Call for Comments on Integration of Test Methods and Quality Standards for Solar Home System Kits

14 May 2016

In 2015, Lighting Global and the regional Lighting Africa, Lighting Asia, and Lighting Pacific programs officially extended support to larger (10W to 100W) solar home system (SHS) kits in response to consumer and industry demands.
The Quality Standards for Solar Home System Kits describe the requirements products must meet if tested under our SHS kit testing framework. The framework covers plug-and-play kits that range in power between 10 W – 100 W. The Standards are assessed according to the Lighting Global Solar Home System Kit Quality Assurance Protocols. Pico-solar products continue to be assessed according the Quality Standards for Pico-products using the methods outlined in IEC 62257-9-5.
Stakeholder feedback has been extremely valuable in the development of the test methods and standards for SHS kits, and now we ask for your help in the final step of integrating these methods into a single quality assurance framework.
In the process of developing these new methods, it became clear that many of the new methods are appropriate for pico-solar products as well, and that the blurred dividing line (10 W – 15 W) between the two quality assurance frameworks is confusing and imperfect. To address these issues, we have developed a proposal for the “Integration of Quality Assurance Frameworks for Pico-solar Products and SHS Kits”. We believe the proposed framework will address the issues described above, create a single set of test methods that can more easily be maintained, and ensure a more efficient and appropriate testing process.
To provide feedback:

1. Please review the stakeholder document that presents the proposed “Integration of Quality Assurance Frameworks for Pico-solar Products and SHS Kits“. You may also wish to reference the Lighting Global Solar Home System Kit Quality Assurance Protocols and the most recent versions of the Pico-PV Quality Standards and SHS Kit Quality Standards which are all linked above.
2. Provide your feedback in the online form. All comments must be submitted through this online form no later than Friday, June 17.

We thank you for your time and look forward to your feedback. If you have questions on the survey process, the SHS kit framework, or are interested in having a SHS kit tested, please contact shs@chief-lighting-global.clientapp.com.