Quality Assurance Update: Revised Standards

Please see this message in Chinese below.
We have revised the standards for pico-solar products and for solar home system (SHS) kits to ensure that they continue to serve as the global benchmark for product quality. We extended the scope to include products up to 350 Wp, strengthened the standards to address reported instances of product failure, and made certain other changes in response to stakeholder feedback.
We also translated the standards into Chinese to make them more accessible to companies manufacturing products in China. We believe that improving understanding of the quality standards “at the source” can contribute to the production of higher-quality products and expand the relevance of the Lighting Global Quality Assurance framework. We expect to soon have a French version of the standards on the website as well.
The revised standards can be found here.
The revised standards were developed with input from a variety of stakeholders over the last year. We issued a proposal in June 2016 and collected comments on that proposal. We held a webinar in November 2016 to discuss the comments we received and to explain our plan of action. The revised standards were put into use in May 2017 and were edited over the last four months to improve clarity. Here is a summary of the changes:
Relevant to All Products

  • Strengthened the standards to ensure that claims related to runtime and physical and water ingress protection are well supported and evaluated consistently
  • Clarified that any advertised run times are assumed to be for the brightest setting, unless another setting is specified
  • Allowed all manufacturers to use the LM80 test method to evaluate lumen maintenance

Relevant to SHS Kits Only

  • Expanded the scope to allow plug-and-play products up to 350 Wp to become quality verified, in response to the market’s evolution toward higher-capacity products
  • In response to manufacturer requests, reduced the minimum warranty requirement to two years for the main system, including the PV module, control box, cables, lights, and battery. (Lighting appliances with their own battery, non-lighting appliances, and USB charging cables and similar accessories continue to have a minimum one-year warranty requirement.)
  • Clarified what information manufacturers must provide to end users, including specifications intended to help consumers identify suitable replacement components
  • Strengthened our requirements for 12V and USB ports to ensure truth-in-advertising
  • Incorporated the Lighting Global Outdoor Cable Policy into the Quality Standards to ensure cables are adequately protected from long-term UV damage and water ingress

Relevant to Pico-Solar Products Only

  • Strengthened the evaluation of switches and connectors to require that all samples pass the durability tests

Also, as discussed during the stakeholder process in 2016, we have now submitted a new version of IEC TS 62257-9-5 to the IEC. The document is currently undergoing review through the IEC process, and we anticipate that it will be adopted and published in the first half of 2018. It specifies test methods for both pico-solar products and plug-and-play solar home system kits. Until it is published, the methods described in the current version of IEC TS 62257-9-5 (Edition 3) will be used for pico-solar products, and the methods for plug-and-play solar home system kits will be drawn from the Lighting Global Solar Home System Kit Quality Assurance Protocols.
After IEC TS 62257-9-5 Edition 4 is published, the methods it describes will be used to evaluate both pico-solar products and SHS kits. For pico-solar products, that means we will begin evaluating USB port functionality and runtime using the same methods currently used for SHS kits.
Thank you for your continued support of the Lighting Global Quality Assurance Program. As always, contact us if you have any questions or comments. We welcome your feedback!
Please stay tuned for news about additional improvements in the coming months and for an update on our earlier proposal to submit the Lighting Global Quality Standards to the IEC.

下面是点亮全球产品标准的重要更新信息。全文如下：
点亮全球更新了微型太阳能产品和太阳能家用系统的产品标准，以确保这些标准持续代表国际领先水平。我们将标准覆盖的产品功率范围扩大到350Wp；同时，根据相关方反馈给我们的意见和针对所观察到的产品在使用时经常发生的失效状况，我们对标准进行了强化和更新。
我们把这些更新的标准翻译成了中文，以方便中国的生产企业使用。我们相信通过提升生产企业对标准的理解，会有助于产品质量的提升，并通过点亮全球项目帮助太阳能市场的发展。法语版本标准也会在近期内在点亮全球网站发布。
更新的标准可以在点亮全球网站获取。
过去一年里，标准的更新工作得到了许多相关方的支持。我们在2016年6月份发布了更新标准的计划，并向相关方征求意见。我们于2016年11月组织了一个网络研讨会，讨论收集到的意见和建议，并阐述我们的工作计划。新版标准于2017年5月正式生效。过去四个月以来，我们一直不断对其进行编辑，以使其更加清晰明了。下面是更新内容的一个汇总：
适用于所有产品

  • 针对企业宣称的产品工作时长、固体和液体防护等级加强了标准要求
  • 明确指出企业宣称的产品工作时长应基于最高亮度状态，除非另外特别说明了其它亮度状态
  • 允许所有企业使用LM80测试方法来评估光通量维持率

仅适用于家用太阳能系统产品

  • 为了适应市场向大功率产品发展的趋势，标准所包含的产品范围扩大到最高350Wp的即插即用产品
  • 应企业的要求，将产品主系统的质保期降低为2年，包括太阳能板、控制盒、线缆、照明器具和电池 (带有独立电池的照明器具、非照明器具以及USB充电线缆和类似附件继续沿用1年质保期的要求）
  • 明确规范了企业必须向消费者提供的信息类型，包括帮助消费者确定合适替换部件的信息
  • 加强了对12V端口和USB端口如实描述的要求
  • 将点亮全球室外线缆规则（ Lighting Global Outdoor Cable Policy）纳入到产品质量标准，以确保线缆能够抵挡长期的紫外损害以及雨水侵蚀

仅适用于微型太阳能产品

  • 加强了对开关和连接部件的评估，要求所有测试样品都通过耐久性测试

同时，根据在2016年项目相关方的讨论结果，我们目前已经向IEC提交了新一版的测试方法标准IEC TS 62257-9-5。该文件目前在IEC按照程序进行审阅，我们预期文件会在2018年上半年通过审阅并发布。该新版标准包含了微型太阳能产品和即插即用家用太阳能系统的测试方法。在该新版标准发布之前，对于微型太阳能产品，应使用当前版本IEC TS 62257-9-5 (Edition  3)的测试方法。对于即插即用太阳能家用系统，则采用点亮全球家用太阳能系统质量保证测试规范 （Lighting Global Solar Home System Kit Quality Assurance Protocols）。
在测试方法标准IEC TS 62257-9-5 Edition 4（第四版）发布后，我们将使用这个测试方法来评估微型太阳能产品和家用太阳能系统。对于微型太阳能产品，这意味着我们将开始使用目前针对家用太阳能系统的评估USB端口的功能和电池使用时间的方法。
谢谢各位对点亮全球质量保证项目一直以来的支持。如果各位有问题、意见和建议，欢迎随时联系我们。我们欢迎各位的反馈！
请各位继续关注我们未来几个月将发布的更多的关于提升标准质量的信息，以及我们之前提到的将点亮全球产品质量标准（Lighting Global Quality Standards）提交给IEC的进展。
欢迎订阅我们的电子刊物以便及时获取项目讯息。