Underwriters Laboratories is expanding its existing photovoltaics testing lab in San Jose and will open new facilities in Germany and Japan in 2010. UL is also exploring new partnerships in Asia beyond its existing lab in Suzhou, China.
UL recently added new equipment to its 20,000-square-foot testing facility in San Jose, bringing the number of test chambers to 20. The company says that additional solar simulation equipment (for indoor testing) is being installed and will be operational in July.
The San Jose lab is also undergoing a 13,500-square-foot expansion, which will provide 35% more space to current PV testing operations by July and result in project capacity growing an additional 30% year-over-year compared with July 2008, according to UL.
UL says it is the only National Certification Body for PV product testing in North America that is able to test and certify products in accordance with both UL Standards and International Standards (IEC).