Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) under the BIS Act notified the Solar Photovoltaics Systems, Devices and Components Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order 2017 on 5.09.2017 for quality assurance in SPV Power Projects. It includes SPV modules, inverters and battery storage for SPV applications. As per the order, no person shall manufacture or store for sale, import, sell or distribute goods, which do not conform to Indian Standards specified in the Order. Manufacturers of these products are required to apply for registration from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). New Delhi after getting their products tested from BIS recognised test labs.
- The grant of registration by the Bureau of India Standards shall be as per the provisions of the Act and Rules and Regulations made thereunder. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) then registers the manufactures under its registration scheme, who are permitted to declare that their articles conform to the Indian Standard(s). The registered manufactures are then allowed to use the Standard Mark notified by the Bureau.
- The substandard or defective Goods which do not conform to the Specified Standard mentioned in the Schedule shall be deformed beyond use and disposed of as a scrap by the manufacturer or the representative of overseas manufacturer from liaison office or branch office located in India or by any agency authorised by the manufacturer as its authorised representative in the India. Inspection and surveillance of products in field will be carried out for quality check.
Series Guidelines for Testing Samples
- As the products are of varying sizes, ratings, varieties, etc. the products in each category are to be grouped for submitting samples to test labs, and shall be granted series approval for series of products based on testing of representatives models. The guidelines for series approval of SPV Modules were notified by MNRE on 9th July 2018. Series Guidelines for inverters and storage battery are under preparation.
Implementation of the Order
- The above mentioned order was advanced to 16.04.2018 vide notification dated 16.04.2018 published in Gazette of India on 16.04.2018 in order to ensure quality of products in SPV projects. Considering the time taken (3-4 months period) in completing testing and performance certification and the test labs were in the process of fulfilling BIS recognition, a provision for self-certification of quality as per standards by manufacturers for products included in the schedule annexed to the said order was made. The schedule was revised time to time and notified for implementation, which were published in Gazette of India.
- Further, the domestic module manufactures whose annual module production capacity is less than 50MW are exempted for BIS certification for two years till 4.09.2020 provided they have valid IEC Certificate subject to the condition that the IEC certificate was obtained before 16.04.2018. Same relaxation has also been allowed to projects which were taken up earlier for replacement of 2 modules per project per annum provided such products are not being supplied by the manufacturers for new projects in the country. If the replacement is more, the manufacturers will have to get the product tested in test labs as per Indian Standard. For the purpose of getting exemption under this clause, a specific exemption from the Ministry would be required.
Self-Certification
- The self-certification by manufacturers involves an undertaking that their products conform to the relevant Indian standards or their counterparts as per clauses given in notifications. However, registration is granted by BIS on production of performance reports along with relevant documents by manufacrurers.
Registration granted by BIS
- BIS till 31.12.2018 has granted registration of 47 nos. of SPV Modules to different manufacturers, which includes 19 nos. from India and 24 nos. from China.
Test Labs
- The details of test labs recognized by Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS), Manak Bhawan, New Delhi for testing of products listed in quality control order is given in Annexure.
Orders/Notifications
- Various orders/notifications issued by MNRE under the CRS are available in this section as given in table below.
| Sl. No. | Title | Notification Date |
| 1.
|
“Quality Control Order on Solar Photovoltaic Systems, Devices and Components Goods” 2017. | 05.09.2017 |
| 2.
|
Notification on revision of schedule of “Quality Control Order” incorporating self-certification clause. | 16.04.2018 |
| 3. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order” | 30.05.2018 |
| 4. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order”. | 13.07.2018 |
| 5. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order”. | 12.09.2018 |
| 6. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order”. | 30.09.2018 |
| 7. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order”. | 12.10.2018 |
| 8. | Revised Schedule on “Quality Control Order”. | 4.01.2019 |
Annexure
Test Labs available recognized by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), New Delhi
| Sl. No. | Product | Indian Standard Number | Title of India Standard | Test Labs Recognized by BIS |
| 1. | Crystalline Silicon Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules
(Si Wafer based) |
IS-14286 | Crystalline Silicon Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules – Design Qualification and type Approval | 1. Hi Physix Laboratory India Pvt. Ltd., Pune
2. UL India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore 3. TUV Rheinland, Bangalore 4. NISE, Gurugram (Group 2 Lab). |
| 2. | Thin-Film Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules
(a-Si, CiGs and CdTe) |
IS-16077 | Thin-Film Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules – Design Qualification and Type Approval | 1. Hi Physix Laboratory India Pvt. Ltd., Pune
2. UL India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore 3. NISE, Gurugram (Group 2 Lab). |
| 3. | PV Module
(Si Wafer and Thin Film) |
IS/IEC 61730 (Part-1)
IS/IEC 61730 (Part-2) |
Photovoltaic (PV) Module Safety Qualification Part-1 Requirements for Construction
Photovoltaic (PV) Module Safety Qualification Part-2 Requirements for Testing |
1. Hi Physix Laboratory India Pvt. Ltd., Pune
2. UL India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. 3. TUV Rheinland, Bangalore |
| 4. | Power Inverters for use in Photovoltaic Power System | IS 16221
(Part-2) |
Safety of Power Converters for use in Photovoltaic Power Systems Part-2 – Particular Requirements for Inverters | 1. CPRI, Bangalore
|
| 5. | Utility – Interconnected Photovoltaic Inverters | IS-16169 | Test Procedures of Islanding Prevention Measures for Utility-Interconnected Photovoltaic Inverters | 1. CPRI, Bangalore
2. UL India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore 3. NISE, Gurgaon (BIS Group 2 Lab) |
| 6. | Storage Battery | IS-16270 | Secondary Cells and Batteries for Solar Photovoltaic Application General – Requirements and Methods of Test
|
1. Hi Physix Laboratory India Pvt. Ltd., Pune
2. CPRI, Bangalore 3. CECRI, Karakudi, Tamil Nadu 4. NISE, Gurugram (Group 2 Lab) |
Source: mnre.gov.in
