New Test Centre in India: TUV Rheinland Continues Worldwide Investment Programme for Solar Industry

COLOGNE, Germany and BANGALORE, India, August 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland has opened its seventh laboratory worldwide in Electronics City in the Indian city of Bangalore for testing solar modules and systems. The world leader in independent safety and quality testing for solar modules has invested EUR2 million in the new solar test centre, which in particular will offer services to India's growing solar industry. In this way, TUV Rheinland is filling a significant gap for Indian industry, which previously did not have access to large test facilities on such a scale. The test centre has 2,000 square metres of space, including an outside test field of 500 square metres, with equipment such as five climate chambers and two sun simulators. This makes it the most up to date and largest laboratory in the entire South Asian economic area.

"Our investment programme for the solar industry aims to place our services within easy reach of companies in and for all booming markets and to offer them large test capacities. India cannot be neglected here. In addition, all our customers can call upon the decades of expertise gained by our now 180 experts around the world to test and certify systems, modules and components", declared Friedrich Hecker, CEO of TUV Rheinland AG. This is made possible by the extremely close interlinking of all seven of TUV Rheinland's test laboratories. This goes for both photovoltaics and solar thermal technology.

The new test centre is located in Electronics City - which, with around 160,000 employees in over 120 companies, is the hub of India's high-tech industry, from IT to electronics right through to energy. The Indian government has recently launched wide-ranging programmes, for example with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, to expand the solar industry and utilise solar energy throughout the country. India is already planning to install 20,000 megawatt of photovoltaic power by 2020, with 100,000 megawatt by 2030. TUV Rheinland will therefore strengthen its service offering in India for solar power stations, encompassing planning, consulting, operation and maintenance. In addition, services will be provided for ensuring the quality and safety of modules and components, as well as monitoring production quality. When testing and certifying according to IEC and other international standards, the experts in the laboratory can make use of the latest test facilities.

TUV Rheinland first started laboratory-scale technical testing of solar components back in 1995. Today, around 80% of all manufacturers of solar modules worldwide have their products tested in TUV Rheinland laboratories in order to obtain international market licences. The specialists are involved in testing modules and components, developing new test methods, collaborating on R&D projects for the use of solar energy, and assisting customers worldwide with the construction of solar power plants. Aside from Bangalore, TUV Rheinland has test centres in Germany (Cologne), Shanghai, the Taiwanese city of Taichun and two in Yokohama. TUV Rheinland PTL also has a laboratory in Tempe, Arizona. All laboratories comply with the latest technical standards, as they have been launched or modernised in the last 24 months.

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SOURCE TUV Rheinland AG