Objective
The cluster project "PV Certification", which is organised in two main parts, aims at establishing certification frameworks for, firstly, training courses for PV electricians and engineers (sub-project 1) and, secondly, manufacturing and quality assurance standards for PV products, systems and services (sub-project 2). In several European countries, publications, training material and courses will be implemented for harmonising the European PV sector with Global PV standards initiatives.
Project Description
Sub-project 1: European PV Training Accreditation and Certification:
In a first step, a survey of existing PV training courses were performed in four European countries. After interaction with the Global Training Accreditation and Certification Programme, the consortium has established contacts with international, national and regional training bodies in order to find common grounds for a harmonisation of the respective training programmes with the global standard. The consortium has defined minimum standards and the methods of tuition and examination for European PV training courses and test the process on a variety of real courses which have already been developed in Europe. In a pilot process, European PV training centres were adopted and accredited their courses according to the defined criteria. These courses were subsequently implemented and accompanied by extensive dissemination activities for the accreditation process to keep the PV industry and stakeholders informed about the benefits of the common standard.
Sub-project 2: Quality is the Key to the Photovoltaic Market:
In this action, uniform and high quality PV manufacturing is to be initiated world-wide, utilising the globally accepted PV GAP manufacturing and quality assurance standard. A clear labelling and quality identification for PV products - as is customary in other industries - is to be established, thereby providing for greater consumer protection and the availability of more widespread information on goods and services.
To achieve the goals the following steps were taken:
(1) Adaptation of the PV GAP manual "PV Manufacturers Quality Control Training Manual" to the needs of specific countries in Europe through both translation and the inclusion of respective technical variations. Four training courses were held in French, Spanish and German
(2) Harmonisation of PV standards: CENELEC and other non-European national standards were implemented into the globally accepted IEC / PV GAP framework
(3) Consumer protection, information and clear labelling: Based on the PV GAP approval system which allow customers to differentiate products with approved quality from those for which the quality is not defined, a list of PV products and services which have been approved were included in a database which is available on a dedicated homepage (www.pv-quality.org). This information was made widely available to stimulate the market and assist the consumer in their search for quality products and systems
(4) The results of this action, including the PV GAP manual and information on standards for industry, as well as the database are available on www.pv-quality.org associated with the ALTENER project.
On the horizontal level, the two cluster sub-actions has commonly defined the design and the contents of the quality certification activities and commonly disseminate the results with the benefits of the standards established among the European PV industry. This was performed through a workshop held on quality issues to disseminate the results to a wider audience. Also a common CD ROM was prepared and distributed to more than 700 stakeholders.
Expected results
Sub-project 1:
European PV Training Accreditation and Certification:
- Overview of existing PV training courses;
- Definition of training courses for PV design engineers and system installers;
- Pilot courses in selected countries, preparing the course accreditation;
- Dissemination activities on the world-wide accreditation programme.
Sub-project 2:
Quality is the Key to the Photovoltaic Market:
- Reliable and harmonised PV quality standards;
- Training manuals and courses in 4 European languages, realisation together with PV industry;
- Product database of PV products and services;
- Dissemination by www and CD ROM.
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
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Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
81369 München
Germany