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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
01-september-2009
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SIST-TP IEC TR 61836:2005
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Solar photovoltaic energy systems - Terms, definitions and symbols
Photovoltaische Solarenergiesysteme - Begriffe, Definitionen und Symbole
Systèmes de conversion photovoltaïque de l'énergie solaire - Termes, définitions et
symboles
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CLC/TS 61836:2009
ICS:
27.160 6RQþQDHQHUJLMD Solar energy engineering
SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
CLC/TS 61836
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
May 2009
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
ICS 27.160
English version
Solar photovoltaic energy systems -
Terms, definitions and symbols
(IEC/TS 61836:2007)
Systèmes de conversion photovoltaïque Photovoltaische Solarenergiesysteme -
de l'énergie solaire - Begriffe, Definitionen und Symbole
Termes, définitions et symboles (IEC/TS 61836:2007)
(CEI/TS 61836:2007)
This Technical Specification was approved by CENELEC on 2009-01-23.
CENELEC members are required to announce the existence of this TS in the same way as for an EN and to make
the TS available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national
standards in force.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
CENELEC
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
Central Secretariat: avenue Marnix 17, B - 1000 Brussels
© 2009 CENELEC - All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC members.
Ref. No. CLC/TS 61836:2009 E
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
CLC/TS 61836:2009 - 2 -
Foreword
The text of the Technical Specification IEC/TS 61836:2007, prepared by IEC TC 82, Solar photovoltaic energy
systems was submitted to the vote in accordance with the Internal Regulations, Part 2, Subclause 11.3.3.3 and
was approved by CENELEC as CLC/TS 61836 on 2009-01-23.
The following date was fixed:
– latest date by which the existence of the CLC/TS
has to be announced at national level (doa) 2009-07-23
Annex ZA has been added by CENELEC.
_________________
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
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Endorsement notice
The text of the Technical Specification IEC/TS 61836:2007 was approved by CENELEC as a Technical
Specification without any modification.
In the official version, for Bibliography, the following notes have to be added for the standards indicated:
IEC 60891 + A1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60891:1994 (not modified).
IEC 60904-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-1:2006 (not modified).
IEC 60904-2 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-2:2007 (not modified).
IEC 60904-5 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-5:1995 (not modified).
IEC 60904-7 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-7:1998, which is superseded by EN 60904-7:2009 based on
IEC 60904-7:2008 (not modified).
IEC 60904-8 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-8:1998 (not modified).
IEC 60904-9 NOTE IEC 60904-9:1995 is superseded by IEC 60904-9:2007, which is harmonized as
EN 60904-9:2007 (not modified).
IEC 60904-10 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60904-10:1998 (not modified).
IEC 61215 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61215:2005 (not modified).
IEC 61646 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61646:1997, which is superseded by EN 61646:2008 based on
IEC 61646:2008 (not modified).
IEC 61730-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61730-1:2007 (modified).
IEC 61730-2 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61730-2:2007 (modified).
IEC 61683 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61683:2000 (not modified).
IEC 61702 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61702:1999 (not modified).
IEC 61725 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61725:1997 (not modified).
IEC 62093 NOTE Harmonized as EN 62093:2005 (not modified).
IEC 61173 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61173:1994 (not modified).
IEC 61194 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61194:1995 (modified).
IEC 61277 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61277:1998 (not modified).
IEC 61724 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61724:1998 (not modified).
IEC 62124 NOTE Harmonized as EN 62124:2005 (not modified).
IEC 61345 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61345:1998 (not modified).
IEC 61701 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61701:1999 (not modified).
IEC 61721 NOTE Harmonized as EN 61721:1999 (not modified).
IEC 62108 NOTE Harmonized as EN 62108:2008 (not modified).
_________________
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Annex ZA
(normative)
Normative references to international publications
with their corresponding European publications
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE When an international publication has been modified by common modifications, indicated by (mod), the relevant EN/HD
applies.
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
1)
IEC 60904-3 1989 Photovoltaic devices - EN 60904-3 1993
Part 3: Measurement principles for terrestrial
photovoltaic (PV) solar devices with reference
spectral irradiance data
1)
EN 60904-3 is superseded by EN 60904-3:2008, which is based on IEC 60904-3:2008.
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
IEC/TS 61836
Edition 2.0 2007-12
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
Solar photovoltaic energy systems – Terms, definitions and symbols
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
XC
ICS 27.160 ISBN 2-8318-9506-5
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– 2 – TS 61836 © IEC:2007(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3
INTRODUCTION.5
1 Scope and object.6
2 Normative references .6
3 Glossary of terms and symbols for solar photovoltaic energy systems .6
3.1 Solar photovoltaic cells and modules.6
3.2 Solar photovoltaic systems components .16
3.3 Solar photovoltaic systems.21
3.4 Solar photovoltaic system and component performance parameters .32
3.5 Measurement devices.50
3.6 Environmental parameters.51
3.7 Quality and testing .59
3.8 Concentrator photovoltaics.64
3.9 Project management .66
3.10 Miscellaneous .67
4 Acronyms and abbreviations.67
Bibliography.70
Index of terms and symbols .72
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SIST-TS CLC/TS 61836:2009
TS 61836 © IEC:2007(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY SYSTEMS –
TERMS, DEFINITIONS AND SYMBOLS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
exceptional circumstances, a technical committee may propose the publication of a technical
specification when
• the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard,
despite repeated efforts, or
• The subject is still under technical development or where, for any other reason, there is
the future but no immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard.
Technical specifications are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.
IEC 61836, which is a technical specification, has been prepared IEC technical committee 82:
Solar photovoltaic energy systems.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1997. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
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This edition included the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
1) The number of terms has increased. Abbreviations have been included.
2) The terms in Edition 2 are organised into categories and families. Terms contained in
families are cross referenced with an alphabetical listing. A bibliography and an index were
added. The purpose of aggregating terms into families is to allow readers to easily see the
relationships between terms that speak of similar quantities and subjects but that have slight
variations.
The text of this technical specification is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
82/442/DTS 82/487/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in
the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• transformed into an International standard,
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual edition of this document may be issued at a later date.
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TS 61836 © IEC:2007(E) – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
Following the development of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, specific Standards have
been prepared by IEC Technical Committee 82 since 1987. The terms and symbols used in
the PV industry necessitate a systematisation in order to have a consolidated glossary for
experts’ common understanding.
This Glossary lists the terms and symbols that the PV industry commonly uses. It is a living
document that will change as new terms and symbols are added. These have been
harmonized with IEC 60050 and other IEC documents as far as possible. All definitions not
included in this Technical Specification may be found elsewhere in other IEC documents.
NOTE 1 The terms "PV", "photovoltaic" and "solar photovoltaic" can be read and used interchangeably and without
the need for stating each term to show that each are applicable and commonly used by the solar photovoltaic
industry.
NOTE 2 All terms beginning with "solar photovoltaic" and "PV" are listed under their respective "photovoltaic"
names.
NOTE 3 The terms are listed alphabetically in ten categories. Under these categories, some of the terms have
been grouped into families of related meaning in order for the reader to readily see the differences between the
terms.
NOTE 4 This Glossary lists the precise usage of terms. Cross-references are provided to efficiently point the
reader to the location of definitions. For example, a "solar photovoltaic array" may also be referred to as
"photovoltaic array" or "array" when the reference to it is particularly clear. The definition for this term, for
example, occurs under the family heading of "photovoltaic" in the "Solar photovoltaic systems" section.
NOTE 5 The colloquial use of "solar" as the sole adjective of a noun is discouraged. For example, though "solar
array" may be commonly used in non-technical conversations, the precise terms are "solar photovoltaic array",
"photovoltaic array", and "array".
NOTE 6 Unless specifically noted otherwise, the terms "device", "cell", "module", "array", "sub-array", "field",
"component", "system", and "product" refer to items incorporating a photovoltaic device. As a result, each of these
terms can be understood to read as "PV device", "PV cell", "PV module", etc., without having to re-state the term
"PV" each time, though now and then it is useful to re-state "PV".
NOTE 7 The numeric quantities described by many of the terms can be expressed over any convenient unit of time
that the user may wish, such as day, month or year.
NOTE 8 "W " is not a recommended unit for rated power. For example for a 50 W module, the correct terminology
p
is "the rated power is 50 W", and not "the power is 50 W ".
p
NOTE 9 The documents from which these terms originated are shown in square brackets [ ]. Some adaptations
may have occurred.
NOTE 10 This Glossary document recognises the related IEC co-ordinating Technical Committees:
1 Terminology 77 Electromagnetic compatibility
21 Secondary cells and batteries 82 Solar photovoltaic energy systems
22 Power electronic systems and 88 Wind turbines
equipment
47 Semiconductor devices 105 Fuel cell technologies
64 Electrical installations and 106 Methods for the assessment of electric,
protection against electric shock magnetic and electromagnetic fields
associated with human exposure
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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY SYSTEMS –
TERMS, DEFINITIONS AND SYMBOLS
1 Scope and object
This Technical Specification deals with the terms and symbols from national and international
solar photovoltaic standards and relevant documents used within the field of solar
photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. It includes the terms and symbols compiled from the
published IEC technical committee 82 standards, previously published as technical report
IEC 61836:1997.
The focus of this Technical Specification is "what do the words mean" and not "under what
conditions do the terms apply".
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60904-3:1989, Photovoltaic devices – Part 3: Measurement principles for terrestrial
photovoltaic (PV) solar devices with reference spectral irradiance data
3 Glossary of terms, definitions and symbols for solar photovoltaic energy
systems
3.1 Solar photovoltaic cells and modules
This subclause addresses vocabulary pertaining to photovoltaic materials, photovoltaic cells
and photovoltaic modules. Other photovoltaic components are described in subclause 3.2.
Photovoltaic systems are described in subclause 3.3.
3.1.1 amorphous photovoltaic material
solid-state material in a semi-stable condition with no long-range order in the structural
arrangement of the atoms
3.1.2 amorphous silicon
see "silicon/amorphous", 3.1.58a).
3.1.3 anti-reflective coating
layer formed on the surface of a PV cell to reduce reflective loss
3.1.4 back surface field effect
see "effect/back surface field effect", 3.1.25a)
3.1.5 band gap energy
(Unit: eV)
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TS 61836 © IEC:2007(E) – 7 –
amount of energy required to bring an electron from the state of valence electron to the state
of free electron
3.1.6 barrier energy
(Unit: eV)
energy given up by an electron in penetrating the PV cell barrier
NOTE The barrier energy is a measure of the electrostatic potential of the barrier.
3.1.7 bus lines
see "metallisation line/bus bar", 3.1.37a)
3.1.8 bypass diode (on a module level)
diode connected across one or more PV cells in the forward electric current direction to allow
the PV module electric current to bypass cells to prevent hot spot or hot cell damage resulting
from the reverse voltage biasing from the other cells in that module
3.1.9 cell
see "photovoltaic/photovoltaic cell", 3.1.43a).
The following terms are used to describe the structure of PV cells and materials.
a) CIS photovoltaic cell
PV cell fabricated of copper indium diselenide (CuInSe , abbreviation CIS) material as
2
a main constituent (thin film type)
b) compound semiconductor photovoltaic cell
PV cell made of compound semiconductor, which consists of different chemical
elements, such as GaAs (III-V compounds), CdS/CdTe (II-VI compounds),
CdS/CuInSe , etc.
2
c) concentrator photovoltaic cell
see "concentrator photovoltaic cell", 3.8.5a)
d) dye-sensitized photovoltaic cell
photoelectrochemical device using dye molecules with two electrodes and an
electrolyte
e) integrated type photovoltaic cell
multiple PV cells connected in series produced on a single substrate that appears like
a single cell
NOTE 1 Integrated type PV cells may include stacked or side-by-side configurations.
f) multijunction photovoltaic cell
see "cell/stacked photovoltaic cell", 3.1.9k)
g) organic photovoltaic cell
PV cell fabricated of organic materials being polymers and/or small molecules (thin film
type)
h) PN junction photovoltaic cell
PV cell using a PN junction
NOTE 2 See also "PN junction", 3.1.34f).
i) Schottky barrier photovoltaic cell
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PV cell using a Schottky junction formed at the metal-semiconductor interface
j) silicon photovoltaic cell
PV cell fabricated of silicon material as a main constituent
k) stacked photovoltaic cell
PV cell consisting of layers of different PV cells having different optical properties in
which incident light is absorbed by each cell layer
l) tandem photovoltaic cell
common name for a stack of two or more PV cells behind each other
m) thin film photovoltaic cell
PV cell made of thin layers of semiconductor material
NOTE 3 See also "silicon/polycrystalline silicon", 3.1.58e).
3.1.10 cell barrier
very thin electric-potential barrier along the interface between the P-type layer and the N-type
layer of a PV cell
NOTE 1 A cell barrier is also known as the "depletion zone".
NOTE 2 An enlectric-potential barrier is a region of high electric field strength opposing the passage of an
electrically charged particle in a direction depending on the sign of the electric charge.
3.1.11 cell junction
see "junction/cell junction", 3.1.34a)
3.1.12 CIS photovoltaic cell
see "cell/CIS photovoltaic cell", 3.1.9a)
3.1.13 compound semiconductor photovoltaic cell
see "cell/compound semiconductor photovoltaic cell", 3.1.9b)
3.1.14 conversion efficiency
(Unit: dimensionless, usually expressed as a percentage, %)
ratio of electric power generated by a PV device per unit area to its incident irradiance as
measured under standard test conditions, STC
NOTE See also "conditions/standard test conditions", 3.4.16e).
3.1.15 crystalline silicon
see "silicon/crystalline silicon", 3.1.58b).
3.1.16 current
For PV devices and related entries, see "photovoltaic/photovoltaic current", 3.1.43b)
NOTE There are many uses for the electrical term "current".
3.1.17 Czochralski process
see "ingot manufacturing process/Czochralski process", 3.1.32a)
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3.1.18 dark current
(Unit: A)
electric current remaining in a PV device when its incident irradiance is zero
3.1.19 device
see "photovoltaic/photovoltaic device", 3.1.43c)
3.1.20 diffusion layer
portion of P-layer or N-layer prepared by a diffusion of dopants to form a PN junction
3.1.21 directional solidification
see "ingot manufacturing process/directional solidification", 3.1.32b)
3.1.22 donor (in photovoltaic cells)
dopant (such as phosphorus in the case of silicon material) that supplies an additional
electron to an otherwise balanced material structure
3.1.23 dopant (in photovoltaic cells)
chemical added in small amounts to a semiconductor material to modify its electrical
properties
NOTE 1 An N-dopant introduces more electrons than are required for the structure of the material
(e.g., phosphorus for silicon material).
NOTE 2 A P-dopant creates electron vacancies in the material structure (e.g., boron for silicon material).
3.1.24 dye-sensitized photovoltaic cell
see "cell/dye-sensitized photovoltaic cell", 3.1.9d)
3.1.25 effect
see "photovoltaic/photovoltaic effect", 3.1.43d).
a) back-surface field effect
effect where the charge carriers generated near the back side of a PV cell are
collected effectively by the inner electric field that is formed by a heavily doped zone
near the rear electrode
b) light-confinement effect
effect where the short-circuit electric current is increased by trapping incident light
inside a PV cell using textured surfaces and structures, etc.
3.1.26 electromagnetic casting
see "ingot manufacturing process/electromagnetic casting", 3.1.32c).
3.1.27 energy gap
(Unit: eV)
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smallest energy difference between two neighbouring allowed bands separated by a forbidden
band
[IEV 111-14-37]
NOTE See also "band gap energy", 3.1.5).
3.1.28 float zone melting
see "ingot manufacturing process/float zone melting", 3.1.32d)
3.1.29 grid lines
see "metallisation line/grid line", 3.1.37b)
3.1.30 heterojunction
see "junction/heterojunction", 3.1.34b)
3.1.31 hot spot
intense localised heating occurring in a PV module when its operating electric current
exceeds the reduced short-circuit current of a shadowed or faulty PV cell or group of cells
within it
NOTE When a hot spot occurs, the affected cell or group of cells is forced into reverse bias and must dissipate
power, which can cause overheating. The voltage bias or damage creates a small, localized shunt path where a
large portion of the PV module current appears.
3.1.32 ingot manufacturing process
process by which an ingot is manufactured
a) Czochralski process
method of growing a perfect large-size single crystal by slowly lifting, under careful
cooling conditions, a rotating seed crystal from a counter-rotating molten silicon bath
NOTE 1 The Czochralski process produces a cylindrical-section silicon ingot, which can be cut into
wafers that are usually round or pseudo-square.
b) directional solidification
method of making large-grain multicrystalline silicon ingots by controlling the cooling
rate of molten silicon that has been placed in a square-section crucible
NOTE 2 Directional solidification produces a square-section silicon ingot that can be cut into wafers that
are square or rectangular.
c) electromagnetic casting
method of making multicrystalline silicon ingots by which a continuously fed square-
sectional open-bottom cold crucible of molten silicon is continuously pulled downward
through an electromagnetic field
NOTE 3 Electromagnetic casting produces a square-section silicon ingot that can be cut into wafers that
are square or rectangular.
d) float zone melting
method of growing and purifying high quality single crystal ingots
3.1.33 integrated type photovoltaic cell
see "cell/integrated type cell", 3.1.9e)
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3.1.34 junction (of semiconductors)
transition layer between semiconducting regions of different electrical properties, or between
a semiconductor and a layer of a different type, being characterized by a potential barrier
impeding the movement of charge carriers from one region to the other
[IEV 521-02-72]
a) cell junction
junction between the P-type semiconductor and N-type semiconductor of a PV cell
NOTE 1 The PV cell junction lies within the cell barrier or depletion zone.
b) heterojunction
PN junction in which the two regions differ in their doping conductivities, and also in
their atomic compositions
c) homojunction
PN junction in which the two regions differ in their doping conductivities, but not in
their atomic compositions
d) Schottky barrier
junction between a metal and a semiconductor in which a transition region, formed at
the surface of the semiconductor, acts as a rectifying barrier
[IEV 521-02-71]
e) PIN junction
junction consisting of an intrinsic semiconductor between a P-type semiconductor and
an N-type semiconductor, intended to reduce the recombination of minority carriers
NOTE 2 A PIN junction is widely used in thin film amorphous silicon PV cells.
f) PN junction
junction between a P-type semiconductor and an N-type semiconductor
3.1.35 light confinement effect
see "effect/light-confinement effect", 3.1.25b)
3.1.36 material
see "photovoltaic/photovoltaic material", 3.1.43e)
3.1.37 metallisation line
metallic conductor on the front or back of a PV cell intended to conduct the electric current
generated by the PV cell
NOTE 1 A metallisation line can be screen-printed, vapour-deposited or extruded (line-written).
The l
...