CORTLAND — A new solar-panel testing laboratory in Cortland, the only such facility in the Northeast, should help promote the growth of the solar-power industry as well as solar research and development, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) contends. NYERDA partnered with Intertek Group plc — a London–based, global testing company […]
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CORTLAND — A new solar-panel testing laboratory in Cortland, the only such facility in the Northeast, should help promote the growth of the solar-power industry as well as solar research and development, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) contends.
NYERDA partnered with Intertek Group plc — a London–based, global testing company that has operations in Cortland — to open the Center for Evaluation of Clean Energy Technology (CECET). The center formally opened on Dec. 4 with a grand-opening event.
CECET, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intertek, is a university-industry partnership for accelerating clean-energy technology market commercialization. NYSERDA is supporting the effort with grants.
The photovoltaic (PV) certification testing lab at CECET provides both indoor and outdoor testing of solar panels for indicators such as generating capacity, performance over time, impacts of weather, and more. The center is located at an Intertek facility at 3933 U.S. Route 11 in Cortland.
“We’re really excited,” says Richard Lewandowski, executive director of CECET. The majority of PV testing available in the United States is at facilities located in the southwest, where the weather is typically hot and sunny.
While that may seem ideal, upstate New York’s cooler climate is actually much better for solar-power generation, Lewandowski contends. That makes the area ideal for a testing facility, especially as interest in solar energy grows in New York and around the Northeast, he says.
“It’s really a great opportunity,” Lewandowski says.
The upstate New York location will allow scientists to test equipment performance during the extreme winter and summer conditions in the Northeast. The Cortland testing site is also seen as a “convenience” for solar-panel manufacturers based in the region, according to NYSERDA.
The use of certified photovoltaic equipment (such as solar panels) is a requirement of many state and federal incentive or similar programs.
CECET can offer an array of assistance to companies designing and producing PV components. Testing can include electroluminescence testing to find stress cracks and other minute damage to panel composite materials, environmental testing, and more.
“We’re doing durability, performance, and liability testing as well as certification testing,” Lewandowski says.
On top of that, CECET partners with several academic institutions including Binghamton University, Alfred State, Clarkson University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Syracuse University for research and development, he says.
What that ultimately means is that CECET can not only work with a company developing solar technology to find any flaws with its product, but can also work with the business to develop solutions for any flaws found. “We can guide them in the right direction,” Lewandowski says.
Such testing, research, and development are crucial, he says, as solar technology becomes a more and more popular “green” energy choice in New York and around the country. This past year, there were enough solar installations across the United States to equal the power generated by five to six nuclear power plants, Lewandowski says.
CECET will connect all the parties working on developing new technology, which ultimately will result in lower costs and more rapid returns on investment, says Jacques Roeth, a program manager at NYSERDA.
NYSERDA worked on establishing CECET for about three years, he says. NYSERDA awarded Intertek $400,000 to create CECET, a group of public, private, and educational institutions. NYSERDA also awarded $1.7 million to CECET for the Cortland site as well as $877,000 for a wind-turbine blade testing center at Clarkson University in Potsdam.
The effort is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s NY-Sun initiative to accelerate solar-power development in New York. NYSERDA contends that the initiative has enabled the state to generate a significant increase in the installation of solar power.
CECET currently employs four people and Lewandowski says he expects that number to grow as word gets out about the facility. He is now reaching out through the media to make the PV community aware of CECET. A current project with General Electric will also help spread the word, he adds. CECET is also working with a number of other smaller companies, but has confidentiality clauses in place to protect the new technology being developed, he says.
Intertek is a worldwide testing company with more than 30,000 employees and 1,000 offices and labs in 100 countries.
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