ALBERK QA TEKNIK conducts the following periodic inspections and analyses for grid-connected photovoltaic systems.

Periodic Inspections

• Thermographic Inspection
• IV Measurement and Degradation Analysis

Initial Verification and Inspection

• Design Verification
• Installed Capacity Determination and Verification Thermographic Inspection
• IV Measurement
• Installation and Mounting Audit
• Pre-loading Transportation and Storage Control of Photovoltaic Systems and PV Modules
• Supervision of Module Packaging Units During Transportation and Shipping

To ensure the longevity of manufactured solar panels, production monitoring is carried out throughout the manufacturing process at solar panel factories, including pre-production, during production, and pre-shipment. This ensures quality production guarantee for the solar panels produced for your project. Alberk QA Technical Inspection Team is ready to support you regarding production monitoring during solar panel manufacturing.

Why should you receive services from an accredited Type A inspection body?

Accredited organizations provide periodic inspection services in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation standards based on relevant standards in that field. The tests, studies and inspections performed are objective and repeatable. Accredited organizations that are Type A inspection bodies are regularly audited by accreditation bodies.

Inspection services performed in solar power plants involve precise measurements and tests. The competence of inspection personnel performing these analyses, calibration of equipment used, creation of uncertainty budgets, and intermediate verifications are periodically audited by accreditation bodies.

Alberk QA Teknik is an accredited organization by TÃœRKAK with AB-0067-M accreditation number. Alberk QA Teknik's accreditation has international validity as TÃœRKAK is a member of the European Accreditation Cooperation Program.

Accredited organizations in Turkey are registered in TÃœRKAK's database. https://asist.turkak.org.tr/tr/accreditation/accreditationagencysearch You can search by entering the organization's name and view Alberk QA Teknik's accreditation scope.

Advantages of Design Verification with a TÃœRKAK Accredited Type A Inspection Body

- The compliance of the design with national and international standards is confirmed, and elements that may have been overlooked during design and may pose risks are identified.

- It ensures that the best equipment is used that is both safe for design and economically beneficial to the organization.

Periodic Inspection and Degradation Analyses of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

Tests are performed according to IEC 62446 standard series to monitor and measure the performance of solar power plants. These tests include:

• V-Curve (current-voltage) measurement,
• Thermal tests with drones,
• EL (electroluminescence) test,
• Insulation test,
• Grounding test and performance measurement.

IV Curve Measurement

Based on IV Curve measurement results, IV curve measurements of all solar panel arrays in the field are extracted. It is determined whether there are LID, PID, micro-crack, or degradation problems. Based on these measurements, you can also see how much the solar panels have degraded during future inspections. According to this test result, you can check whether there is underproduction in your power plant.

From the IV test results, you can obtain information on the following:

• You can learn the actual power of solar panels and check whether it is consistent with factory data.
• Whether there is any loss due to LID (Light induced degradation) in your solar panels
• Whether there is any loss due to PID (Potential induced degradation) in your solar panels
• Whether there is any ground contact or leakage due to cuts/pest damage in your DC cables
• Whether there are any problems with bypass diodes of your solar panels
• Detection of shading-related problems
• Possible faulty connections in panel strings

Thermal Tests - IEC 62446

Thermal camera inspection of solar power plants is important for problem detection. Hot-spots may occur after photovoltaic systems are commissioned. We perform this control both with drones and handheld thermal cameras. At this stage, you can declare to the panel factory with IS2 files provided by the software.

From thermal measurement results, you can obtain information on the following:

• Are there any damaged cells in my solar panels?
• Is there any unexpected heating in panel components like bypass diodes, junction boxes?
• Have environmental factors causing shading damaged the panels?
• Are there any uncommissioned arrays?

EL (Electroluminescence) Test of Solar Panels

EL photos of solar panels are taken and presented to the customer. At this stage, it can be considered like an X-ray of the cells used against potential future problems. You can see whether the cells were damaged during both manufacturing and solar power plant installation.

From EL Test results, you can obtain information on the following:

• Structure of the cells
• Whether there are any cracks etc. in the cells
• Effects of overhead carrying during EPC installation or whether panels were stressed
• This test does not provide information about your panel's power. It can only provide information about the source if a problem was detected in IV curve measurement.

Insulation (Hipot) Tests - IEC 62446

Solar panels are subjected to 1,000V voltage and insulation resistance between Panel-Ground is checked. This is important both to prevent leakage in panels that could harm people and to prevent inverters from tripping. Damages caused by EPC companies during cabling are also detected at this stage, which is very important during commissioning.

From Hipot Test results, you can obtain information on the following:

• Is there any damage to your cables?
• Is there any phase-to-ground fault on the DC current side of solar panels?
• Is there any problem affecting insulation resistance that would trip your inverter?

Grounding Value Measurement

Grounding is critically important in all electrical installations, especially solar power plants. Whether in residual current protections or general protections especially against lightning in power plants, grounding is of great importance. A break in grounding and equipotential bonding can seriously damage the system. In this context, both equipotential busbar grounding measurement with megger and grounding measurements of structures and solar panels should be performed and recorded, and necessary measures should be taken when problems are detected.

Photovoltaic Solar Panel Production Monitoring

To ensure the longevity of manufactured solar panels, production monitoring is carried out throughout the manufacturing process at solar panel factories, including pre-production, during production, and pre-shipment. This ensures quality production guarantee for the solar panels produced for your project. Certified solar panels show that the solar panel manufacturer meets quality and safety requirements set by certification bodies for the specified product. However, this approval is only possible by using specified raw materials and storing these raw materials under correct climatic conditions in warehouses. If inspection is not performed at the solar panel factory, solar panels may have physical defects that reduce their lifespan. In mass production factories, inspection of the production line by a third party is very important. Also, not all manufactured solar panels have the same electrical values. Solar panels meeting the values committed for the project should be selected and prepared for shipment. Not all defects in solar panels are visible to the naked eye; EL images must be examined by experts. According to specified acceptance criteria, suitable solar panels for the project should be monitored during manufacturing, selected and prepared for shipment.

Shipment preparation is the final stage in solar panel supply with high error potential. To eliminate risks of physical damage that solar panels going to the field may encounter during transportation, measures to be taken should be determined in advance and PV module manufacturing inspection should be performed during this process.

• Detecting errors and risks that may arise due to various reasons over time.
• Correcting early detected errors before they cause permanent damage and recreating them in case of permanent damage.