EN 
PT_BR 
A question that integrators and distributors have in relation to INMETRO (National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology) is the certification process for photovoltaic inverters, which has a period of four years.
For William Bonjardim, supervisor of the commercial and marketing area at Yes Certificação, this is a very pertinent question, as, according to him, there is a flaw in the typing of the ordinances.
The specialist participated in the podcast Papo Solar and commented that there is a theoretical and practical expiration date. “The theory considers a four-year cycle, but the ordinance segments this validity to compliance with certification maintenance.”
“But what is maintenance? Every year, in the photovoltaic process, it is necessary to update the test report, which is valid for 12 months. So, in the years after registration is granted, we advise companies to look for a national laboratory and carry out tests on at least one representative of the family so that the registration can be updated. With this report, in the process that was carried out previously, if it was not attached to the system maintenance task, the registration was suspended and, after six months, it was cancelled”, explained Bonjardim.
Therefore, according to the expert, the practical validity of the products is one year. “And today, how will the process behave? We suggest that, even if it is not mandatory to update the registration, customers continue to carry out the tests annually. If INMETRO, overnight – it happens, unfortunately – changes some procedure or suspends the registration for some reason, you will have a document that supports you, that assures you and theoretically resolves the situation with some actions”, he added.
Certification processes abroad
During the podcast, William Bonjardim also commented that each country has rules regarding the import and export of products. “Europeans have European certification. The United States is American and in Brazil there is INMETRO that carries out certification. As testing standards are international, if you present a test report that demonstrates that the products are within the standard, other countries must accept it”.
According to the executive, Brazil is one of the countries with the greatest criteria for its regulatory bodies. “It is a country that imposes more bureaucracy so that companies can import”, he concluded.
