Solar battery certification: IEC 61427 explained

Leading national and international organizations, involved in the development of solar power generating systems, create certification standards that dictate the safety requirements and often durability requirements of batteries or energy storage used in solar systems.While some standards are mandatory, others are just for elevating the product standard and to include industry best practices and benchmarks.Leading organizations involved in developing standards, in the field of solar energy are:

• IEC: International Electro-technical Commission
• UL: Underwriter Laboratories Inc.
• IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• CEN: European Committee for Standardization

IEC 61427-1 and IEC 61427-2: energy storage certification for solar power systems

Batteries are the heart of any Off-Grid solar power system.Due to the intermittent nature of electricity generation, batteries become responsible for making the overall solar power system as continuous as possible.The following certification standards lists certain critical information for solar batteries such as the general requirements, testing requirements, recommended practices for installation and maintenance to name a few..

1. IEC 61427-1 (Secondary cells and batteries for renewable energy storage - General requirements and methods of test - Part 1: Photovoltaic off-grid application)
2. IEC 61427-2 (Secondary cells and batteries for Renewable Energy Storage - General Requirements and methods of test - Part 2: On-grid application)
3. IEEE Std. 937 (Recommended Practice for Installation and Maintenance of Lead-Acid Batteries for Photovoltaic (PV) Systems)
4. IEEE Std. 1013 (Recommended Practice for Sizing Lead-Acid Batteries for Stand-Alone Photovoltaic (PV) Systems)
5. IEEE Std. 1361 (IEEE Guide for Selection, Charging, Test, and Evaluation of Lead-Acid Batteries Used in Stand-Alone Photovoltaic (PV) Systems)