Standards

International Standards

Before going into details of the norms applicable to Solar, a quick reminder about the different types of electrical standards in the world and their applicable regions:

Acronym	Title	Comment	Application
IEC	International Electrotechnical Commission	International Electrical Standards	European based
ANSI	American National Standard Institude	All American Standards	US based
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers	American Electrical Standards	Worldwide use
NEC	National Electricity code	American Electrical Standards	US applicable

Local norms and standards are always applicable in priority. However, when specific in a country, they are most of the time strongly inspired by the IEC or ANSI standard.

IEC with or without national rule

ANSI/IEEE NEC

ANSI/IEEE NEC with or without national rule

Standards applicable to Solar projects

The main electrical standard applicable for Solar Installation are classified below by order of importance :

Reference	Object	Comment
IEC 62 548 2016 version	PV array design requirements	Main worldwide standard for any grid connected PV installation
IEC 62 738 2018 version	Design Guideline for PV power plant	This is a transposition of the IEC 62 548 specifically for Large Scale solar farms. It allows more flexibility in the design in order not to oversize equipment, as it might have a much bigger impact than it would in small installations.
IEC 61 427-1	Offgrid Storage for renewable	Main IEC norm for any PV + Storage installation not connected to the grid
IEC 61 427-2	Grid Connected Storage for renewable	Main IEC norm for any PV + Storage installation connected to the grid
IEC 60 364 - 7-712	Electrical requirements for Low voltage PV installation	Chapter of the IEC 60 364 focusing on PV installation. It is close to the IEC 62 548 (which remain the main PV norm), but is more focused on LV electrical design
IEC 60 364	Low Voltage electrical requirements	This is the main norm for any type of low voltage installation. The scope is very large, that’s why this norm is split in a lot of chapters, where some are applicable to solar installations (see below)
IEC 64 364 - 5-52	LV electrical - Cable selection	Selection and sizing of low voltage electrical cables
IEC 62 930 2017 version	Electric cables for photovoltaic systems with a voltage rating of 1,5 kV DC	Describe how a DC PV cable should be built ® Buy PV cables that comply with this norm
IEC 60 502 -2	Medium and High voltage Cables	Describe how an AC High Voltage cable should be built ® Buy HV cables that comply with this norm
IEC 60 269 - 6	LV Fuse for PV	The IEC 60 269 is the general norm for any type of low voltage fuse The chapter 6 of this norm is the specifications for fuses in PV installation ® Buy fuses compliant with this norm