This Standard was technically approved by the global Photovoltaic Technical Committee. This edition was approved for publication by the global Audits and Reviews Subcommittee on September 12, 2011. Available at www.semiviews.org and www.semi.org in October 2011.

Reliability is an issue that is particularly important in the PV industry. Module buyers invest their money on both the performance and reliability of the product. The most promising solution to minimize the cost to both the customer and the manufacturer is to conduct tests prior to shipping, ensuring that the module can withstand the environmental conditions.

This Standard aims to provide a common test method to evaluate damages to PV modules due to mechanical vibration occurring during transportation and shipment. Module manufacturers and buyers, or any other interested party, can thus have a common testing standard to refer to when desired. This Standard is also expected to accelerate development of safer means of module protection during transportation.

The results of this Test Method provide information on the level of module protection provided by the packaging design.

None.

SEMI PV23-1011 (first published)