TÜV Rheinland recognised in Spain as testing service provider for certification of photovoltaic installations and their resistance to fluctuations in voltage
01-20-12Barcelona / Cologne
TÜV Rheinland has been granted authorisation by Spanish accreditation body ENAC to issue certification for photovoltaic power stations in accordance with the requirements of Royal Decree 1565/2010 applicable to the feed-in of renewable energies to the Spanish grid – the first testing service provider to be recognised in this way. The Decree stipulates that installations producing power in excess of two megawatts must exhibit the qualities specified in the Spanish PO 12.3 procedure for the power grid in order to contribute to stabilisation of the grid.
The primary aim of the regulations is to safeguard the Spanish power network against critical voltage drops and fluctuations as renewable energies become more widespread, and thereby to ensure security of supply. Consequently, operators of installations for the generation of solar power in Spain must produce appropriate certificates from independent testing service providers verifying their adherence to the statutory legislation, as has been the case in Germany since 2010, when the Directive for Connection and Parallel Operation of Power Generation Systems on the Medium Voltage Network (Medium Voltage Directive) was introduced. With the accreditation by ENAC, TÜV Rheinland in Spain is now authorised to provide these certificates.
TÜV Rheinland is one of the world’s leading testing service providers for the solar industry. The company first started laboratory-scale technical testing of solar components back in 1995. TÜV Rheinland’s network of experts for the solar industry now comprises 250 specialists in six laboratories worldwide. As a global market leader for the testing and certification of solar modules, TÜV Rheinland operates test laboratories in Bangalore (India), Cologne (Germany), Shanghai (China) and Taichung (Taiwan), as well as at TÜV Rheinland PTL in Tempe, Arizona (USA), and Yokohama (Japan). Across the world, around 500 manufacturers of photovoltaic modules are customers of independent testing service provider TÜV Rheinland. The specialists not only test modules and components, but also develop new test methods, collaborate on R&D projects for the use of solar energy and assist customers worldwide with the construction of solar power plants.