CENER obtains accreditation to perform tests on solar collectors according to american standards

28 January 2010

The Solar Thermal Test Laboratory of CENER has recently been recognised by the US-American Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (SRCC) as accredited laboratory to test solar collectors destined for that market, according to American standards (Standard OG-100).

CENER thus becomes one of the seven official accredited European laboratories to perform tests according to United States standards. The others in the group include five German laboratories (Fraunhofer, ISFH, ITW, IZES and TÜV Rheinland), and one Swiss (SPF).

According to the procedure established for this type of testing, once the appropriate tests have been performed at the CENER laboratory, the manufacturers will send the relative results to SRCC in the United States. This body is responsible for certifying the tested product and if everything is correct, it will issue the relative certificate for the collector manufacturer.

SRCC was incorporated as a non-profit organisation in 1980. The number of SRCC certifications has constantly increased over the last few years. At the end of October 2009, the number of solar thermal collectors accredited by SRCC amounted to 300 and the number of solar thermal systems to 900. Among the most outstanding future objectives set by SRCC in the field of solar thermal component and system certification is the certification of heating systems, solar concentration collectors and solar cooling systems, as well as the development of the relative quality standards to monitor performance.

Attached to the Solar Thermal Energy Department, the CENER Solar Thermal Test Laboratory started its activity in 2004. Since then, it has performed more than 500 performance and/or durability tests on solar thermal collectors, as well as on compact or prefabricated solar thermal systems. Apart from the recently obtained accreditation by SRCC to perform tests according to the OG-100 standard, the CENER laboratory is accredited by ENAC to perform tests according to standards UNE EN 12975, UNE EN 12976 and ISO 9806. Furthermore, it is recognised by certification bodies in Germany (DIN CERTCO) and Portugal (CERTIF) to perform tests according to the SolarKeymark regulation.