EU Inverters Mostly Non-Compliant to EMC Emissions Requirements in EN 55011 and EN 61000-6-3

Administrator

10 years ago

In the first half of 2014, the European Union’s EMC Administrative Cooperation Working Group (EMC ADCO) performed a cross-border EMC market surveillance campaign to assess the compliance of grid-connected solar panel inverters (and optimisers) intended to be used by consumers. Inverters allow electricity generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to be fed into the mains electrical supply of a building, or directly into the public electricity grid.

The primary purpose of the campaign was to assess the compliance of inverter samples randomly taken from the market, with the provisions of the EMC Directive (EMCD). EMC ADCO is not a regulatory body, so there were no penalties assessed as a result of non-compliance.

Fifty-five products were assessed between January 1, 2014 and the 30th June 2014. In general, the level of compliance with the administrative and technical requirements was considered very low. Overall, only 9% of the Equipment Under Test (EUT) were assessed as compliant.

The results of the assessment of EUT showed:

Approximately a third (38%) were administratively compliant (related to CE mark use and Declarations of Conformity)
A third (33%) were technically compliant with an applicable harmonized standard

For emissions, 38% were compliant to EN 55011 Table 8 limits at mains terminals in the frequency range 9 kHz-150 kHz. For the DC side (optional), 43% were compliant to EN 61000-6-3 emission requirements to the DC power port. Immunity aspects were not assessed.

Fourteen European countries participated in the campaign. The majority of EUT – 58 % – were of EU/EFTA origin.

EMC ADCO concluded: “The EUT represented a large sample of the products available on the market and it is clear that much remains to be done by manufacturers in terms of compliance.”

MET Labs is a leading 3^rd party evaluator of inverters for Europe, North America, and Asia. Contact us today for a free quote for inverter testing and certification for product safety and/or electromagnetic compatibility (including anti-islanding).