NORTHBROOK, Illinois, July 14 --
- With 40 percent more testing capacity, UL’s San Jose laboratory helps
deliver solar products to market faster than ever before
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader in safety testing and
certification, today announced the completion of its photovoltaic testing
facility expansion in San Jose, Calif. The expansion has increased testing
capacity by over 40 percent, making it the largest and most comprehensive solar
testing laboratory of its kind in North America.
UL has invested heavily in solar and other alternative energies such as wind,
as well as new energy efficiency and storage technologies such as LED and large
batteries for electric vehicles in order to meet the growing global demand for
testing services of these new technologies. Investments include opening new
facilities, standards development, certification schemes and groundbreaking
research.
In addition to the U.S. expansion, UL opened a testing facility in Suzhou,
China in early 2009 and has plans to open new facilities in Germany and Japan in
2010. Also, recently UL achieved CB Testing Laboratory (CBTL) accreditation at
its San Jose facility. The accreditation enables UL to provide international
certifications through harmonization of technical requirements from over 50
countries across five continents and help manufacturers achieve global market
access faster and more easily. For the last several years UL remains a leading
participant of IECEE CB Scheme, whose main objective is to facilitate trade by
promoting harmonization of the national standards with international standards.
With the global solar market expected to generate 10 percent of the
world’s total electricity by 2035, we believe, more than ever, safety has
to be a priority in its evolution, said Jeff Smidt General Manager of UL’s
Global Energy Business. Our San Jose facility expansion and CBTL accreditation
are just two examples of our ongoing commitment to the proliferation of safe,
reliable renewable energy solutions globally.
The new expansion to the Photovoltaic Technology Center of Excellence in San
Jose, Calif. brings the total laboratory space to 32,000-square-feet
(2,973-square-meters). The facility now also houses five extra chambers that
assess a variety of PV innovations including crystalline and thin-film
technologies, including BIPV and concentrated PV. UL also tests Recognized
Components such as PV connectors and junction boxes. New employees will also be
hired to meet testing demands.
About Underwriters Laboratories
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is an independent product safety certification
organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for
over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components,
materials and systems annually with 20 billion UL Marks appearing on 72,000
manufacturers’ products each year. UL’s worldwide family of
companies and network of service providers includes 64 laboratory, testing and
certification facilities serving customers in 98 countries. For more
information, visit: http://www.UL.com/newsroom.
SOURCE: Underwriters Laboratories
Yassie S. Dunn of Underwriters Laboratories, +1-847-664-3056,
Yassie.Dunn@us.ul.com; or Elizabeth Sherman of GolinHarris, +1-508-444-6453,
esherman@golinharris.com, for Underwriters Laboratories
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