INSTITUTION PROFILE / PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS
International Electrotechnical Commission
Where the world agrees how perovskite solar cells should be tested
The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is a non-profit membership organisation that prepares international standards for electrical and electronic technologies. Solar standards are the responsibility of Technical Committee TC 82, which sets the tests for module type approval (IEC 61215) and the methods for measuring cells and modules (IEC 60904). Yet as of September 2026, the test and measurement standards specific to perovskite solar cells are still under development. This profile looks at one question only: how much influence the IEC actually has over perovskite solar cells.
- The IEC in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for perovskite solar cells
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- The countries and organisations involved
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. The IEC in 30 seconds
The IEC is the forum where the world agrees "how to test and how to measure". It has neither money nor regulatory power. IEC 61215, the type-approval standard for PV modules, has special requirements for crystalline silicon, CdTe, amorphous silicon and CIGS, but the special requirements for perovskite-containing modules (IEC 61215-1-6) only started development in April 2026, with publication planned for June 2028 Sourced. Both Japan's METI and the U.S. Department of Energy are trying to bring evaluation methods for perovskite solar cells into this IEC process.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, none of the institutions that appear in perovskite solar cell coverage makes solar cells. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types.
3. What it does for perovskite solar cells
Of the 90 items in TC 82's work programme, three have "perovskite" or "metastable devices" in the title. None has been published yet, and the publication dates shown are the IEC's forecast dates Sourced.
| Standard or document | Working group | Status (September 2026) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| IEC 61215-1-6 ED1 | WG 2 (modules) | Moved to the committee draft (CD) stage in April 2026. CD circulation due November 2026; publication forecast June 2028 | Within design qualification and type approval of terrestrial modules, "Special requirements for testing of metal halide perovskite-containing photovoltaic (PV) modules" |
| IEC TS 60904-1-4 ED1 | WG 2 (modules) | Draft technical specification (DTS) received in August 2026. DTS circulation due November 2026; publication forecast February 2027 | "Guidelines for current-voltage measurements of metastable photovoltaic devices", meaning devices whose characteristics change during measurement |
| IEC TS 63202-9 ED1 | WG 8 (cells) | Moved to the CD stage in January 2026. CD circulation due July 2026; publication forecast July 2028 | "Measurement specifications for research-level perovskite photovoltaic cells" |
Among published documents, IEC TR 63228:2019 (published 8 July 2019, 35 pages), "Measurement protocols for photovoltaic devices based on organic, dye-sensitized or perovskite materials", is a technical report that gathers measurement procedures for organic, dye-sensitised and perovskite solar cells. It sets out the problem that the IEC 60904 measurement standards, which were written with silicon in mind, cannot always measure these devices accurately, for example because their performance changes over time Sourced. In addition, on 28 January 2025 the IEC Market Strategy Board (MSB) released a free trend report, "Emerging PV", on emerging photovoltaic materials with a focus on perovskites.
IEC 61215-1:2021 sets the design qualification requirements for modules intended for long-term outdoor use, but it states explicitly that the test results are not to be taken as a quantitative prediction of module lifetime Sourced. The U.S. Department of Energy's 2023 tandem funding call likewise combined selected IEC 61215 module quality tests (MQT 10, 11, 13 and 21) with ISOS-L-2, a test under light exposure, as its conditions. For a supplier of encapsulants or barrier films, the current position is that you need to show both that you pass the existing IEC 61215 tests and that you have addressed the tendency, flagged in IEC TR 63228, for performance to change over time.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What the IEC has | What it does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | The power to publish International Standards, Technical Specifications and Technical Reports after voting by the national committees | Power to enforce standards, power to approve or ban products, research funding |
| Geography | International. 92 national committees, with around 170 countries involved. TC 82 has 48 participating countries, including Japan, China, the United States, Germany, South Korea and India | Any binding force on non-member countries. Whether to turn a standard into a national standard is each country's decision |
| Link to trade | Under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), members commit to using international standards as the basis for national standards, mandatory technical regulations and testing and certification | Power to set any country's mandatory regulations |
| Perovskite scope | Tests for perovskite-containing modules, measurement of metastable devices and measurement of research-level cells are under development | As of September 2026 there is no published international standard specific to perovskites (as far as we could confirm) |
The publication dates in section 3 are the forecast dates shown on the IEC dashboard. A standard moves through stages (committee draft, draft for voting and final draft), and at each stage it receives comments and votes from national committees, so it can fall behind schedule Not yet confirmed.
5. The countries and organisations involved
How countries are engaging with IEC standards (as stated in primary sources)
| Country or body | What the sources say | Link to this series |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (JISC, METI) | Japan's national committee for the IEC is JISC, with its contact address within METI. A public-private council document (May 2026) says a performance evaluation method developed under the Green Innovation Fund has been proposed as a new international standard, with work aimed at publication within FY2026 (the year to March 2027) | Our METI and NEDO profiles |
| United States (DOE) | DOE's 2023 tandem funding call included passing selected IEC 61215 tests among the targets for the end of 2026. First Solar, Swift Solar and Tandem PV were among those selected | Our DOE profile; company profiles in preparation |
| Running TC 82 | The secretariat is held by the United States. Participating countries include Japan, China, the United States, Germany and South Korea | Not applicable |
6. Outlook
| What the evidence suggests | Primary information it rests on | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Perovskite-specific type-approval requirements will not be in place until around 2028; until then, evaluation will continue to rely on a combination of the existing IEC 61215 and the research community's ISOS tests | IEC 61215-1-6 is forecast for publication in June 2028. DOE's funding call combined selected IEC 61215 tests with ISOS-L-2 | Inference |
| The "publication within FY2026" in the Japanese public-private council's document may refer to IEC TS 60904-1-4, which is forecast for February 2027 | The council's document aims for publication within FY2026, and TC 82's work programme forecasts TS 60904-1-4 for February 2027, which falls within Japan's FY2026 | Inference |
| The title of IEC 61215-1-6 refers to "perovskite-containing" modules, wording that would cover tandem as well as single-junction modules | The title in TC 82's work programme ("metal halide perovskite-containing photovoltaic (PV) modules"). The content is still being drafted | Inference |
7. Glossary
- TC 82
- The IEC technical committee responsible for standards covering entire photovoltaic energy systems, from the cell to the interface with the power grid.
- IEC 61215
- The standard for design qualification and type approval of terrestrial PV modules. It consists of the main Part 1 and material-specific special requirements (Parts 1-1 to 1-4).
- IEC 60904
- A series of standards on measurement methods for photovoltaic devices, covering how to measure current-voltage characteristics, spectral responsivity and more.
- Metastability
- The tendency of a device's characteristics to change slowly while light or voltage is applied. In perovskites it makes measured values vary with conditions.
- CD / DTS
- A CD is a committee draft; a DTS is a draft Technical Specification for voting. At each stage, a document receives comments and votes from national committees.
8. References
- IEC Who we are: founded in 1906; prepares and publishes international standards for electrical and electronic technologies. https://www.iec.ch/who-we-are
- IEC About us: around 170 countries and about 30,000 experts. https://www.iec.ch/about-us
- IEC National Committees: 64 full members and 28 associate members, 92 in total; one committee per country; individuals and companies cannot be members. https://www.iec.ch/national-committees
- IEC Members > Japan: Japan's national committee is the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee, with its contact address within METI. https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:16:::::FSP_ORG_ID:1004
- IEC IEC and global trade: the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement and international standards. https://www.iec.ch/what-we-do/iec-and-global-trade
- IEC TC 82 Dashboard > Scope: TC 82's scope and secretariat. https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:7:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25
- IEC TC 82 Dashboard > Structure: working groups, list of member countries, 48 participating and 9 observer countries, secretariat held by the United States. https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:29:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25
- IEC TC 82 Dashboard > Projects / Publications: 90 items in the work programme; stage, working group and forecast publication date for IEC 61215-1-6, IEC TS 60904-1-4, IEC TS 63202-9 and IEC 61215-1-1 to 1-4. Accessed September 2026. https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:23:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25
- IEC Webstore IEC 61215-1:2021: design qualification of terrestrial modules; test results are not to be taken as a quantitative prediction of lifetime. https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/61345
- IEC Webstore IEC TR 63228:2019, Measurement protocols for photovoltaic devices based on organic, dye-sensitized or perovskite materials: published 8 July 2019, 35 pages. https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/64040
- IEC Webstore IEC Trend Report Emerging PV:2025, Emerging photovoltaic materials and technologies: 28 January 2025, prepared by a working group of the Market Strategy Board, free to download, with a focus on perovskites. https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/105015
- Secretariat of the Public-Private Council for Expanding Deployment and Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness of Next-Generation Solar Cells "Recent developments concerning next-generation solar cells" (in Japanese, 20 May 2026): proposal of a performance evaluation method as an international standard, and work aimed at publication within FY2026. https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/energy_environment/perovskite_solar_cell/pdf/010_01_00.pdf
- U.S. Department of Energy SETO Thin-Film PV FOA 3058 webinar slides (September 2023): performance targets for the end of 2026, including IEC 61215 MQT 10, 11, 13 and 21 and ISOS-L-2. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/SETO%20Thin-Film%20PV%20FOA%203058%20-%20Webinar.pdf
- U.S. Department of Energy Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics Funding Program: the perovskite tandem awardees. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/advancing-us-thin-film-solar-photovoltaics-funding-program
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Founded in 1906; prepares international standards for electrical and electronic technologies | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.iec.ch/who-we-are |
| Around 170 countries and about 30,000 experts | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.iec.ch/about-us |
| 92 national committees (64 full, 28 associate), one per country, individuals and companies cannot be members | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.iec.ch/national-committees |
| Japan's national committee is JISC, with its contact address within METI | Sourced | Reference 4 https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:16:::::FSP_ORG_ID:1004 |
| Under the WTO TBT Agreement, members commit to using international standards as a basis | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.iec.ch/what-we-do/iec-and-global-trade |
| TC 82's scope, and the United States as secretariat | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:7:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25 |
| TC 82's 48 participating and 9 observer countries and their names, WG 2 and WG 8 | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:29:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25 |
| 90 work items; titles, stages, working groups and forecast dates of the three perovskite-related items; the materials covered by IEC 61215-1-1 to 1-4 | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:23:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1276,25 |
| The scope of IEC 61215-1:2021, and that test results are not a lifetime prediction | Sourced | Reference 9 https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/61345 |
| Publication date, page count and content of IEC TR 63228:2019 | Sourced | Reference 10 https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/64040 |
| Release date, authors and content of the Emerging PV trend report | Sourced | Reference 11 https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/105015 |
| Japan's proposal of a performance evaluation method as an international standard, and work towards publication within FY2026 | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/energy_environment/perovskite_solar_cell/pdf/010_01_00.pdf |
| DOE's funding call included selected IEC 61215 tests and ISOS-L-2 among its targets for the end of 2026 | Sourced | Reference 13 https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/SETO%20Thin-Film%20PV%20FOA%203058%20-%20Webinar.pdf |
| Awardees of DOE's funding call (First Solar, Swift Solar, Tandem PV) | Sourced | Reference 14 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/advancing-us-thin-film-solar-photovoltaics-funding-program |
| The four types of institution | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| No published international standard specific to perovskites | Our calculation | Our own judgement from the work programme in reference 8 and searches of the webstore (reference 10) |
| Actual publication dates of each standard | Not yet confirmed | Reference 8 gives forecast dates only; this article does not estimate them |
| The three points in the outlook (section 6) | Inference | This article's reading of references 8, 12 and 13 |
Last updated 25 September 2026 / Troy Technical
All content is based on the IEC's official website (accessed September 2026) and documents published by METI and DOE. Publication dates are the IEC's forecasts and are not confirmed. Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information, not statements by the IEC.