TÜV launches new program for risk assessment of PV systems
Expected yield, safety, thermal load: TÜV will analyze the risk of larger PV systems in future. The service is aimed at investors.
(Image: TÜV Rheinland)
TÜV Rheinland has launched a new program for the risk analysis of medium to large PV systems. Aimed at banks and investors, the program is supposed to help with the assessment of technical and economic risks. It's not exactly clear which PV systems the program covers specifically. According to TÜV Rheinland, demand will show.
According to Roman Brück, a solar expert at TÜV Rheinland, the service is intended to help manage the increasing complexity of projects and the growing demand for renewable energies. All common technologies and module sizes up to 2.6 square meters are taken into account.
The focus is on safety, quality and technical aspects that could lead to possible yield losses: These include, for example, performance reductions at module level due to UV radiation and high temperatures, the mechanical load capacity of the mounting systems, but also the correct cabling of bypass diodes.
TÜV Rheinland intends to compile its findings in a final report. It will include all relevant project details and risks, as well as possible countermeasures. In the past, TÜV Rheinland, together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), published a guideline for assessing and minimizing the fire risk of PV systems.
20 gigawatts per year by 2030
Germany wants to free its energy system from fossil fuels by 2045. Photovoltaics in particular is considered a key technology here. Its expansion is progressing well compared to wind energy, for example, as the German Institute for Economic Research's Ampel-Monitor Energiewende shows.
(Image: DIW)
According to the Federal Network Agency, the expansion of solar power in 2023 almost doubled year-on-year to 14.1 gigawatts. This is primarily due to private installations. However, installations on commercial rooftops and open spaces were also increasingly added.
At the end of 2023, around 82 gigawatts of total capacity were installed in Germany. In order to achieve the expansion target of 215 gigawatts by 2030, around 20 gigawatts would have to be added each year. According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, almost 4 gigawatts of PV capacity was already installed in the first quarter of 2024.
(ssi)