Intertek doubles its North American solar PV testing capacity

CHICAGO, USA: Intertek, a leader in testing, inspection and certification services, announced that the company has doubled the photovoltaic (PV) testing capacity in their Lake Forest, CA lab.

The expansion is in response to growing demand for PV products and the company’s dedication to providing the industry’s fastest project turnaround. The state of the art testing laboratory is equipped with solar simulators, environmental chambers, rain & hail testers, impact and mechanical loading apparatus, among other equipment.

Intertek’s Lake Forest lab began PV testing in October 2008 and has since expanded its solar testing scope to include Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), energy efficiency testing for CEC and FSEC, and performance testing. Intertek provides the ETL Mark for compliance to safety standards in North America and Europe.

The lab’s IECEE CB Scheme accreditation allows Intertek to conduct one set of tests that will provide manufacturers with market access to more than 40 countries that participate in the CB Scheme, saving manufacturers money and reducing their overall time-to-market.

“Organic growth of the solar industry, combined with our policy of faster project turnaround and customer access to our engineering team, has driven demand for our testing and certification services far beyond the capacity we planned just two years ago,” said Sunny Rai, Program Director, Photovoltaic & Semiconductor at Intertek. “Intertek’s commitment to helping manufacturers access more markets, shorten their time-to-market and reduce their overall testing costs necessitated this expansion.”

In addition to the Lake Forest, CA lab, Intertek provides PV testing and certification through their lab in Shanghai China and through partners in Germany and Italy. Intertek is an OSHA-recognized NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) in the United States and accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) as a Testing Organization (TO) and Certification Organization (CO).