The New York City Bureau of Electrical Control (BEC) has until this point only allowed PV modules tested with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard 1703 to be used in solar installations around the city. In Europe, and around most of the world, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) reliability and safety standards 61215 and 61730 are used in concert to define acceptable PV modules. Since only safety certification is required by the DoB, the quality of modules destined for the NYC market is not controlled and the city runs a real risk of approving PV systems for installation that-although safe-perform very poorly or degrade rapidly. The NYC DOB Buildings Sustainability Board is considering adopting IEC standards for PV modules as they have recently done for small wind turbines. This would have the effect of reducing the risk of damage to the reputation and integrity of the burgeoning local PV industry by allowing sub-par PV modules to be installed on local rooftops. Specifically, the UL standard does not test for performance throughout testing sequences (only testing at NOCT and STC once), while this is central to IEC 61215 and its sister standards. The purpose of this paper is twofold: we examine the standards side-by-side and discuss the major differences between them, and we discuss the potential effects on the local PV market by passage of such a regulatory measure.
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