Intertek Announces Expansion of Solar Photovoltaic Testing Capabilities in North America and China

26 Mar 2008

Intertek (LSE: ITRK), a global leader in testing, inspection and certification, has announced the expansion of its photovoltaic (PV) module and inverter testing laboratories and capabilities. This growth will enable PV manufacturers around the world to design, test, certify and deploy their next-generation products faster than ever before.

“The Solar/PV market has grown by more than 500% since 2001 and is on pace to triple in just three more years,” said Gregg Tiemann, president of Intertek’s Commercial & Electrical division. “This race to market has created a bottleneck in the testing and certification process. Intertek’s expansion of services and lab capacity frees manufacturers from these challenges and enables them to deliver products to market faster.”

PV Modules

Intertek is expanding its global PV testing capabilities with the construction of state-of-the-art PV module testing facilities in California and Shanghai, China. Intertek is also adding a new photovoltaic module testing chamber in Cortland, NY. These new chambers will significantly reduce testing queue times to just 15 days. What’s more, to best serve PV manufacturers’ needs for quicker time to market, Intertek will continue to leverage its partnership with the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) at the University of Central Florida for additional testing capacity and industry leading expertise.

PV Inverters

Intertek recently unveiled new facilities to test grid tie inverters up to 100KVA in their own laboratory. These new capabilities complement their existing customer-premise testing around the world. They also complement Intertek’s new PV inverter laboratory in Taiwan, which was constructed in November 2007 to provide local service and expertise to Asian manufacturers.

Contacts

For further information, please contact

Derek Silva, Field Marketing Manager
Telephone: 978-635-8545
derek.silva@intertek.com

About Intertek’s testing and certification services

The Commercial & Electrical division of Intertek provides testing and certification services, including product safety testing and certification, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, performance testing, and management systems certification. These services provide global market access to customers in industries such as building products and materials.

About Intertek

Intertek is a leading international provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of global and local industries. Partnership with Intertek brings increased value to customers’ products and processes, ultimately supporting their success in the global market place. Intertek has the experience, expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through their network of more than 930 laboratories and offices, 20,000 people in 110 countries around the world. For more information,