Validating the components

In this document

We will explain what component validation means and how to validate your components.

Component validation

Validating a component's parameters in the PV catalog is crucial to ensure the component can function as intended within a photovoltaic system.

The validation process verifies that the component's electrical parameters, such as voltage, current, power, and efficiency, are accurate and correlate with each other according to fundamental electrical principles and requirements.

Validating the component's parameters is necessary to ensure the part is usable in a PV design and provides trustable electrical characteristics that can be relied upon in the system design process.

Validating your components

Component validation is done automatically whenever you save the component during the editing process. The validation parameters are outlined in the validation parameters section. The validation results are displayed on the component’s details page. You can expand every category to view and amend missing or incorrect parameters.

If you click a parameter in the validation, the screen will scroll to its value for better convenience.
You can take advantage of our PVCC assistant if you need help populating certain parameters, such as frame border or padding.

Validation parameters

Apart from the component-specific validations, the system makes a few general validations:

Market parameters check - checking the consistency of the market data.
Duplicity check - checking if there is no duplicate entry for the component.
Similarity check - checking if there is a component with very similar parameters that might indicate incorrect entry.

PV Module validation parameters

Modified diode ideality factor check	Diode model parameters are compared to the modified diode ideality factor parameter for consistency (via physics model formulas).
Light current check	Diode model parameters are compared to light current parameter for consistency (via physics model formulas).
Diode reverse saturation current check	Diode model parameters are compared to the Diode reverse saturation current parameter for consistency (via physics model formulas).
Maximum power parameters check	Power parameters are checked for consistency (via physics model formulas).
Module and cell dimensions check	This validation checks if the geometry of the provided parameters fits into the frame. The size of the cells, when laid down one by one, including the paddings and borders, must fit into the size of the frame.
IAM curves check	Physical properties of the IAM curves are checked.
Number of bypass diodes check	This check ensures that the provided number of diodes is consistent with the number of cells and indicated circuitry.
Download formats check	The components' required fields may vary according to which formats are selected to be supported. The validation checks if all the required fields are filled in with valid values.

Inverter validation parameters

Input side parameters	Checks whether the inverter’s input-side parameters satisfy the physical and logical principles.
Output side parameters	Checks whether the inverter’s input-side parameters satisfy the physical and logical principles.
Temperature parameters	Checks whether the inverter’s input-side parameters satisfy the physical and logical principles.

Validation results

The validation results can be the following:

OK, validation passed - the validation passed successfully.
Not OK, validation failed - validation was not successful. Please verify the information entered, correct it, and try again.
Validation skipped - it is not possible to perform the validation as some of the optional non-required inputs are missing. However, the validation does not need to pass as it checks for optional parameters.

Once your component has been successfully validated, it will gain “Validated” status. If you have integrated your catalog account with your third-party designing application, you can start privately using validated components in your designs. The component in this step will gain a “C” confidence class.
If you intend to publish the component in the catalog for anyone to use, you must send your validated component for a review to our expert team.

PVCC assistant

If your component is missing some less component-specific data that needs to be entered for successful validation, the PVCC assistant is here to help.

PVCC assistant provides estimated values based on relevant calculations and the typical values gathered from similar components in the catalog.

The PVCC assistant is located at the bottom of the validations table. You can access and activate it through the edit mode.

Using the PVCC assistant

Once you activate the PVCC assistant, fields that can be estimated will be listed.

If you click the parameter name, the page will scroll to the parameter.
Click “Estimate” to populate the parameter’s field with the estimated value.
Estimated values in the component’s details list will have the assistant icon next to it.

You can overwrite the estimated values anytime, and the assistant icon will disappear, indicating the value is no longer estimated and has been added by the user.
If you re-enter the same value as previously estimated, the assistant icon will reappear to indicate it has been previously estimated.

Once you populate all required fields with either entered or estimated values, save the component. The validation will be executed again, and the result will be updated.