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Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is to open a Photovoltaic Technology Center of Excellence next week in San Jose that will be the largest of its kind in North America. The 20,000 square foot facility will be used for PV in product safety testing and certification. The requirement for PV modules to be listed to UL standards in U.S. and Canadian markets, as well as the need to conform to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, has increased demand for product testing and certification services.

Coupled to the growing PV manufacturing community based on the west coast, UL decided that California would be an ideal location for the new facility and that it would be capable of meeting the demand for testing services.

UL said that they were working with SolarTech, an initiative of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, to help reach as many solar product manufacturers as possible. SolarTech provides the opportunity for introduction of a safety-related discipline during the early stages of product development in the PV supply chain and an end-to-end solution for PV companies.