An Update on Energy Rating Amendments – Integration of Bifacial Modules

This work describes the ongoing IEC TC82 WG2’s revision of IEC 61853 Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating Parts 1, 3 and 4, with a focus on extending the energy rating standard to bifacial photovoltaic modules. A joint project team has updated the formulae of Part 3 to include backside irradiance and developed preliminary meteorological datasets for Part 4 to support different installation configurations. The clarity of the formulas and instructions has also been improved. These improvements will enable a more accurate and comprehensive energy rating for PV modules. A set of six different bifacial PV modules with different cell technologies and different technical layouts were characterized according to IEC 61853-1 and IEC 61853-2 to verify the extended energy rating series. E present the Climate-Specific Energy Rating (CSER) values calculated using these modules’ data and the updated formulas.