technical evaluation of the participant labs. Based on this exercise
specific feedback and
guidance will be provided for overall improvement of individual laboratory. Recently
Kick-off workshop
session was successfully commenced with general introduction of participant labs
i.e. IIT (Bombay), NISE
(Gurugram), NPL (Delhi), and CPRI (Bangalore). Therefore, in essence these
consultancy workshops with
NCPRE, IIT, Bombay as the national coordinator will assist the Indian participant
labs on secondary
calibration facility setup establishment up to the accreditation level.
Acknowledgement: This activity is supported by PTB, Germany, and Fraunhofer,
Germany
