Steel frame solar panel manufacturer Origami Solar has announced that after months of independent testing at CFV Labs and the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC), the company’s steel frames have passed frame-related industry standard tests, including IEC 61215 static mechanical load tests and IEC 61701 Salt Spray Corrosion Test and continuity test of equipotential bonding.
These tests prove that module manufacturers considering switching from imported aluminum frames to domestic steel frames can pass the certification tests without any problems.
CFV performed both required static load testing and optional test-to-failure testing. In the static mechanical load tests, modules with Origami’s steel frames easily met the standards required for IEC module certification. On a 400mm bolted tracker, the modules completed the IEC 61215 specified sequence of three cycles of one hour of down pressure and one hour of up pressure at pressure levels of +/- 2,400 Pa. When using quarter-point pressure clamps along the long side of the module, with racks underneath the module, the modules withstood the same cycle times but with a downward pressure of 5,400 Pa and an upward pressure of 3,000 Pa. The modules passed all static mechanical load tests and met the IEC 61215 standard requirements.
While modules with steel Origami solar frames passed the required IEC 61215 testing, the test-to-failure runs further proved that the steel frames provide a wide margin of safety, giving module manufacturers greater peace of mind. In some tests, even the maximum pressure allowed by CFV did not result in module rupture, which is important given the solar industry’s growing problem with reduced module strength.
“Over the past five years, CFV Labs has seen a decline in module strength in both laboratory testing and field module projects,” said Colin Sillerud, Vice President of Engineering at CFV Labs. “The steel frame modules supplied by Origami to CFV for testing exhibited test-to-failure pressure values that were higher than similarly sized modules constructed with aluminum frames. While CFV cannot say that laboratory testing will directly translate into field performance, these results demonstrate strong relative laboratory performance compared to traditionally framed PV modules.”
RETC’s salt spray corrosion and continuity tests on modules using Origami’s steel solar frames showed similarly successful results, confirming the significant corrosion protection performance of zinc-aluminum-magnesium (ZAM) coatings. The test module underwent and passed the most stringent salt fog test methods typically used for land-based solar (specifically IEC 61701, method six), corresponding to the highest land-based corrosivity category, C5. The test series also included testing the continuity of the connection both before and after the salt mist series, which the test module, framed with Origami’s steel, passed without any problems.
“As our modeling predicted, the steel Origami module frames demonstrated excellent performance across the full range of certification tests,” said Lauren Ahsler, Vice President of Engineering, PE, SE, at Origami Solar. “The tests prove to the industry that there is minimal risk to module manufacturers’ ability to get modules certified when switching to steel solar frames. This rigorous third-party testing also demonstrates that the move to steel module frames has the potential to address the reduction in allowable load specifications for large format modules and improve the overall reliability of PV installations. The excellent performance of the steel frames in the salt spray test series should eliminate any concerns about corrosion protection. These independent tests show that Origami’s steel solar frames represent a major step forward for the solar energy sector.”
A detailed test plan is available here: https://origamisolar.com/test-program-doc-download/
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